The Tokyo High Court on Thursday dismissed a suit filed by victims from China's Hainan Province seeking damages and apologies from the Japanese government for forcing them to be "comfort women" for the Japanese army during World War II.
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Eighty-three-year-old Chen Jinyu (C in front), a sex slave for Japanese soldiers in World War Two, is surrounded by reporters and supporters outside of the Tokyo High Court in Japan, March 26, 2009. On behalf of all Chinese sex slaves for Japanese soldiers in World War Two, Chen arrived in Japan to attend the second trial at the Tokyo High Court on a suit of Chinese sex slaves in Hainan but failed in the case. [Sun Wei/Xinhua] |
Presiding Judge Watanabe Hitoshi gave the ruling that the individual Chinese has no right to demand compensation from Japan as the right was abandoned under the 1972 Japan-China Joint Communique, in which Beijing "renounced its war reparation from Japan".
The court, however, recognized that the plaintiffs were abducted, confined and raped by Japanese soldiers and have been suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder due to the Japanese soldiers' brutal behaviors.
Indignant about the adjudication, the plaintiffs pledged to appeal to the Japanese Supreme Court and vowed to contend for their rightful demand till the last breath.
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Eighty-three-year-old Chen Jinyu, a sex slave for Japanese soldiers in World War Two, waits outside of the Tokyo High Court in Japan, March 26, 2009. On behalf of all Chinese sex slaves for Japanese soldiers in World War Two, Chen arrived in Japan to attend the second trial at the Tokyo High Court on a suit of Chinese sex slaves in Hainan but failed in the case.[Sun Wei/Xinhua] |
The plaintiffs filed the suit with the Tokyo District Court in July 2001, demanding that the Japanese government apologize for its wartime atrocities, rehabilitate their reputation and give 23 million yen (235,000 US dollars) each in compensation. The court turned down their suit on August 30, 2006.
(Xinhua News Agency March 27, 2009)