STATUS OF FORCES AGREEMENTSMany persons are under the impression thatbecause they are attached to a ship visiting aforeign port, they are immune from jurisdictionof the local government. That is true as long asthey remain aboard or go ashore only on officialbusiness. When they go ashore on liberty,however, they are subject to the jurisdiction ofthe foreign sovereign for any infractions of thelaw, whether criminal or civil. The Departmentof Defense protects your rights as much aspossible if you are brought to criminal trial byforeign courts. To be allowed to protect yourrights, the United States entered into agreementswith several of our allied countries. Theagreements are called the Status of ForcesAgreements (SOFAs).A Status of Forces Agreement contains acomplex package of treaties, protocol, andexecutive agreements between the United Statesand the individual country involved. It defines therights and duties of U. S. service personnel, civiliancomponents, and their dependents while they arestationed in that foreign country.The agreements are by no means identical inall countries. To a large measure, the differencesin agreements resulted from the contrastingpolitical realities that faced the negotiators ofdifferent countries.PURPOSE OF SOFAThe main purposedefine the status ofpersonnel stationed inof SOFAs is to clearlyone country’s militarythe territory of another.The SOFAs say, in part, that the country we arevisiting will give up some jurisdiction to thevisiting country in some criminal and civil cases.Some topics covered by the Status of ForcesAgreements are as follows:Freedom of troop movements within thehost countryPassport requirementsCriminal jurisdictionTaxesImposition of customs dutiesRegulations coveringExchange privilegesdriver’s licenseThe development of a collective defense inpeacetime requires that forces of various countriesbe stationed in the territory of other treatycountries. Those forces form an integrated forcefor the defense of those countries involved. Theforces must be free to move from one country toanother under the demands of strategy. There-fore, uniformity of arrangements and proceduresgoverning the status of such forces in countriesother than their own and their relationship to thecivilian authorities is essential. The Status ofForces Agreements, accordingly, try to regulatethat relationship in two ways. First, theyguarantee the armed forces adequate legalprotection without infringing on the authority ofthe military command. Second, they fullyrecognize the peacetime rights and responsibilitiesof the civilian authorities in the host countries.The United States must receive consent fromthe host country to station troops on that foreignsoil. We must also agree to the conditions underwhich our troops may remain.The original intent of the Status of ForcesAgreements by the United States was to get themost favorable conditions from the host countryfor our own forces.The agreements apply to personnel belongingto the land, sea, and air armed forces, as well ascivilian personnel accompanying an armed force.Article II of the NATO Status of Forces Agree-ment sets forth the basic principle to be observedby any force in a country other than its own:It is the duty of a force and its civiliancomponent and the members thereof aswell as their dependents to respect the lawof the receiving State, and to abstain fromany activity inconsistent with the spirit ofthe present Agreement, and in particular,from any political activity in the receivingState. It is also the duty of the sendingState to take necessary measures to thatend.DEVELOPMENT OF SOFAWhy does the United States station largecontingents of forces in foreign countries, andwhy does the status of these forces have to bedefined by agreements?The United States has accepted the fact thatthe only true security available in this modernworld is collective security. Congress hasdemonstrated time and again its recognition ofthis proposition. We have entered into alliances2-19
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