During her visit to Tokyo this week, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice apologized to Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura for the alleged rape on Feb. 10 of a 14-year-old girl by a U.S. Marine in Chatan, Okinawa Prefecture. Considering the hurt feelings of people, especially Okinawans, the governments of Japan and the United States need to make serious efforts to prevent such incidents. Only when mutual trust exists can the relations between the two nations become stable and lead to the achievement of diplomatic goals beneficial to both.
To try to prevent crimes like rape, the Japanese government and the U.S. Forces Japan have announced measures that include sharing information on U.S. military personnel living off base, sending joint Japanese-U.S. patrols into entertainment districts and installing TV surveillance cameras.
Even if these measures are carried out, a call for revising the Status of Forces Agreement may strengthen. Through improved implementation of the agreement, it has been possible since 1995 for Japanese investigative authorities to have American suspects in murder and rape cases transferred to their custody even before the suspects are indicted. Since the current SOFA is not as disadvantageous to Japan as similar U.S. agreements are to countries such as South Korea and Germany, both governments are opposed to revising it. But further improvement in SOFA's implementation to enlarge the scope of crimes for pre-indictment transfer deserves consideration.