The Comfort Women of Nanking - Essay Example

The Comfort Women of Nanking This paper looks at the complaints of comfort women during WWII and their demands for compensations as payment for their sufferings when they were repeatedly raped and were exposed to non-human treatments. At the same instance, the study uncovers the reasons whether the denial of the Japanese government to accept responsibility on the conditions of the comfort women is justified. To establish evidences to support justifications of both parties, the study uses data gathering through a review of literature from published sources, both primary and secondary. There are many evidences found in the literature archives that showed women were in the brothels army camp but none of these directly link the responsibility to the Japanese government. There were also photos found showing former comfort women, now in their 80’s standing in protest rallies. On the other hand, there are hard evidences on the part of the Japanese government that sustains their position of denial. On the basis of evidences, study concludes that the Japanese government did not violate any international law on armed conflict as rape is one of the atrocities of war. A recommendation on further study of the law on armed conflict is suggested to avoid recurrence of the situation in the future. The Comfort Women of Nanking The case of comfort women, once kept in secret and not discussed openly, has become a source of uncomfortable diplomatic relations with its affected Asian neighbors. After nearly 60 years of keeping quiet, and with the support of international groups, these women break their silence to demand recognition and payment for their sufferings. These ex-comfort women who are now on their eighties still believe that they deserve to be paid because of the agony they had experienced. In reply, the Japanese Government maintains its position of denial of responsibilities and remains steadfast in its response that it has met all its WWII responsibilities set in WWII treaties. This paper aims to provide an assessment of strategies mounted by the Japanese Government to contradict the claims of the ex-comfort women. I focus on the experiences of the women, particularly on the harrowing nightmares of the sexual abuses to draw an insight on the events referred to. In constructing my analysis and arguments, I draw upon fields of research thru primary and secondary sources of published articles, literatures, archived news and studies covering the issue. As my paper will demonstrate through its analysis of the movements of both parties, the position of the Japanese government rests on its state sovereignty while the counter narrative statements of comfort women is based on human rights. My paper also cites paradigms of academics that resolve the issue based on international legal standards. My study of the comfort women and their claims for compensation looks at how they have shaped their complaints to gain international attention that is enough to pressure the Japanese government. I further examine how the governments are protected by the international agreements and laws such that rapes during armed conflict are not considered crime. I conclude in this paper that the Japanese Government, because of its underlying power in political structure based on international agreement and laws retains its right to reject claims for compensation to ex-comfort women. First part of the paper focuses on the demands of the ex-comfort women and international organizations. I looked at the ordeals of the ex-comfort women in brothels, the number of women, and how they were recruited as sex slaves. I draw on their experiences related to rapes, but none directly implicates the Japanese government to the movement. I also examined the strategies of protests and rallies of the ex-comfort women that are now assisted by interested international women’s group and governments. Such an understanding of the legitimacy of their protests will hopefully lead to a decision on the issue. Second part of the paper transcends on the narrative of events as a response of the Japanese Government to put an end to the issue. Lastly, I explore the international law that covers Article VI of the Nuremberg that does not mention rape as war crime. I also pose the question on whether there is a possibility of plugging the holes of this law to cover protection of women against rape during armed conflict. The sentiments of the WWII comfort women have recently gained momentum of international status as they pursued their interest for compensation and human rights treatment. Soh (2001,p.1), in JPRI Working Paper No. 77, reported the first class action suit filed by ex-comfort women against the Japanese government in December 19991, on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the Japan’s attack on the Pearl Harbor. Since then, other countries became interested and have developed a cooperative alliance to pressure the Japanese government to compensate the comfort women and to issue an official apology. It turned out to be an international level issue that happens to be significant in the discussion of diplomatic relations. For instance, the U.S. House of Representatives had asked the European Parliament and the Council of Europe to take a similar stand against Japan. Similarly, the lower house of the Dutch Parliament and the Canada’s lower house drafted a resolution to the same effect. (“Comfort women: Facts..”, n.d. p.1) The concerted effort of the Korean, Japanese women leaders and ex-comfort women have persuaded international organizations including the United Nations, to conduct a series of hearings and investigations on the matter. As a result, the 1998 U.N. Report on contemporary forms of slavery recommended that “Japan pay state compensation to the ‘individual comfort women’ and prosecute all those responsible for the comfort system that remains alive today.” (Soh, 2001,p.1). Prior to this, an International Commission of Jurists declared in November of 1994 that, "It is indisputable that these women were forced, deceived, coerced and abducted to provide sexual services to the Japanese military . . . [Japan] violated customary norms of international law concerning war crimes, crimes against humanity, slavery and the trafficking in women and children . . . Japan should take full responsibility now, and make suitable restitution to the victims and their families."(Chelala, 2006 p.1.). Korea in particular, through the Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan (Korean Council for short), is asking the Japanese Government for a public apology in behalf of these women and a direct compensation to victims (Choi ,2010. p. 1). Choi, in her study, cited that Koreans also demands that “all facts about military sexual slavery by Japan be recorded in history textbooks; that a memorial and a museum are built, and those responsible for the crime are punished” (p.1). The word comfort women refer to young women of different ethnic groups and nationalities who were forced to offer sexual services to Japanese soldiers before and during the Second World War. According to “Comforts women: facts…” (n.d., p.1) that cited the study of Historian Yoshiaki Yoshimi, there were about 50,000 to 200,000 women who were recruited to the brothels to become comfort women. The same encyclopedia source “comfort women ”facts…” cited State University of New York at Buffalo Professor Yoshiko Nozaki in saying that these women were composed of Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Filipino, Taiwanese, Burmese, Indonesian, Dutch and Australian (p.1). The ordeal of these women in the brothels camp is one of the evidences presented by the women’s group. For instance, the “Comfort women: facts…” estimated that 25 percent of the women who survived were unable to have children as a result of multiple rapes or because of the disease they have contracted. According to Japanese soldier, Yasuji Kaneko, as cited in “Comfort women: facts…”, beatings and tortures to women were common, and even if the women cried out, lived or died, did not matter to them because they were the “emperor’s soldiers”. They raped without reluctance even if it were done in brothels or in villages” (n.d.,p.1) Testimonies of women were also presented to the U.S. House of Representatives who conducted a hearing on the matter. A former comfort woman, Jan Ruff-O-Hearn told the U.S. House of Representatives during a hearing, of her own experience as quoted below: In the so-called “Comfort Station” I was systematically beaten and raped day and night. Even the Japanese doctor raped me each time he visited the brothel to examine us for venereal disease." (“Comfort women: Facts” n.d., p.1) Other women also came forward and gave their own testimonies. For example, Mrs. O’Herne, a former-sex slave, said that an ex-soldier compared comfort women to “a pack of cigarettes to consume” (Choi, 2010, p.2) Maria Rosa Henson, now in her late 80s, described in her autobiography, published by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, 1996, in 156 pages, the pains she suffered as a comfort woman during the war (Distor, 1996). In this book, she narrated the following: "At two, the soldiers came. My work began, and I lay down as one by one the soldiers raped me. Every day, anywhere from 12 to over 20 soldiers assaulted me. There were times when there were as many as 30; they came to the garrison in truckloads." The cruelty towards Rosa and the other girls was unending especially in times when the soldiers were not satisfied after raping them. "Once there was a soldier who was in such a hurry to come that he ejaculated even before he had entered me. He was very angry and he grabbed my hand and forced me to fondle his genitals. Another soldier was waiting for his turn outside the room and started banging on the wall. The man had no choice but to leave, but before going out, he hit my breast and pulled my hair." (Distor) Justifications of the Japanese government to deny responsibility of the sex slavery and resistance to pay the comfort women are based on studies presented on the following paragraphs. Because of this refusal, Japan has been criticized by the Amnesty International as stated in their report issued in 2005, titled “Still Waiting After 60 Years: Justice for Survivors of Japan’s Military Sexual Slavery System”(Chelala, 2006, p.1) In another instance, the review of Brown (1993 pp.1-3) showed that the key factor of the denial of the Japanese government is that there is no evidence that the women were recruited by force, and that the Japanese government are not doing any research amongst the surviving comfort women because that would be an invasion of privacy). According to Brown, academic research along this line was “comfort women were supplied by private contractors” (pp1-3). The article “Comfort women: facts…” (n.d.,p. 1) supports this statement by saying that many brothels were run by private agents and supervised by the Japanese army. Kim (2003, p.1) in her study, cited the statement of the Japanese government during the first session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights in 1996, saying that the comfort women were led around by civilian operators following the military force and that it will be impossible to investigate the matter because of lack of primary documents referring to the incident, most of which were destroyed along with other sensitive documents at the final days of the Pacific War. The establishments of brothels were considered necessary because according to “Comfort women, n.d., p.1), the military believed the morale and efficiency of soldiers will be improved if they had easy access to prostitutes and sexual slaves, aside from controlling spread of sexually transmitted diseases. Another premise that allows the Japanese government to deny their obligation is based on the international law that has underplayed or widely ignored rape incidences in armed conflict. In a paper presented by Chinken (1993, p. 333), a Professor of Law, at the American Society of International Law, argues that . Rape is too frequently regarded as an unfortunate but inevitable side-effect of conflict or as an anticipated bonus for soldiers on all sides. Rape did not figure prominently at Nuremberg, not because the Germans were not guilty of rape, but because the allied forces, especially the Russians and the Moroccan forces under French control, were also guilty of many rapes. Rape was also largely invisible in the trials of the Japanese war criminals. Chinken, in her paper, argues further that rape of women in international armed conflict, which is largely committed by military agents of the State, under public authority has been ignored, such that there has been a silence of the international law on the matter (p.335 ). Furthermore, Chinken (1993, p.336) as affirmed by Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of US, Robert S. Jackson (Nov. 2010, p.1), said that rape is not among those listed as war crimes in Article VI of the Nuremberg Charter . Several apologies were made by the Japanese government, but did not admit legal responsibility on comfort women. In 1965, Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama apologized on Japanese military’s involvement against comfort women (Choi, 2008, p.2). In 1992, Secretary Kato made a public apology on behalf of the Japanese Government and instead of monetary compensation offered “unspecified measures” to be approved by the Cabinet (Brown,1993, p 1). Secretary Kato issued the following statement in a news conference: “I would like to express the sincere apology and remorse of the Government of Japan to all those, irrespective of nationality or place of origin, who underwent indescribable pain and suffering as comfort women,” he said, using the common term for the women. “My heart really aches when I listen to those who speak of this matter.” (Brown, 1993, p.1) This apology was carried in a news article that was published in the New York Times on July 7, 1992, wherein. Sanger (1992) in this news said that “Japan admits set up of army brothels”. The news said that along with this admission, Japan produced a host of documents that showed how their comfort stations were run. The controversy did not end with the apology of Secretary Kato as later, lawmakers wanted to rescind this apology. In a ruling done by the Supreme Court of Japan on April 30, 2007, the claim of the PRC people for compensation to World War II sex slaves and forced labors were rejected; citing that the court’s decision is in line with the Japanese government’s position that war reparations are matters between nations and not between governments and individual (Agence-France Press, 2007). As form of repatriation, but not necessarily treated as compensation to comfort women, the Japanese Government contributed yearly to the Asian Women’s Fund that was established in 1995. The Japanese Government contributed US$4.5 to the fund yearly until was disbanded on March 2007 because according to former Prime Minister Tomichi Murayama who headed the fund, it had already achieved its purpose (BBC News, 24 Jan. 2005). The fund paid 2myen ($19,740) each in compensation plus medical and welfare support to 285 claimants from Philippines, South Korea and Taiwan. The fund also provided medical support to 79 Dutch women who were reportedly raped by Japanese soldiers in Indonesia and housing projects for the elderly in Indonesia. However, many former sex slaves refused to apply to the fund because they believed that they should be paid directly by the government (BBC News, 2005). Based on the studies reviewed, there are sufficient rationalizations to support the Japanese opposition not to pay the comfort women of WWII compensations primarily because of lack of evidences and second; hardships are atrocities natural to war. Women of other countries suffered the same experience during and after the war, but one could wonder why it is only the case of Japan that has been escalated to international level and has generated wide interest. A definition of what is a proper apology should be given as in the study, the Japanese Government has issued several apology statements, but these seem to be insufficient to affected parties. As to compensation, a portion of the study showed that women have been paid thru the AWF and a claim for this today is doubted. However, it has also been noted that only a small percentage of 200,000 women claimed their compensation thru the AWF. In this concern, what will be the measurement of payment, if any, is to be done. No definition for this has been mentioned in the studies reviewed, as it seems another study on terms of payment is needed should the Japanese government agree to the claim. As it is, the Japanese Government claimed it has paid all war repatriations and had committed to the Asian Women’s Fund that is intended to erase all women’s claims. A verdict from the Japan’s Supreme Court denying the request for compensation has been arrived at, and unless more forceful evidences are presented, this case has reached finality. Although it has reached conclusiveness, the case remains unsolved for the women who still feel a rebuttal is necessary. But for now, it is still up to the Japanese government alone; on how they would like to finish this controversy, on how they will put back the strained relations, on how they will bring back the dignity of these forlorn women, and how they will work towards the atonement of peace and unity without necessarily committing their national dignity. What can be done on the matter, as a point of suggestion, is that the inadequacies of the law on rape be solved by proper government authorities or the United Nations. Proper authorities on Human Rights should be able to plug the holes in the law to protect the lives and rights of women in cases of war and in peace. List of References Agence-France Press, 30 April, 2007. “Japan’s Supreme Courts Rejects Compensation”. Comfort Women & Other Legacies of War. 13 Sept. 2010. BBC News. 24 January 2005. “Japan to end WWII sex slaves fund. 30 November 2010 Brown, Robert-Lamont. Feb. 1993. “No Compensation for the Comfort Women”. A Contemporary Review. bNet Resources. 13 September 2010. Chelala, Cesar. 15 July, 2006. “Comfort Women Issue Far from Closed”. News Special to Japan Times 30 November 2010 Chinken, Christine. N.d. “Rape and Sexual Abuse of Women in International Law”. 5 European Journal of International Law 326. N.p. 03 Oct. 2010. Choi, Jeeyoung. “Comfort Women: Japan’s Unpaid Reparations”. Comfort Women: at Bologna Center Journal of International Affairs. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 Oct. 2010 . “Comfort Women” n.d. Encyclopedia: All Experts. 13 September 2010. “Comfort Women: Facts, Discussions, Forum & Encyclopedia”. n.d. 13 September 2010 http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Comfort_women Distor, Emere, 1996. “Comfort Woman, Slave of Destiny, the autobiography of Maria Rosa Henson, illustrated by the author and edited by Sheila S. Coronel”. A Book Review KASAMA, Vol. No. 10, No. 4, October-November-December, 1996. Solidarity Philippine Australia Network. 13 September 2010 http://cpcabrisbane.org/Kasama/1996/V10n4/Henson.htm. Jackson, Robert H. The Influence of the Nuremberg Trial on International Criminal Law 30 November 2010 Kum, Huun Jim. 2003. “ Comfort Women. Voices”. The Women’s College Magazine at Santa Monica College, Spring 2003, Volume 4, No. 1 30 November 2010 Sanger, David E. 27 January 1992. “ Wako Journal, History Scholar in Japan exposes a Brutal Chapter”. Published in New York Times. Comfort Women & Other Legacies of War. 13 Sept. 2010 from http://comfortwomen.wordpress.com/archived-news-articles/ > Soh, Sarah C. May 2001. “Japan’s Responsibility Toward Women Survivors”. JPRI Working Paper No. 77. Japan Policy Research Institute at the University of San Francisco Center for the Pacific Rim. 30 November 2010 Read More