JAPAN: Justice for former comfort women

“Comfort women” and the denial of justice. Still seeking reparations after 60 years.

Background

In war zones all over the world crimes of sexual violence are and have been committed against women. For centuries, wartime rape was perceived as an inevitable consequence of war. Even today victims are denied redress: there is widespread impunity for these crimes where perpetrators go unpunished and victims are denied any form of reparation. Sexual violence in the form of rape is used as a weapon of war – it is used deliberately to demoralize and destroy the opposition and is used to provide ‘entertainment’ and ‘fuel’ for soldiers as part of the very machinery of war.

"Comfort women" is a term used to refer euphemistically to young women from the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, China, South and North Korea, Japan, Indonesia, the Netherlands and other Japanese-occupied countries or regions who were forced or otherwise recruited into sexual slavery by Japanese troops before and during the Second World War.

Perhaps the most compelling example of the crime of sexual slavery and the denial of justice to victims was the system of institutionalized sexual slavery used by the Japanese Imperial Army before and during World War II. The women forced into sexual slavery were euphemistically known as “comfort women”. “Comfort stations” are known to have existed in China, Taiwan, Borneo, Philippines, many of the Pacific Islands, Singapore, Malaya, Burma and Indonesia. Testimonies and evidence gathered reveals that these facilities were not staffed with voluntary workers, rather, they were places where women were enslaved against their will and were repeatedly raped, tortured and brutalised for months or years on end, exclusively for the benefit of the Japanese military. Women were obtained, in the majority of cases, by way of abduction or deception. The number of victims involved is estimated to be up to 200,000. The vast majority of victims were under the age of twenty and some girls were as young as twelve.

AI’s Concerns

Amnesty International’s (AI) project campaigning for justice for the former “comfort women” started on 10 August 2005 with AI’s participation in demonstrations in solidarity with the “comfort women”. A report highlighting the plight of the “comfort women” and all legal issues around their long quest for justice was published at the end of October 2005 at the Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID) conference which was held in Bangkok. Two survivors of the “comfort women” system – one from the Philippines and one from South Korea – attended the launch of the report and gave incredibly moving accounts of the violations they suffered.

AI has launched a project, Japan: Justice for “Comfort Women” which will run for two years. It represents the first substantial work done by Amnesty International (AI) on the “comfort women” issue, and the first piece of work on Japan for the SVAW campaign.

The month of August signifies the year representing the 61st anniversary of the end of World War II in the Pacific. Despite the fact that the war ended many years ago, Amnesty International is concerned that over 60 years on, so-called “comfort women” are still awaiting justice. Up to 200,000 women and girls were forced to become “comfort women” by the Japanese Imperial Army before and during World War II. Survivors of this system of sexual slavery, which Amnesty International believes amounts to crimes against humanity under the laws applicable at the time, are still awaiting full reparations; they are now very elderly and many have died without seeing justice.

AI SVAW campaign website - http://www.amnesty.org/actforwomen

What we are asking you to doWe are asking all individual members and supporters to print, sign and send the sample letter provided below to the Foreign Minister of Malaysia and CC a copy to The Prime Minister.

For further information please contact the AI Malaysia office at Tel: 03-79552680/ Fax: 03-79552682 or email

aimalaysia@aimalaysia.org

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Model Letter

Dear Minister

I’m writing to you in the year representing the 61st anniversary of the end of World War II in the Pacific. Despite the fact that the war ended many years ago, Amnesty International is concerned that over 60 years on, so-called “comfort women” are still awaiting justice. Up to 200,000 women and girls were forced to become “comfort women” by the Japanese Imperial Army before and during World War II. Survivors of this system of sexual slavery, which Amnesty International believes amounts to crimes against humanity under the laws applicable at the time. I implore you to encourage the government of Japan to formally acknowledge, apologize, and accept historical responsibility for the crimes committed against these women.

In the 1930s and during World War II many women of differing origins including Malaysians, mostly under 20 and some as young as 12 years old, were sexually enslaved by the Japanese Imperial Army in the territories they controlled. In addition to forced sexual acts, some of these women were subjected to other abuses that included beatings and stabbings. Once the war ended, the surviving comfort women were freed, but many survivors felt ashamed and never spoke of what had happened to them until the 1990s when one by one they began to speak out about the crimes committed against them and still seeking full reparations and justice.

It is now 2007 and many of them have already died fighting for justice, after enduring the trauma of sexual slavery and subsequent lifelong hardship. Their wishes for justice are simple: the acknowledgment by the Japanese government and the Japanese Diet (Parliament) of the crimes committed against them by the Japanese military and the continued education of future generations of this historical fact so as to prevent such atrocities in the future.

The Malaysian government should urge the government of Japan to formally acknowledge, apologize, and accept historical responsibility for the crimes committed against the comfort women, which is the first step in making sure that such atrocities do not happen again. Malaysia can play an important part in helping to heal and restore the dignity of these survivors.

As a supporter of basic human rights, I urge you to help gain official recognition for the surviving comfort women and to take a stand that sexual slavery and violence against women are no less grave during times of war, and that such atrocities amount to crimes against humanity and cannot be condoned no matter when or where they take place.

Sincerely,

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Name:
Location:

Important Addresses

YAB Dato' Seri Abdullah bin Haji Ahmad Badawi
Prime Minister and Minister of Internal Security
Prime Minister's Office Malaysia
Perdana Putra Building,
Federal Government Administrative Centre,
62502 PUTRAJAYA Malaysia.
Tel : + 60 3 8888 6000
Fax : + 60 3 8888 3444

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Datuk Seri Syed Hamid B Syed Jaafar Albar
Menteri Luar Negeri Malaysia, Kementerian Luar Negeri
Wisma Putra, No. 1 Jalan Wisma Putra
Presint 2, 62602 PUTRAJAYA
Tel : +603 – 88874000
Fax : +603 - 88891717+603 – 88892816