June 2&4, 2013
Japanese Communist Party Secretariat Head Ichida Tadayoshi on June 3 said that the government should take into account a UN committee recommendation on the issue of the Japanese military's wartime sex slavery system and provide an apology and compensation to the victims.
Ichida indicated that the recommendation given on May 31by the UN Committee against Torture (CAT) focuses attention on the Japanese government's "continuing official denial of the facts and re-traumatization of the victims." Ichida added, "The government should drastically change its inappropriate stance toward the past history and offer apology and compensation payments to the victims by admitting that the 'comfort women' issue has yet to be solved."
CAT examines reports from state parties about their implementations of the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhumane or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and issues recommendations if needed.
In the light of the recent controversial remarks made by Osaka Mayor Hashimoto Toru, the recommendation expresses concern that the Japanese government falls short of meeting obligations under the Convention in addressing the comfort women issue.
The recommendation points out that the Japanese government fails "to provide adequate redress and rehabilitation to the victims" and "prosecute perpetrators of such acts of torture and bring them to justice" as well as continues "official denial of the facts and re-traumatization of the victims by high-level national and local officials and politicians, including several diet members."
The recommendation calls on the Japanese government to "take immediate and effective legislative and administrative measures."
The Japanese government has claimed that the comfort women issue is not subject to the Convention because sex slavery occurred before the Convention came into effect in 1987.
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