Atrocity victims await compensation<\/p>\n
TOKYO (Reuter): Survivors of Japanese World War II atrocities
\nfrom 13 countries across the Asia-Pacific region gathered in
\nTokyo yesterday in a combined attempt to get compensation from
\nthe Japanese government.<\/p>\n
\"This is a question of the honor of the Japanese people, and
\nthe honor of the Japanese government,\" said Tasrip Rahardjo,
\nleader of a group of Indonesian former militiamen press-ganged
\ninto service in the Japanese army.<\/p>\n
\"The Japanese army robbed us of our basic human rights,\" said
\nFilipino Gertrudes Balisalisa, a wheelchair-bound former \"comfort
\nwoman\" forced to serve as a sex slave in army-run battlefield
\nbrothels.<\/p>\n
\"The only way we can get them back is through compensation,\"
\nhe added.<\/p>\n
The representatives comprise a total of 50 from Hong Kong,
\nIndonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, the Marshall Islands, Nauru,
\nPapua New Guinea, the Philippines, Russia's Sakhalin island,
\nSingapore, Taiwan, Britain and the United States.<\/p>\n
They spoke at a news conference ahead of meetings with Chief
\nCabinet Secretary Kozo Igarashi, Foreign Ministry officials and
\nLower House speaker Takako Doi.<\/p>\n
The group was to hand Igarashi a letter to Prime Minister
\nTomiichi Murayama demanding that Japan first send fact-finding
\nmissions and obtain information on survivors.<\/p>\n
Survivors from Nauru, the Marshall Islands and Papua New
\nGuinea were in Tokyo for the first time.<\/p>\n
About 30,000 of 100,000 Indonesian militiamen perished on
\nPacific island battlefields helping the Japanese army. Taiwanese
\nsoldiers in the Japanese military were never paid, compensated or
\ngiven pensions.<\/p>\n
Japan's wartime government cheated Hong Kong residents by
\nforcing them to exchange their cash for military notes, now
\nworthless.<\/p>\n
Sakhalin<\/p>\n
Hundreds of thousands of Koreans were brought to Japan as
\nforced laborers, many of whom perished as a result of harsh
\nworking conditions. Some were taken to Sakhalin and abandoned
\nthere when the territory reverted to Soviet rule.<\/p>\n
Japanese army units conducted massacres in Malaysia, Papua New
\nGuinea and the Marshalls.<\/p>\n
Some 40 percent of Nauru islanders were taken to the Japanese
\nnavy base at Truk Island, where many died.<\/p>\n
British prisoners-of-war were forced to dig mass graves for
\nmassacre victims, set to work on the \"Death Railway\" between
\nThailand and Burma and then forced to work in mines in Taiwan.<\/p>\n
\"At least we could fight,\" said Jack Edwards, a former British
\nprisoner-of-war and now a resident of Hong Kong. \"But these
\nsisters (comfort women), they were not even given a chance to
\nfight.\"<\/p>\n
Aleutian natives from the north Pacific island of Attu were
\nincarcerated in Hokkaido, Japan, where many died.<\/p>\n
The representatives were invited to Tokyo by a coalition of
\nsome 12 Japanese citizens' groups which is to host the two-day
\nannual International Forum of War Reparation for the Asian-
\nPacific Region, opening today.<\/p>\n
What had been separate moves to demand compensation for the
\natrocities from the Japanese government were now being combined,
\nJapanese organizers said.<\/p>\n
Almost 50 years after World War II, Japan has yet to come to
\nterms with its bloody record of massacre, rape, plunder and gross
\nmistreatment of people under its yoke.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/atrocity-victims-await-compensation-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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