Survivors of the “comfort women” system are very elderly, and many have
died. At least two survivors AI delegates met with when researching for the
report on this issue have since died. It is therefore important to work towards
realizing justice for these women as soon as possible.
The Japanese
government has vigorously defended its legal position on this issue and has
persistently maintained that all issues of compensation have been settled by
post World War II (WWII) peace treaties (including the San Francisco Peace
treaty and bi-lateral treaty arrangements between Japan and relevant parties).
Japan’s apologies to the former “comfort women” have also been half-hearted.
Japan’s answer to compensation – the Asian Women’s Fund (AWF) - has failed to
meet international guidelines on reparations and has divided many of the former
“comfort women” and their support groups.
Amnesty International calls on
the government of Japan to ensure that survivors receive full reparation
including: restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, satisfaction and
guarantees of non-repetition. The organization calls on the government of Japan
to:
1) Accept full responsibility for the "comfort
women" system, including publicly acknowledging the harm that these women
suffered, restore the dignity of the survivors and publicly denounce sexual
violence against women, whenever and wherever it occurs.
2) Issue an
apology from the Japanese Diet that is acceptable to the majority of "comfort
women" and their immediate relatives.
3) Offer adequate and effective
compensation directly from the Japanese government to the "comfort women" or
their immediate relatives. This compensation should take into account the
violations committed against them including the long term denial of the remedy
itself and issues such as lost opportunities and livelihoods.
4)
Guarantee non-repetition by:
- Ratifying the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court;
- Supporting efforts to agree on an international arms trade treaty to stop
the proliferation of weapons used to commit human rights violations such as
violence against women;
5) Provide an accurate account of the sexual slavery system in Japanese
educational text books on World War II.
