Asia09 October, 20262 min read
Okinawa Assembly Calls For Review Of U.S.-Japan Forces Pact After Marine Accused Of Killing Anna Yagi
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Okinawa assembly calls for fundamental revision of US-Japan SOFA after marine accused of murder. Resolution seeks measures to prevent similar incidents and critiques preferential treatment under the pact.
Okinawa Seeks SOFA Review
Japan’s Okinawa prefectural assembly adopted a resolution on Friday calling for a review of an agreement overseeing the stationing of United States military forces on the Japanese island after a US Marine was accused of robbing and killing a local woman. Ryotaro Odo, who heads the assembly’s special committee on US military bases, said the US military was “not functioning as an organisation”, pointing to failures in training and discipline. Lance-Corporal Devin Jacob Ballard, 20, has been accused of killing Anna Yagi, 39, at a hotel in Naha on Saturday, and he denied the allegations.
The island hosts the majority of the 54,000 US soldiers stationed in Japan, and the assembly said the call to adapt the Japan-US Status of Forces Agreement would be sent to the US embassy. The US military paused its operations for 48 hours from Wednesday and imposed a 30-day curfew from midnight to 5am starting on Friday.
Ballard Arrest, Protests
Japan’s Okinawa assembly called for a “fundamental review” of the Japan-US Status of Forces Agreement after it adopted a protest resolution on Friday, and it sought US military action “to prevent a recurrence,” Kyodo News Agency reported. The prefectural assembly called on the US military to take action against Ballard, who has denied any wrongdoing, and it also adopted a statement addressed to the Japanese government. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi condemned the “heinous” crime, and Tokyo called in the US ambassador and the US forces commander in Okinawa to protest the incident.
The US military in the prefecture imposed a pause in operations for 48 hours since Wednesday and announced a curfew for the next 30 days beginning Friday. Ballard was arrested Sunday and has been sent to prosecutors, as demonstrations spread in Okinawa and Tokyo.
Training, Discipline, Jurisdiction
Ryotaro Odo criticized the organizational integrity of the U.S. military, saying its disciplinary standards and training protocols have gaps and that the military’s ability to train and maintain discipline has limitations. Odo urged a complete overhaul of the 1960 Status of Forces Agreement, with critics saying it grants American troops unjust advantages and effectively places bases outside the reach of Japanese law. The Okinawa prefectural assembly passed the resolution by 45 votes to 2, and it planned to send the resolution to the United States Embassy and transmit an accompanying statement to the Japanese government.
The assembly also adopted a statement to the same effect addressed to the Japanese government, and it called for measures to prevent similar incidents from happening again. Xinhua reported that the Okinawa assembly adopted a resolution of protest and a statement of opinion calling for a thorough revision of the Status of Forces Agreement after the suspected murder of Anna Yagi by Devin Jacob Ballard.