'Comfort woman' to visit Japan

YOGYAKARTA: A former Japanese army comfort woman will attend an Asia-Pacific meeting of former comfort women in Japan next month.

Mardiyem, alias Momoye, 65, will represent thousands of Indonesian women who were forced to become Japanese troops' sex slaves in World War II.

She was invited to Tokyo by the Citizens Fund for Redress of World War II, a Japanese non-profit organization which supports victims of Japanese atrocities.

Mardiyem will be accompanied by a lawyer from the Yogyakarta chapter of the Legal Aid Institute (LBH), which has been actively defending the rights of former comfort women.

The meeting, to be held on July 3, will be attended by former comfort women from the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan and Indonesia, Antara reported.

Compensation and an apology from the Japanese government will be high on the meeting's agenda.

The Yogyakarta chapter of the Legal Aid Institute has been seeking compensation for comfort women and forced laborers for some time. (pan)