Attorney Annette Eddie-Callagain has had to defend people subjected to closed-door interrogations, limited access to lawyers and lengthy detention during which they are pressured to confess.
These practices by Japanese police violate the fundamental rights of a suspect and are the reason the U.S.-Japan Status of Forces Agreement is needed, said the only licensed non-Japanese lawyer in Okinawa.
Eddie-Callagain, former attorney for a U.S. airman convicted in 2002 of raping an Okinawan woman, believes SOFA is vital for protecting the rights of service personnel suspected of committing crimes in Japan.