High court denies Chinese wartime slave laborers' claim for compensation

Overturning a lower court decision ordering the government and Mitsui Mining Co. to compensate and apologize to Chinese wartime slave laborers, the Fukuoka High Court on May 24 said that the period during which the plaintiffs can file a lawsuit has expired.

In 2000, fifteen Chinese (including one who is now deceased) filed the suit with the Fukuoka District Court against the state and the mine corporation demanding 345 million yen in compensation for their actions and a published apology. In 2002, the lower court upheld the plaintiffs' demand, but the defendants appealed to the high court.

While holding the defendants responsible for compensation for their illegal actions of taking and throwing them into forced labor at mines, the high court judged that the government is exempted from compensating individuals for damages caused by the act of state power under the prewar Meiji Constitution, effective during 1890-1947.

The court cited the "limitation of action" that makes the defendants unpunishable 20 years after the illegal act. The lower court had ruled that "limitations of action" not be applied to this particular case because it contradicts the idea of justice and equality.

Commenting on the ruling, the plaintiffs' lawyers said, "This ruling is unjustifiable. Whether the lawsuit was too late or not is not a matter of relevance in this case." Recalling that the ruling didn't deny the defendants' responsibilities in general, they emphasized, "The government and the Diet must take drastic measures so that all the 39,000 victims and their families can be compensated."

Akahata on May 25 reported that the judgment failed to recognize the reality in that period. The government is responsible for withholding the details of the forced labor for a long time. Also, aging plaintiffs had great difficulty in filing suits."

At a press conference later in the day, Zhang Baoheng, 81, one of two defendants who came to Japan on behalf of the 39,000 forced laborers said, "It was too harsh a judgment. Why does the judge, as well as the Japanese government and Mitsui Mine Corps., still want to evade their responsibilities?" (end)