Gov't to consider security cameras in areas near U.S. bases

Kyodo News
February 14, 2008

TOKYO — Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda told Okinawa Gov Hirokazu Nakaima on Thursday that he will step up calls on the United States to tighten military discipline and take preventive measures in the wake of the alleged rape of a 14-year-old girl by a U.S. Marine in Okinawa Prefecture on Sunday. As part of its own efforts to prevent such incidents, the government started considering installing security cameras in downtown and other areas near U.S. bases in Japan depending on approval by local authorities.

Speaking to reporters after meeting with Fukuda at the premier's office in Tokyo, Nakaima said he asked Fukuda to urge the U.S. military to map out preventive measures that "will convince the people in the prefecture" and told him that the measures should be made public.

"I've conveyed the anger of the people in the prefecture...and the prime minister told me that he accepts my request and will work with utmost efforts," Nakaima said. He also separately met with Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura.

Earlier in the day, Machimura told a press conference that he ordered Senior Vice Foreign Minister Itsunori Onodera to work out details of preventive measures the government will take under the initiative of the Foreign Ministry and other related ministries.

Onodera was quoted as saying that the government should consider installing security cameras in "major areas" and that the idea "is worth considering if local municipalities agree to cooperate, although there is opposition due to privacy concerns."

Onodera also proposed that Japanese police join patrolling activities which have been conducted by senior U.S. military personnel mainly on a voluntary basis, according to Machimura.

Meanwhile, the top government spokesman took a negative stance on fundamentally reviewing the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement, which prevents Japanese authorities from having sole jurisdiction over cases involving U.S. military personnel, saying the accord "has not disrupted anything at all in this case."

Nakaima called for fundamentally reviewing the agreement at an Okinawa prefectural assembly session on Wednesday, but he said he did not touch on the issue during talks with Fukuda and Machimura on Thursday.