Oct 23 04:39 AM US/Eastern(AP) - TOKYO, Oct. 23 (Kyodo) — Official U.S. government documents state that Japan promised in 1953 to abandon its criminal jurisdiction on crimes committed by U.S. service personnel stationed in Japan, except for crucial ones, a researcher on Japan-U.S. relations said Thursday.
Researcher Shoji Niihara said he has obtained the documents dated Oct. 28, 1953, at the U.S. National Archives, one of which is a copy of minutes of a meeting held Sept. 29 that year of the jurisdiction subcommittee of the Japan-U.S. Joint Committee.
The minutes quoted the Japanese representative to the subcommittee as saying that "as a matter of policy the Japanese authorities do not normally intend to exercise the primary right of jurisdiction over members of the United States Armed Forces, the civilian component, or their dependents... other than in cases considered to be of material importance to Japan."
"In this respect, I should like to point out that the Japanese authorities retain their freedom of discretion in the determination of which cases are of material importance to Japan."
The two countries reached an agreement based on the statement made by the Japanese representative, according to the documents.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura told a regular press conference that there is "no such agreement, or secret pact, between Japan and the United States over abandoning the primary right of jurisdiction," citing the percentage of indicted cases involving U.S. personnel last year.
Niihara also said he has obtained a separate document stating that Japan promised to refrain from seeking the handover of suspects who were arrested by U.S. authorities.
In the separate document, dated Oct. 22, 1953, the U.S. representative to the subcommittee remarked, "I wish to assure the Japanese representative that upon release of an offender to the custody of the United States military authorities, such offender shall, on request, be made available to the Japanese authorities, if such be the condition of his release."
In response, the same Japanese representative said, "In view of the assurances by the United States representative, I wish to state that there will not be many cases in which the custody of such offenders will be retained by the Japanese authorities," according to the document.
Niihara said he believes those bilateral arrangements still continue to affect the operation of the current Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement that governs the handling of U.S. service personnel stationed in Japan.
In August, Niihara said he obtained multiple Japanese government documents stating that Japan's Justice Ministry issued an order in 1953 urging Japanese prosecutors to exercise justice only on crucial crimes in cases where the crimes were committed by U.S. service personnel stationed in Japan.
According to the documents, the Justice Ministry urged district public prosecutors offices across the country to "show deliberate consideration" over crimes of U.S. servicemen or women, and directed them to impose a suspension of indictments on not-so-crucial cases rather than totally abandoning the jurisdiction, which could invoke public criticism.
The ministry also told prosecutors to implement a more flexible interpretation on the definition of "incidents on official duty" specified in the administrative agreement preceding the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement.
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