Court orders NHK to compensate women's rights group for altering program contents on wartime sex slavery

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Court orders NHK to compensate women's rights group for altering program contents on wartime sex slavery

The Tokyo High Court on January 29 found NHK responsible for altering the contents of a TV program on Japan's wartime sex slavery and ordered the public broadcaster to pay a women's rights group, which is the plaintiff, two million yen in compensation.

The lawsuit was filed by the Violence Against Women in War-Network Japan (VAWW-NET Japan) that had cooperated with NHK in creating the documentary program aired in January 2001.

The point at issue in the high court trial was whether alteration of the TV program was made due to political pressure. Acknowledging that NHK executives met Liberal Democratic Party members, including then Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Abe Shinzo, and were told to make the program "fair", the court ruling stated that they "took to heart the lawmakers' remarks more seriously than necessary and surmised that they were requested to make the program uncontroversial," thus changing contents of the documentary.

The court turned down NHK's claim that the alteration of the program had nothing to do with its executives' meeting with the LDP members.

The judge also said that the NHK executives repeatedly previewed the program and ordered the altering of the contents, stating, "The program was edited in a different way from what producers had originally planned."

As a result, testimonies of a perpetrator who was a former Japanese Imperial Army soldier and of two victims of sex slavery cases were cut out just before the program was aired.

The Tokyo District Court in 2004 held only subcontracting production companies responsible and dismissed the plaintiff's claim seeking NHK's responsibility.

Nishino Rumiko, co-representative of VAWW-NET Japan said, "It is a just ruling, giving us an overall victory." She also stated, "NHK should sincerely respond to the court decision and consider its responsibility and autonomy as a public broadcaster."

NHK appealed the decision to the Supreme Court on that day.
- Akahata, January 30, 2007