Filipina sex slaves forced to serve Japanese Imperial Army troops during World War II are not entitled to compensation, according to a Tokyo High Court ruling Wednesday.
Upholding a 1998 Tokyo District Court ruling, the high court wasted little time in dismissing the case, saying there was no legal basis for compensating the former sex slaves as individuals.
"Even if the women have been harmed, individuals have no right to claim compensation in a matter involving belligerent nations," Presiding Judge Masato Niimura said as he threw out the suit seeking 920 million yen in compensation for 46 Filipina sex slaves.
Lawyers for the women are poised to appeal against the ruling.
During their legal battle, the sex slaves argued that the Hague Convention guaranteeing the rights of individuals in occupied countries also allowed them to sue the Japanese government as individuals to claim compensation. But Niimura dismissed the argument.
"As a rule, individuals injured by another country should be dealt with by the diplomatic authorities," Niimura said. "The Hague Convention does not guarantee individuals the right to sue for compensation. And though times change and the opportunity for individuals to sue under international law may arise, to do so requires a special review of the extent to which international law applies."
Niimura was just as dismissive of the plaintiffs' arguments that Japanese leaders had neglected their duty to set up laws that would allow for compensation for victims of the nation's military.
"It is impossible to understand where that legal responsibility lies," Niimura said.
Filipinas from as young as 10 were seized, held captive and forced to provide sexual services to the nation's military after Japan occupied the Philippines in 1942.
Mostly recruited by the military, such wartime sex slaves are euphemistically referred to as "comfort women."
In 1998, the Tokyo District Court dismissed the case without conducting a fact-finding investigation in the hearings.
Eighteen women filed the suit in April 1993, and 28 others joined six months later.
Ten died before the ruling, including Maria Rosa Henson, one of the first Filipinas to tell of their experiences in Japanese military brothels.
Seven other cases dealing with demands for compensation and apologies from the Japanese government have been filed by former sex slaves.
The latest decision is the second ruling at the high court level, following one handed down in a suit filed by a South Korean woman living in Japan.
On Nov. 30, the Tokyo High Court rejected her demands for a government apology and 12 million yen in damages for being treated as a sex slave before and during the war.
Up to 200,000 women, mostly from the Korean Peninsula, are said to have been taken to front-line brothels and forced to provide sex for Japanese soldiers.
Source:
http://www.mainichi.co.jp/english/news/archive/200012/07/news03.html