South Korea ordered Japan to pay compensation to women forced to work in brothels during World War II
[ad_1]
A South Korean court has ordered Japan to pay compensation to a group of women who were forced to work in Japanese brothels during World War II.
This is reported by the BBC and The Japan Times.
Victims of the Japanese system of military brothels before and during World War II are called “comfort women.”
There are more than 200,000 women and girls who were forced into prostitution. Many of them were Korean, others from mainland China, the Philippines, Indonesia and Taiwan.
| A statue symbolizing “comfort women” in front of the Japanese embassy in Seoul. Photo: Kyodo News/Getty Images |
In 2016, a group of 16 people, including one victim and relatives of the dead women, filed a lawsuit. In 2021, the Seoul Central District Court dismissed it, citing Japan’s sovereign immunity, an international law concept in which a state is immune from the jurisdiction of a court in another country.
However, the Seoul Supreme Court has now overturned this decision. He ruled that kidnapping and forcing women into sexual relations with military personnel violated international treaties and Japanese criminal law.
The court also noted that international customary law does not recognize the sovereign immunity of the offending country when it comes to illegal actions that a citizen suffers in his own country.
The institution ordered the Japanese government to pay 200 million won ($154,000) in compensation to each woman who was forced to provide sexual services and who took part in the lawsuit.
“I think Japan should sincerely apologize to the plaintiffs and pay compensation according to the court’s decision.” said 94-year-old Lee Yong-soo, a former “comfort woman.”
Japan called the South Korean court’s decision “extremely deplorable and completely unacceptable.”
“Japan once again strongly urges the Republic of Korea to immediately take appropriate measures to correct its violations of international law.” – said Minister of Foreign Affairs Yoko Kamikawa.
We will remind you that earlier we wrote that women from the Congo, who reported sexual violence by WHO employees, were paid $250 each.
Read also: “Foreign media see war crimes as an attraction with a room of fear.” Human rights activist Larisa Denysenko on sexual violence
[ad_2]
Original Source Link
