A Rape With International Implications : Crime creates U.S.-Japan friction, but both nations are responsibly seeking a resolution

A vicious crime against a Japanese schoolgirl allegedly committed by three American servicemen has created a new and highly emotional point of friction in U.S.-Japan relations. Both governments, fortunately, have shown that they are eager to deal with this appalling incident calmly and responsibly. A key requisite now is for justice to move swiftly.

On Sept. 4 a 12-year-old was abducted from a street in an Okinawa town that authorities so far have not identified, driven to a beach and raped. Two Marines and a sailor were subsequently arrested for the crime by U.S. military police and are being held in a military prison while the investigation proceeds. At some point, and the sooner the better, the accused will be handed over to Japanese authorities. The timing rests with the Japanese. Under the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA), which sets the guidelines for American military forces and bases on all Japanese territory, including the island prefecture of Okinawa, the suspects can’t be turned over until Japanese prosecutors issue a formal indictment.

U.S. Ambassador Walter F. Mondale has denounced the crime as “brutal and loathsome,” and--in a country where shame and public contrition are key mechanisms in regulating social behavior--has publicly stated “we are ashamed and we apologize.” Further, and we think properly, he has agreed to Foreign Minister Yohei Kono’s request to have a joint panel of legal experts study that part of SOFA that allows U.S. military personnel who are suspected of off-base crimes to remain in U.S. custody until Japanese authorities file formal charges. In our view, off-base crimes against citizens of the host country should speedily be put under Japanese jurisdiction. Rules written nearly four decades ago, when the United States had only lately stopped being an occupying power, might well benefit from revision.

Both Tokyo and Washington are eager not to let any re-examination of SOFA threaten the basic 1960 security treaty, the cornerstone of the bilateral alliance and the framework under which about 45,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Japan, more than half of them on Okinawa. Nationalists, leftists and the many Okinawans who resent the U.S. military presence and the second-class status they feel Tokyo historically has imposed on them would like to see the treaty scrapped.

Japanese authorities have been allowed to question the suspects in the rape case for a few hours at a time, but Mondale announced Thursday that access to them would now be granted whenever asked, including weekends. This important gesture should help bring nearer the time when justice in this terrible and tragic case can be done.