WUNRN
Asia
Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD)
Petition for Justice for Comfort
Women
Japan Military Sexual Slavery -
World War II
SIGN PETITION ON WEBSITE:
Government
of Japan Must Adhere to CEDAW
and
Restore Justice for "Comfort Women"
We, a network of more than 150 women human rights activists and NGOs across the
Asia-Pacific region and the world, are deeply concerned that the issue of
Japan's military sexual slavery during the Second World War, the so-called
"comfort women" issue, remains unresolved even today.
We are dismayed by the fact that the Government of Japan has not fulfilled its
legal obligation to remedy the survivors of "comfort women" system
despite that the acts constitute crimes under international law as fully
examined by UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and
consequences (1995, 1996, 1998, 2001 and 2003), UN Special Rapporteur on
systematic rape, sexual slavery and slavery-like practices during armed
conflict (1998 and 2000) and ILO (1996-2009). We are also concerned that the
Government of Japan has not taken measures to address the issue as recommended
by various UN human rights bodies and mechanisms including the Committee on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR, 2001), the Committee on the
Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW, 1994 and 2003), the
Committee Against Torture (CAT, 2007), the Human Rights Committee (CCPR, 2008)
and the Universal Periodic Review (UPR, 2008) of the Human Rights Council.
The victimised women, euphemistically called "comfort women" at the
time, came from different countries and regions in the Asia-Pacific region
including North and South Korea, China, Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia, the
Netherlands, Indonesia, and East Timor. Today, the few remaining survivors still
suffer from the persistent PTSD, poverty, physical and mental illness not to
mention stigma attached to them in their community. Since the early 1990s, the
survivors who broke the 50 years of painful silence and began to speak out
about the crimes committed against them have demanded that the Government of
Japan fully accept legal responsibility and restore justice for these crimes.
Nonetheless, the Government of Japan has never fully accepted that it was and
still is responsible under international law for the sexual slavery and other
forms of violence against women committed by its Imperial Army during the war.
The wartime sexual slavery by Japan's military was a brutal, inhumane
manifestation of colonialism, militarism, racism, sexism, and class system.
Tens of thousands of women and girls from the Asia-Pacific region were taken to
"comfort stations" and treated as sex slaves of Japanese solders
wherever the Japanese troops were. Most of them were minors, and from poor,
rural and lower class background, some were lured with false promises for jobs,
some were forced after their family members were brutally killed by the
solders.
In the Asia-Pacific region, violence against women in war and conflict
continues. Women have been experiencing various forms of violence including
sexual abuse and rape in conflict zones, under military dictatorship or special
security acts, or in the increasing presence of soldiers around our community
for military drills or as security guards to protect foreign corporations. Even
today, during armed conflicts, rape is used as a weapon of war to intimidate
and humiliate the "enemy", and perpetrators often escape without
facing charges. Increasing militarisation in the Asia-Pacific region especially
Japan's re-militarisation with its economic interests which serves faithfully
to the US-led "war on terror" as a loyal ally continues to be a major
threat for other Asian countries.
It is crucial that the Government of Japan, one of the most influential states
in the Asia-Pacific region, fulfill its international obligations and end the
cycle of impunity of war time sexual slavery and sexual violence against women,
and by doing so, stop being a negative precedent in the pursuit of the global
community to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women.
We, the undersigned, strongly call upon the CEDAW committee to once again urge
the Government of Japan to conduct a thorough investigation, fully accept legal
responsibility for the "comfort women" system, provide a formal and
unequivocal apology and other forms of remedy as recommended by a variety of UN
bodies to the survivors and families of victims of its military sexual slavery,
and provide concrete measures to ensure non-repetition of such crimes when its
troops are once again dispatched outside its own territory as they are today.
Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD)
================================================================
To contact the list administrator, or to leave the list, send an email to:
wunrn_listserve-request@lists.wunrn.com. Thank you.