Justice for Comfort Women is Justice for the Future

By: Ariane Brunet*

     In an unprecedented move last month, 75 courageous and dignified women aged 68 to 80, went to Tokyo to tell their horrific stories of brutal rapes, repeated beatings, maiming and murder at the hands of soldiers of the Japanese Imperial Army during the Second World War.

     During three days, these women, many of whom had never dared speak out in public before, testified before the Women’s International War Crimes Tribunal on Japan Military Sexual Slavery and before an audience of 1,500, to challenge the Japanese government into acknowledging war crimes committed more than 50 years ago. Every single women who testified demanded an official apology from the Japanese government.

     The panel of judges headed by Gabrielle Kirk-McDonald, the former President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) found that former Emperor Hirohito was responsible for the rape and sexual enslavement of over 200,000 women, abducted and deceived into the "comfort women" system to "serve the Japanese military wherever Japanese soldiers were found."

     Procuring and securing women for these stations was an integral part of the war strategy, intended to deter open rape in occupied territory and thereby limit anti-Japanese sentiment among the local population, while protecting Japanese soldiers from venereal disease. Women and girls were abducted or forced into these stations, the panel found, after reviewing evidence presented by prosecutors from China, East Timor, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, North and South Korea, the Philippines and Taiwan.

     Moon Pil Gi, 74, from Korea testified how it was impossible to escape from the comfort stations. Kidnapped at the age of 15, she was brutally raped in the station and burned when she resisted. The station was surrounded by barbed wires, and the women were constantly under guard. In a video testimony Kim Bok Dong also from Korea testified that she was beaten and raped daily. " I thought it would be better to die than to live. But we were so young we did not know how to die, " she said.

     If these young women attempted to escape they were severely beaten, some even executed. Chong Ok Sun was even tattooed all over her body including the inside of her mouth as a mark of humiliation and ownership.

     Kim Young Suk from North Korea, was abducted at the age of 12 and endured 30 to 40 rapes a day. One soldier mutilated her genitals with his bayonet broke her leg in a beating, disabling her for life. Soldiers forced her to have an abortion cutting her foetus out with a bayonet, removing her uterus.

     Subjected to such physical violence these women were unable to return to a normal life after the war. Most of them never married, had children or were allowed to be part of their own community again as they were shunned by friends and family.

     Since the first Korean "comfort woman" spoke out in 1993, the Japanese government has made little attempt to address its past. It has played down its war-time record by stating that "comfort women stations " were not a slave-system and not considered a crime in 1945. In 1995, it set up a fund for private contribution to be used as compensation for the "comfort women" but drew the line at issuing an apology. Very few women have accepted compensation from that fund and some "comfort women" from Korea and the Philippines have sought remedy before the Tokyo District High Court, but to no avail.

     At the start of this new century, civil society in the Asia Pacific region and international women and human rights groups felt that these crimes against women during the Second World War had to be acknowledged. Time was running out: many of the women were in ill-health and dying. They could not go to their grave without having an opportunity to tell their stories and demand an apology.

     The panel of judges chaired by Madam Justice Kirk-McDonald included Judge Carmen Argibay, President of the International Association of Women Jurists, Professor of International law Christine Chinkin of the London School of Economics and Willy Mutunga member of the Board of Director Rights & Democracy in Montreal and Executive Director of the Kenyan Human Rights Commission.

     In its Summary of Findings, the panel found that the Emperor committed crimes against humanity, consisting of rape and sexual slavery. Based on the testimonies of Japanese researchers, the Tribunal found that the Emperor "was not a puppet" but rather exercised "unique power and ultimate decision making authority." It found that, from the "Rape of Nanjing" the Emperor knew or should have known of the problem of rape and should have taken measures to put an end to it rather than condone or at least, allow it to be perpetuated and concealed through the so-called "comfort women  system."

     It further noted that sexual slavery was not a new crime but "rather a particularly outrageous, invasive and devastating form of enslavement." Japan claims that it has been relieved of all forms of compensation under the terms of the 1951 San Francisco Treaty which officially ended the war. Japan was however a signatory to the 1907 Hauge Convention on Land Warfare, the 1926 Convention on Slavery, the year? Convention Prohibition the trafficking of Women and Children and the 1930 Covention Concerning Forced or Compulsory Labour.

      The experience of "comfort women" was unique because of the degree to which the Japanese government made it part of its wartime operations. However, as studies and past experiences have shown, wars and civil strive have brought widespread violence against women.

     Gender discrimination continues to affect the lives of women all over the world. It is also the racism and sexism that allows war crimes against women go unpunished. Moreover, this popular tribunal in Tokyo made the connection between impunity and the lack of state accountability. Civil society’s pivotal role was confirmed as it took the lead to bring this issue to the public and seek justice when governments and other institutions ignored the calls of these.

     Without the determination and resilience of the survivors and the commitment of the women activists we would be entering this new century blindfolded. Without civil society’s continued efforts for the creation of an International Criminal Court we could not hope for an end to impunity for all crimes against humanity including crimes against women.

     It is not too late to act. Canada, given its membership in the G7 and its key role in the campaign for the creation of the International Criminal Court, must take measures so that Japan accepts responsibility in these terrible crimes against more than 200,000 Asian women.

     Japan must realize that it cannot be part of the world movement fighting impunity if it does not acknowledge its own past. Justice for comfort women is the essential first step to ensure justice for all women.

     * Ariane Brunet is Coordinator of the Women's Rights Programmes at Rights & Democracy and a member of the International Consultative Committee of the Women's International War Crimes Tribunal 2000 for the Trial of Japanese Military Sexual Slavery.