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Report on the Women's International War Crimes Tribunal
March 19, 2001
From 8-12 December 2000 the Women’s International War Crimes
Tribunal, sat in Tokyo, Japan. It was established to consider the
individual crimes of high ranking Japanese military and political
officials but also the responsibility of the government of Japan for rape
and sexual slavery as crimes against humanity in the Asian Pacific area
during the 1930s and 1940s.
A women’s organization in the Republic of Korea began the complaints.
This organization shared the studies of Professor Yun Chung-Ok who had
investigated the bad treatment women had received from Japanese military
during the Second World War. In the whole Asian area elderly women began
to break fifty years of silence:
I don’t want
to die as the ghost of a virgin (Mun Pil-gi, Korea)
We went back
home and were crying. We couldn’t tell anyone or we would be
executed. It was so shameful so we dug a deep hole and covered it (Maxima
Regala De La Cruz, The Philippines)
I lost my life.
I was regarded as a dirty woman. I had no means of supporting myself and
my job opportunities were extremely limited. I suffered terribly. (Teng-Kao
Pao-Chu, Taiwan)
The first lawsuit for damages and compensation was filed in Japan in 1991.
The issue was first raised at the Commission on Human Rights in 1992 and
before other UN bodies. Public hearings were held in Tokyo and again at
the Vienna World Conference on Human Rights in 1993.
At the beginning, Japan denied any official involvement by the Japanese
government during the war. As the number of woman increased, Japan changed
its attitude and expressed remorse. However, Japan has continued to deny
legal responsibility arguing that the Peace Treaties concluded in the
1950s with the United States, South Korea, Indonesia and the Netherlands
had terminated all claims.
At the end of the war Japan destroyed many documents. However, in addition
to survivors’ testimony to the atrocities they had suffered, evidence
was found that linked those atrocities to the Japanese government and
Emperor Hirohito.
The Japanese government was notified of the Tribunal on November 9, 2000.
The Judges found the Emperor Hirohito guilty of the charges on the basis
of command responsibility. The evidence showed the fact that sexual
slavery was systematically instituted and operated as a matter of military
policy. They constituted crimes against humanity under the law applicable
at the time and that the Emperor knew. The Judges determined the
government of Japan to be responsible under international law applicable
at the time of the events for its violation of its treaty obligations and
principles of international law relating to slavery, trafficking, forced
labor and rape, amounting to crimes against humanity.
To conclude, this tribunal was very original because of three reasons.
First it was held in Japan, the country against which indictments were
brought. Second, it was a Women’s tribunal. Third, people from within
the victimized countries established it.
For more information, contact:
VAWW-NET Japan
Chairperson: MATSUI Yayori
Vice-Chairperson: NAKAHARA Michiko
NISHINO Rumiko
General Secretary: SHOJI Rutsuko
2-10-10 Shiomi, Koto-ku, Tokyo 135-8585, Japan
E-mail: vaww-net-japan@jca.apc.org
URL: http://www.jca.apc.org/~vawwjs
Tel/Fax: +81-3-5337-4088
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