TOKYO -- The Australian victim of a 2002 rape by a U.S. serviceman in Japan on Feb. 20 met with Ministry of Foreign Affairs staff to present a letter to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba asking for updates to the U.S.-Japan Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA).

Catherine Fisher was raped by a U.S. serviceman who she didn't know in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, in April 2002. The perpetrator was not indicted, but in a civil suit the Tokyo District Court recognized her as a victim of sexual violence. However, as the serviceman returned to the U.S. while the case was before the court, she had to locate and sue him again in the U.S. In 2013, at long last the man reportedly admitted to the crime.

Fisher wrote that the time to act has arrived, and is seeking a meeting with Ishiba, who has since before taking his current position expressed a desire to revise the agreement which gives special privileges to the U.S. military and serves as the legal framework for their operations.

In her letter, Fisher recounts her experiences including the serviceman's escape to his home country as well as other violent crimes such as rape and murder committed in Japan by people related to the U.S. military to point to the problem that under Article 16 U.S. military crew need only "respect" Japan's laws. Due to that, she wrote, "lives have been lost, justice has been denied, and countless victims continue to suffer," and insists that "the agreement must be revised to explicitly require that those covered under SOFA respect and obey Japanese law while on Japanese soil."

Fisher's letter continues by asking Ishiba will he be a prime minister "who stands for justice and secures the safety of Japan's people" or "remain silent, allowing this tragedy to continue?" She concludes, "People's lives are in your hands. Now is the time to act."

SOFA has not been revised once since its establishment in 1960, despite being considered a primary factor behind problems including a string of crimes committed by U.S. military personnel. Ishiba, in a debate among party leaders ahead of the House of Representatives election last October, said, "I want to discuss it within the party (the ruling Liberal Democratic Party) and see that it happens," while admitting that he understood how difficult it would be. However, he has since refrained from commenting on specifics with the claim that it is being debated within the party, and some now believe he has changed course out of concern for the U.S.

(Japanese original by Hiroyuki Oba, Tokyo City News Department)