As a protest against inaction from the government of Japan, women's organizations from that country and victims of sexual slavery from other countries during WWII have united to form a women's tribunal to restore justice and the dignity of so-called "comfort women."
The Women's International War Crimes Tribunal on Japan's Military Sexual Slavery is to be held in Tokyo, Japan, between Dec. 8 and Dec. 10, and will be co-hosted by Asian victims' countries including South and North Korea, Japan, China, the Philippines, Taiwan, Indonesia and Malaysia.
The announcement was made by Yayori Matsui, chairperson of the Violence Against Women in War Network, Japan (VAWW-NET Japan), during the Fourth Asian Women's Forum in Taipei, which concluded last week.
"Our main purpose is to clarify that sexual slavery constitutes a war crime against humanity and also to pressure the Japanese government to take legal responsibilities," she said.
Matsui, whose VAWW-NET Japan proposed to hold the women's tribunal at the Asian Women's Solidarity Conference in Seoul in 1998, said the tribunal would be international, and non-governmental.
Most of all, she said, it is aimed at ending the impunity of those responsible for Japan's sexual slavery during WWII.
During the war, thousands of women in Asian countries were held captive to serve as comfort women to the Japanese soldiers. Under the sexual slavery system, the women faced the most hideous sexual torture and violence every day and night.
Yet, after the war ended, the traumatic experiences had to be buried deep in the minds of the former comfort women. In was not until the early 1990s that Korean comfort women -- victims of Japan's sexual slavery -- broke their silence and came forward to condemn atrocities committed by Japanese soldiers.
Their example was followed by survivors from other Asian countries, including China, Taiwan, North Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia as well as the Netherlands.
"We, women of the offending country, were deeply moved by their courage and considered it our moral responsibility to respond to the appeal from the survivors," Matsui said.
"But we feel so sorry that though nearly 10 years have passed since the issue of comfort women surfaced, the Japan government has barely responded to the mounting demand for prosecution of the sexual criminals, or compensated the victims, or at the very least, given just a formal apology," she said.
Internationally, there is a growing awareness that sexual slavery is a war crime and the offenders should face justice. At the Fourth UN World Women's Conference in Beijing, the Platform for Action which was adopted states that systematic rape, sexual slavery and other forms of violence against women in armed conflicts are war crimes.
It also says that governments and international organizations should investigate and prosecute alleged war criminals, until there is full redress to the victimized women.
International recognition of sexual slavery as a crime is perceived as risky by Japan's government, which believes criminal prosecution of wartime sexual offenders might antagonize the Japanese public.
According to Matsui, eight lawsuits for reparations have been filed so far in courts in Japan by comfort women from countries: Three are from Korea, two from China, one from the Philippines, one from Taiwan, and one from the Netherlands.
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