U.S. Embassy asked to review arrests by MPs

[unhappycamper]

U.S. Embassy asked to review arrests by MPs
By David Allen, and Chiyomi Sumida, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Saturday, April 19, 2008

CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — Japanese officials continue to protest an incident last Sunday in which military police refused to hand over two shoplifting suspects to Okinawa police.

Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has asked the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo to look into the case.

Store clerks collared the teenage Marine dependents in the shopping area near Camps Lester and Foster when they suspected the two stole clothing. Marine MPs arrived on the scene first, but Okinawa police say the MPs should have turned the boys over to local police custody when asked.

Instead, the military police handcuffed the boys and refused to hand them over, police said. The boys, ages 16 and 17, were made available at the Okinawa police station for questioning in the following days.

Under the U.S.-Japan Status of Forces Agreement, military police may detain people connected to the U.S. military off base if they are the first to arrive on the scene. However, they are supposed to contact Japanese authorities and hand over the suspects for questioning if Japanese police request it, an Okinawa representative to Japan’s House of Representatives said Wednesday.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=54148