Former Chinese sex slaves lose in last district court ruling

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Former Chinese sex slaves lose in last district court ruling

The Tokyo District Court on August 30 dismissed a claim for state compensation filed by eight Chinese women who had been forced to serve as sex slaves for the Japanese army during World War II. It was the last district court ruling in the series of lawsuits filed by former Chinese sex slaves.

The plaintiffs, two of whom have already died, had been abducted, confined, and continuously raped by Japanese soldiers in China's Hainan Island occupied by Japan at that time. They demanded that the Japanese government apologize and pay each of them 23 million yen in compensation. The plaintiffs will appeal to a higher court.

The ruling acknowledged in detail the sufferings that the plaintiffs asserted to have experienced as well as the fact that they are still suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

The court, however, ruled that the state cannot be held responsible for actions that the state had taken before the State Redress Law was enacted in 1947. It also denied the plaintiffs' claim for damages on the grounds that more than 20 years had passed before the filing of the lawsuit.

Defense lawyer Onodera Toshitaka said that it was significant for the ruling to acknowledge each plaintiff's sufferings caused by the Japanese army, and he criticized the ruling for "unjustifiably denying the government's legal responsibility while recognizing its clear illegal actions." "The Japanese government must take seriously the fact that the court recognized the facts about the victims' sufferings and must apologize to and compensate not only the plaintiffs but all victims," said Onodera.

Plaintiff Chen Yapian last March testified in court that she had been sexually assaulted constantly for four years since she was 14 years old and that even after the war she had suffered from discrimination because of her past.

After hearing the ruling Chen said, "Despite acknowledging all those facts, the court refused to recognize state responsibility. I want to ask Japanese if they have a conscience." Expressing her determination to continue her struggle in court, she stated, "The court should acknowledge the crime by making fair judgment for the sake of true friendship between Japan and China."
- Akahata, August 31, 2006