Subject: [cwj 135] Tokyo Court rejects Korean comfort woman's compensation appeal
From: Corporate Watch in Japanese <cwj@corpwatch.org>
Date: Thu, 30 Nov 2000 12:11:19 -0800
Seq: 135
Thursday, November 30 7:59 PM SGT Tokyo Court rejects Korean comfort woman's compensation appeal TOKYO, Nov 30 (AFP) - A Korean woman who was seeking compensation from Tokyo for being forced to work as a sex slave for Japanese soldiers during World War II, lost her appeal in the High Court here Thursday. In its ruling, the court agreed Soug Shindo, 78, was employed as a comfort woman during the war, but her right to damages expired 15 years ago under a 1965 bi-lateral treaty between the Japanese and South Korean governments. "The right of the appellant to ask for damages disappeared on December 18, 1985, with the expiry of the term for exemption", the ruling said. The Japan-Republic of Korea Basic Relations Treaty stipulates that liabilities for wartime acts of Japan and its people against Korea and its people are legally erased, the ruling added. "I didn't expect such a decision," said Soug, who lives in Miyagi Prefecture in northern Japan. "I have fought for seven, eight years. And it's all meaningless. I am an old woman. What can I do now?" Soug, who came to Japan with a former Japanese soldier after the war ended, started her legal battle against the Japanese government for compensation and an official apology in April 1993. She initially launched her legal fight at Tokyo District Court, where she asked for the government's apology and damages of 120 million yen (1.1 million dollars). After losing the case at the lower court, she appealed in October 1999 to the Tokyo High Court, asking for an apology and 12 million yen. Kunio Aitani, Soug's attorney, said Thursday's decision was the first time the court had said there was a period when comfort women could have asked for compensation. He added that the ruling also stated that the Japanese government violated international law regarding labour during the war. "So it's a step forward," he said. "I think that part of the judgement must be valued." But Tomoko Watanabe, another lawyer for Soug, was less positive: "Ultimately, what we wanted was justice. And this decision does not help us reach that goal." Soug added the decision does not erase the facts about Japan's wartime record. "We might have lost a court case, but the history about what Japan did during the war will remain," she said. About 50 of Soug's supporters gathered outside the court to express their disappointment over the decision. "We will not forgive the unfair judgement," they chanted repeatedly. "The Japanese government must apologize to the war victims in Asia," they said. "We are extremely disappointed by the decision," said Chu Su Ja, one of Soug's supporters. "She has been hurt so much. The Japanese government must give her compensation." Next month an alliance of Asian women's groups will put Japan in the dock in a four-day long mock warcrimes tribunal to highlight sex crimes by the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II. FAIR USE NOTICE. This document contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Corporate Watch in Japanese is making this article available in our efforts to advance understanding of ecological sustainability, human rights, economic democracy and social justice issues. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. ------------------------------------- Corporate Watch in Japanese Transnational Resource and Action Center (TRAC) P.O. Box 29344 San Francisco, CA 94129 USA Tel: 1-415-561-6472 Fax: 1-415-561-6493 Email: cwj@corpwatch.org URL: http://www.corpwatch-jp.org ------------------------------------- ______________________ The Corporate Watch in Japanese http://www.corpwatch.org/japan (CWJ) mailing list is a moderated email list in English designed to connect activists campaigning against Japanese corporations and investments around the world. * To unsubscribe from the CWJ mailing list, send an email to majordomo@jca.apc.org with text "unsubscribe cwj". To subscribe to the CWJ mailing list, send a message to majordomo@jca.apc.org with the text "subscribe cwj" * The CWJ mailing list is NOT intended for wide distribution. If you would like to post messages from this list somewhere else, we ask that you first contact us at cwj@corpwatch.org ______________________