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Government position on wartime sex slave issue undermines its position on North Koreafs abduction issue
g[Prime Minister] Abe was unable to conjure the same sympathy and moral outrage over the horrors inflicted on the thousands of women at the hands of the Japanese military,h wrote the Los Angels Times on March 18. Pointing out that the Japanese government gberates North Koreah over North Korean abduction of Japanese nationals but gdenies coercion in World War-II era brothels,h the paper wrote that people who support the Japanese government position with respect to the abduction issue are confused.
Rapidly increasing in the international community is the criticism of the Japanese government over having such a double standard concerning human rights issues while loudly complaining about human rights violations by other countries against Japanese nationals. It is insensitive to similar violations by Japan against foreigners, at a time when the Japanese government emphasis on the abduction issue as an important international human rights issue has become widely acknowledged by the international community. The abduction issue must be solved, and by the same token, the wartime sex slavery issue must not be left untouched.
The international community now regards the wartime sex slavery (so-called gcomfort womenh) issue and the abduction issue as interrelated.
The Boston Globe in its March 8 editorial wrote, gAlthough Abefs ardor to revive pride in Japanfs past may have initially been effective in domestic politics, the effect abroad is to isolate Japan at a bad time.h Pointing out that Abefs remarks gisolate Japan,h the editorial compared Japanfs reactions over the sex slave issue with North Koreafs attitude towards the abduction issue.
Shortly before meeting with Prime Minister Abe in March, Australian Prime Minister John Howard, who was in Japan to establish the security relationship between the two countries, said, g[A]ny suggestion that there was not coercion is completely repudiated by me and itfs been completely repudiated by other Allied countriesh (The Australian, March 12).
Serious question about Japanese government understanding of human rights
The criticism that Japan fails to truly reflect on its past war of aggression has so far come from Asian countries that were invaded and placed under colonial rule by Japan.
This time around, the criticism of the Japanese government comes from the United States, spearheaded by the Congress and media, and has spread in European countries as well. Taking the Japan-U.S. alliance into consideration, the U.S. Congress and media used to tend to avoid any straightforward criticism of Japan. The recent successive and severe criticism of Japan shows that this wall of silence is collapsing.
Since 1993, successive Japanese governments have dealt with the wartime sex slave issue from the standpoint as expressed in a statement issued by then Chief Cabinet Secretary Kono Yohei. This statement admitted, gThe then Japanese military was, directly or indirectly, involved in the establishment and management of the comfort stations and the transfer of comfort women.h It further states, gIn many cases they were recruited against their will, through coaxing coercion, etc., and that, at times, administrative/military personnel directly took part in the recruitments.h Stating, gThey lived in misery at comfort stations under a coercive atmosphere,h the statement expresses gsincere apology and remorse.h
Although the Kono Statement falls short of satisfying the countries affected, even Japanfs galliesh, including the United States, are demanding that Prime Minister Abe show by his deeds a position that abides by the statement.
However, Abe said at a press conference on March 1, gThe fact is that there is no evidence to prove the ecoercionf as defined in the Kono Statement.h This remark provoked criticism that the prime minister is backpedaling on his declared position to stand by the Kono Statement. The prime minister further enraged the international community by stating at the March 5 House of Councilors Budget Committee meeting, gWe will not make an apologyh over the issue even if the U.S. House of Representatives has passed a resolution urging him to do so.
Amid the growing criticism, a written government statement issued under the name of Prime Minister Abe on March 16 stated, gIn the materials discovered by the government, no account was found directly indicating that the military or authorities had forcibly taken them away.h Referring to this government statement, the New York Times on March 17 carried an article entitled, gJapan repeats denial of role in World War II sex slaveryh that criticized the prime minister by quoting U.S. Ambassador to Japan J. Thomas Schieffer as saying, gI take the word of the women that testified,h adding, gI think they were coerced to engage in prostitution. That means they were raped by the Japanese military at that point in time.h
The written statement has been taken as Abefs rejection of the Kono Statement and a challenge to international opinion. Without coercion by the military, the massive and continuous human rights violations in areas colonized by Japan of women forced into sex slavery and raped by the military could not have taken place.
The Japanese government is now faced with criticism that can be summed up as follows: gWhile claiming ediplomacy to pursue the universal values of human rights and democracy,f the Abe government is interested only in the human rights of the Japanese people, despite the fact that the wartime sex slave issue and the North Koreafs abduction issue are serious human rights violations. Unless it attaches as much importance to the sex slavery issue as the abduction issue, Japan will not gain international support over the abduction issue.h
In short, the double standard that the Japanese government holds in dealing with human rights violations is now called into question.
This issue affects the future of Japan-North Korea talks
Last month, the six-party talks held in Beijing adopted a joint document in which the parties agreed on the first step towards making North Korea give up its nuclear programs and on setting up working groups to discuss issues that includes Japan-North Korea relations. The two countries are to discuss pending bilateral issues, including the abduction, the settlement of the past, and the normalization of relations.
The wartime sex slavery issue that is drawing international attention more than before is directly connected with the issue for Japan to settle the past with North Korea. North Korea has a bitter memory that during Japanfs occupation many Korean women were taken to battlefields as sex slaves. The Japanese government is strongly called upon to sincerely face up to its past in order to advance the settlement of the past and to bring progress in the negotiations, including the abduction issue. Otherwise, international understanding over the abduction issue cannot be gained.
Understanding and support by the international community is indispensable in settling the abduction issue. Therefore, the Japanese government has been calling on the U.S. government and other members of the international community for such support.
However, the increasing criticism of the Japanese government for its double standard regarding human rights created a setback in gaining such understanding and support.
The March 22 issue of the International Herald Tribune commented that by refusing to make an apology for the wartime sex slavery issue the Abe government gwill have a hard time selling its commitment to universal human rightsh in its diplomacy that works as a double-edged blade.
Even U.S. Ambassador to Japan Thomas Schieffer, who has encouraged the U.S. government to be concerned with the abduction issue, commented that Abefs remarks, if they are taken in the United States as gbacking awayh from the 1993 Kono Statement, would create a disastrous effect. This is a warning that Prime Minister Abefs response to the wartime sex slavery issue may rob Japan of its moral basis to deal with the abduction issue.
Japan must respond to human rights issues in accordance with international standards
Prime Minister Abe in an NHK interview on March 11 said that he will stand by the Kono Statement and that he is expressing sincere apology to former comfort women for their traumas and great sufferings.
The U.S. media, however, ignored this statement, thereby sending a strong message that they refuse to allowing a perfunctory comment to forgive his controversial remarks. The prime minister is keeping his mouth shut because, he said, any remark will cause misunderstanding and be unproductive, but such an attitude is absurd.
The United States is urging Prime Minister Abe to make an official apology and to officially and clearly reject the argument that the wartime sex slavery did not exist as stated in the House of Representatives resolution. The U.S. media shares this view.
Todayfs situation is serious in that the international community is raising the fundamental objection that the Japanese governmentfs perception of human rights reneges on the principle of universal applicability. The Japanese government must respond to this objection in a serious manner and address human rights issues in compliance with international standards. - Akahata, March 26, 2007
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