Japan Press Weekly

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2024 July 3 - 9 TOP3 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

JCP Dietmembers talk with victims of forced sterilization

The Japanese Communist Party Dietmembers’ group on July 4 held a meeting with victims, who had been forced to receive eugenic sterilization under the former Eugenic Protection Law (1948-1996), and their lawyers and supporters.

The meeting took place in response to the previous day’s Supreme Court ruling that the sterilization program was in violation of the Constitution, ordering the national government to compensate the victims.

The plaintiffs, the plaintiffs’ lawyers, and a supporters’ group requested that the JCP work in the Diet to create a comprehensive law of compensation to help all victims. They also called on the JCP to make further efforts to eliminate the legitimation of the idea of eugenics from society.

The JCP parliamentarians’ group congratulated them for winning the victorious judgement in the top court and expressed its respect for the work they have done to date. The group expressed its determination to continue to play its role in the Diet to establish the new law and work to eliminate discrimination against people with disabilities.

On behalf of the JCP, House of Representatives member Miyamoto Toru apologized for the fact that the old law was enacted in 1948 by unanimous consent, including by the JCP, and that the party agreed to sign onto the revised law in 1952. He said, “Both were grave mistakes.”

Lawyer Tokuda Yasuyuki said, “The Diet should hold the state government responsible for having made local governments compete with each other in the number of sterilizations performed on people with disabilities.”

Otake Koji of the “Japanese Federation of the Deaf” pointed out that there are still many victims who have yet to come forward, requesting that the new law compensate all victims without limiting the scope of relief measures.