[KS] Re: Women's International War Crimes Tribunal, Tokyo Pt. 1

Mark Caprio caprio at rikkyo.ne.jp
Thu Oct 12 01:11:04 EDT 2000


REPLY sends your message to the whole list
__________________________________________

Sorry for the long (two part) message.  However,
it appears that this might be of interest to a number
of people on the list.  It was posted on H-Asia by
Mark Selden who gave permission to send it to
Korean studies.

Mark Caprio
Rikkyo University
Tokyo Japan

At 6:38 PM 00.10.11, mark selden wrote:
> Content-Type: text/plain ; format="flowed"
>
> Marc,
>
> I don't know why formatting etc. was so massacred on H-ASIA . . .
> hopefully you can do better than they. But maybe it was a problem in
> my posting.
>
> mark
>
> The Women's International War Crimes Tribunal on Japan's Military
> Sexual Slavery 2000 will convene in Tokyo on December 7-12.
>
> This is a long post, appropriate, I believe, to the importance of the issues.
>
> The conference is the culmination of more than a decade of efforts by
> the Asian victims of Japan's wartime sexual slavery system (the
> "Comfort Women") with the support of Asian feminists and human rights
> activists to tell their story and seek justice, and by international
> movements centered on the United Nations Human Rights Commission to
> recognize their grievances. It represents an extraordinary effort by
> Asian women's movements to overcome barriers of language, the Cold
> War legacy, and "national interest" to pose issues not only of
> Japan's military sexual slavery but of contemporary military violence
> against women internationally.
>
> The Japanese government, after decades of denying responsibility for
> the treatment of the comfort women, was forced by public testimony of
> the comfort women to obliquely recognize its responsibility through
> supporting the establishment of a 'private' fund to compensate
> comfort women victims, while publicly evading its responsibilities
> for apology and restitution. At present nine cases filed by former
> comfort women pending in Japanese courts.
>
> I am forwarding information about the conference from the organizers,
> including a briefing on the issues and information about registration
> and international support. Further information about participation
> and donations to support the event is available from:
> vaww-net-japan at jca.apc.org
>
> mark selden
> Binghamton and Cornell Universities
> ms44 at cornell.edu
>
> A PRIMER ON THE WOMEN's INTERNATIONAL WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL
> and Public Hearing on Current War Crimes
> Tokyo, Japan
> December 8 - 12, 2000
>
> The Women's International War Crimes Tribunal on Japan's Military
> Sexual Slavery
>
> 	The WOMEN'S INTERNATIONAL WAR-CRIMES TRIBUNAL ON JAPAN'S
> MILITARY SEXUAL SLAVERY (or the Tokyo Tribunal) is a people's
> tribunal organized by Asian women and human rights organizations and
> supported by the international NGOs, to hear the cases of sexual
> slavery and other crimes involving sexual violence committed against
> the  women by Japan.  Historically, hundreds of thousands of young
> women in the Asia Pacific region were raped or either deceived or
> abducted to become comfort women for the Japanese Imperial Army
> during the Second World War.  The women were held prisoners for
> periods ranging from one week to more than four years.
>
> 	After the Second World War, sexual violence committed by the
> Japanese Imperial Army was hardly prosecuted by the International
> Military Tribunal for the Far East (The Far East Tribunal) as set-up
> by the Allied Forces.  An exception was the Batavia (Indonesia) Trial
> where the case of 35 Dutch women who had been victimized in
> Indonesia, brought their case against 12 Japanese Army officers at
> the Batavia court.  Charges were made on the grounds of having
> committed war crimes and in defiance of the laws and customs of war,
> in the Dutch East Indies in 1944.  One of the accused was condemned
> to death and others were sentenced to imprisonment ranging from two
> to 15 years.  That was the only trial in history that gave justice to
> the comfort women.  Today most of the comfort women are still denied
> such justice.
>
> 	At present, the Japanese government continues to deny any
> legal responsibility for the war crimes and crimes against humanity
> committed against the women during the Second World War.  Currently
> there are 8 court cases filed by comfort women of various countries
> such as South Korea, China, North Korea, Taiwan and the Philippines
> at the Tokyo and other District Courts, including the High Court, yet
> a number of this cases have been denied by the District Court,
> especially the case of the Filipino and Dutch comfort women.
>
> 	The Women's International War Crimes Tribunal will take place
> in Tokyo, Japan on December 8-12, 2000.  The venue of the Tribunal
> will be at the: Kudan Kaikan, 1-6-5 Kudan-minami, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo,
> Japan 102-0074, Telephone No. 03-3261-5521.
>
>
> The participating victimized countries:
>
> There were many countries victimized by the war of aggression and
> colonization waged by Japan in the Asia Pacific region during the
> 1930s to the 1940s. They crossed the continent from the Pacific to
> East and Southeast Asia. Today the victimized countries participating
> in the Tokyo Tribunal includes South & North Korea, China, Taiwan,
> Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Guam, Burma, among others.
> Historical records showed that Japanese Imperial Army systematically
> set up comfort stations and facilities for sexual slavery, in all the
> occupied and colonized countries, coerced and abducted women to
> become sex slaves for the purpose of providing sexual gratification
> to the officers and soldiers of the Imperial Army.
>
>    It was in 1991 when Kim Hak Soon, the first Korean comfort woman
> came out to tell her story publicly. Soon after, former comfort women
> from other countries - North Korea, Philippines, Indonesia, Taiwan,
> China, Malaysia, and the Dutch women who were held captive in
> Indonesia - broke their fifty years of silence to tell their stories.
> Today around 600 former comfort women from the victimized countries
> have come out to tell their stories.
>
> And a new page of history has been written.
>
> Women's organizations, non-government organizations and civil society
> took on the advocacy to demand justice for the former comfort women
> and seek legal recognition of rape and sexual slavery as war crime,
> crimes against humanity and genocide. The government of Taiwan, South
> Korea, North Korea, the Philippines and China had on separate
> occasions demanded from the Japan government to answer for their
> wartime responsibility. Because of the comfort women's actions,
> having brought their cases to court, they had challenged state
> accountability to the war crimes perpetrated against them. And they
> have inspired numerous other women victims of current war crimes in
> different parts of the world.
>
> No other movement has ever brought to the attention of the
> international community the magnitude of gross human rights
> violations perpetrated against the women fifty years ago, such as
> that of the comfort women of Asia.
>
> No other human rights movement has demanded an end to the cycle of
> impunity of wartime sexual violence against women, such as that of
> the comfort women.
>
> No other human rights movement has brought together peoples from
> different ideological, political, and social movements to unite on
> common grounds - such as the impact of these movements to unite and
> reconcile South and North Korea.
>
> No other movement has demanded accountability from a perpetrator
> country for the grave breaches of human rights violations done to
> women that happened fifty years ago such as that of the comfort women.
>
> No other movement has decided to look at the war crimes and crimes
> against humanity violations under international law and humanitarian
> law on the issue of sexual slavery, sexual violence such as that of
> the comfort women.
>
>
> The Organizers of the Tribunal
>
> The victimized countries are represented by the following organizations:
>
> キ North Korea	Committee on Measures for Compensation to the  Former
> Comfort Women for Japanese Army and Pacific War Victims (COCOPA)
> キ South Korea	Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military
> Sexual Slavery by Japan
> キ China		Shanghai Research Center on Comfort Woman
> キ Taiwan		Taipei Women's Rescue Foundation
> キ Philippines	Asian Centre for Women's Human Rights (ASCENT)
> キ Indonesia		Indonesian Women's Coalition
> キ Malaysia. 		Support Network for Malaysian Comfort Women
> キ Netherlands		Support Network for Dutch Comfort Women
> キ Burma		Support Network for Burmese Comfort Women
>
> Supporting the initiatives of the victimized countries from Japan is
> the Violence Against Women in War-Network Japan. (VAWW-NET Japan)
>
> These organizations comprise the members of the International
> Organizing Committee (IOC) and the Convenors are:
>
> キ Ms. Yun Chung Ok of the Korean Council,
> キ Ms. Yayori Matsui of VAWW-NET Japan
> キ Ms.  Indai Sajor of ASCENT
>
> An International Advisory Committee has also been set up to provide
> support and advise to the organizers.  These are composed of
> internationally known human rights advocates, feminists, in the area
> of peace and development.  These are:
>
> キ Edna Aquino, Amnesty International
> キ Ariane Brunet, International Center for Human Rights and Democratic
> Development
> キ Charlotte Bunch, Center for Women's Global Leadership
> キ Florence Butegwa, Associates for Change
> キ Eugenia Piza Lopez, International Alert
> キ Alda Facio, ILANUD
> キ Marieme Helie Lucas, Women Living Under Muslim Laws
> キ Lepa Mladjenovic, Autonomous Women's Center Against Sexual Violence
> キ Vahida Nainar, Women's Caucus for Gender Justice
> キ Julie Shaw, Urgent Action Fund
> キ Vivian Stromberg, MADRE
> キ Felicity Hill, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom
> キ Regan Ralph, Human Rights Watch
>
> The objectives of the Tokyo Tribunal
>
> 1. To receive from each country evidence highlighting the grave
> nature of the crimes committed against the comfort women and to
> clarify the consequent responsibility of the Japanese Government and
> its military;
> 2. To have a clear analysis of the gendered nature of the crimes and
> to established a gender-sensitive approach to the issues of war
> crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide;
> 3. To involve the international community in shedding light about the
> nature of the crimes committed against the comfort women of Asia and
> to identify steps to be taken by the Japanese Government;
> 4. To create an international movement supporting women's issues on
> violence against women under war and armed conflict situations; and
> 5. To end impunity of wartime sexual violence against women and to
> prevent such crimes from happening in the future.
>
> Background and Preparation for the Tokyo Tribunal
>
> 	As the millennium comes to an end, it is but proper to give
> the women survivors who are all in their advanced age a sense of what
> constitutes justice.  Discussion of organizing the International
> Women's War Crimes Tribunal started in April 1998, when members of
> the VAWW-NET International (Violence against Women in War Network)
> met in Geneva to attend the session of the UN Commission on Human
> Rights.  Since then several meetings were held to flesh out the idea
> of holding the Tokyo Tribunal among the victimized.  The VAWW-NET
> Japan, the Korean Council and ASCENT-Philippines were identified as
> convenors of the Tribunal, with all the other participating countries
> to form the International Organizing Committee (IOC).  An
> International Advisory Committee (IAC) was likewise created composed
> of internationally known women's human rights activists, lawyers, and
> feminists to provide support and advise to the IOC.
>
> In these meetings, it was agreed that the main theme of the Tribunal
> is to define the individual criminal responsibility and
> accountability of the Japanese government under international law and
> humanitarian law for its war crimes and crimes against humanity.
> Succeeding meetings have been held whenever there is a possibility
> for the members of the Organizing Committee to be together in other
> international conferences or gatherings to discuss about the charter,
> the rules and procedures of evidences, the country research and
> prosecution teams, the judges, chief prosecutors and experts to be
> invited.
>
> The first prosecutors meeting was held in Manila last July 29-31,
> 2000 attended by 40 participants from the victimized countries and
> Japan including observers.  The IOC members met together with the
> country prosecutors and chief prosecutors for the first time to
> discuss the legal framework for the indictment and to approve the
> Charter.  Long discussions on the elements of war crimes, framework
> of the indictments, rules of procedures and evidence and structure of
> the country indictments were thoroughly discussed.
>
> Another meeting was held in September 15-18, 2000 in Taipei. The
> participating countries presented their indictments and finalized all
> the necessary requirements for the holding of the Tribunal.
> Meanwhile, teams of prosecutors from the victimized countries and
> Japan composed of respected lawyers and academicians are working on
> the indictment, doing research, gathering evidences, studying the
> charter, and meeting the former comfort women.
>
> Is redress possible in the Tokyo Tribunal?
>
>                The organizers are convinced that redress, for women
> victimized in time of wars and conflict situations, from the past to
> the present, is possible in the light of the principles of
> international law, humanitarian law, human conscience, humanity and
> gender justice.
>
>                The Tribunal has no real power to enforce its
> judgement, but as a people's and women's initiative, it nonetheless
> carries the moral authority to demand their wide acceptance and
> enforcement of the judgement by the international community and civil
> society and pave the way for law reforms in national governments.
>
> The people involved in the Tokyo Tribunal
>
> 	Other than the convenors and members of the International
> Organizing Committee, there is a global campaign among women and men
> to support and endorse the Tokyo Tribunal.  Local, national, regional
> and international campaigns are being initiated not only by the
> victimized countries but by human rights and peace institutions,
> networks working for humanitarian assistance and women's
> organizations.
>
> 	Partial listings of Tribunal Members:
>
> 	The Judges:
>
> Gabrielle Kirk McDonald, USA (former President of the Yugoslavia War
> Crimes Tribunal)
> Pierre Sane,Senegal ( Secretary General of Amnesty international)
> Vitit Muntarbhorn, Thailand (former UN Rapporteur on the sale of the
> children, child prostitution, and child pornography)
> Carmen Maria Argibay, Argentina (President of the International
> Women's Association of Judges)
> Christine Chinkin, United Kingdom (Expert on Gender and International Law)
> (Other eminent persons are still being contacted)
>
> 	The Legal Advisers:
>
> Rhonda Copellon, (Professor of Law, City University of New York)
> Theo Van Boven,  (Professor of law, Maastricht University, the Netherlands)
> Kelly Dawn Askin, (Professor of law, Washington University)
>
> 	The Chief Prosecutors:
>
> Patricia Viseur-Sellers, Legal Adviser for Gender-Related Crimes  in
> the Office of the Prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal
> for the former Yugoslavia, and until recently the Rwanda Tribunal;
> Ustinia Dolgopol - Professor of Law, Flinders University, Australia
> Hina Jilani - Lawyer for the Supreme Court of Pakistan
>
> 	The Experts:
>
> 		Herbert P. Bix -Emperor Hirohito
> 		Theo Van Boven -right to reparation
> 		Gay McDougall - racism and gender
> 		Yoshiaki Yoshimi - Japanese Imperial Army
> 		Fritz Kalshoven - state responsibility
> 		(others are still being contacted)
>
> 	The Country Prosecutors:
> 		For North Korea
> Hwang Ho Nam, Secretary General, COCOPA
> Jong Nam Yong, lawyer, Executive Member, COCOPA
>
> 		For China
> Mr. Zhou Hong-jun, Law Professor & Deputy Chief of the International
> Economic Law Institute of East China University of Politics and Law
> Mr. Su Zhi Liang, History Department, Shanghai Teachers University
>
> 		For South Korea
> Dr. Kim, Myung-gi, Chief Prosecutor, Myunggi University, Professor,
> International Law)
> Dr. Cho Si Hyun,  Prosecutor, Professor of Law, Sungsin University
> Law School, International Law
> Dr. Kim Chang Rok, Prosecutor,, Pusan University of Law, History of Japan Law
> Mr. Chang Wan-Ick,  Prosecutor, Lawyer, ANSAN
> Mr. Park Won-soon, Prosecutor, Lawyer, General Secretary, Peoples
> 	Solidarity for Participatory Democracy
> Ms. Kang Jeong-sook, Prosecutor, Research staff, Korean Institute of
> 	Jungshindae, Women history)
> Dr. Ha Jong-moon, Prosecutor, Professor of Hanshin University
> Dr. Yang Hyun-ah, Lecturer at Seoul University
>
> 		For Taiwan
> Mr. Liao Ying-Chih, lawyer, International Law
> Ms. Lu Chia Hsiang, Taipei Women's Rescue Foundation
> Mr. Chuang Kuo-Ming (Henry), lawyer, international law
>
> 		For Philippines
> Dr. Merlin Magallona, Professor of Law, College of Law, University of
> the Philippines
> Atty. Sedfrey Candelaria, Asst. Dean, Ateneo University College of Law
> Dr. Purificacion Quisumbing,  Chairperson Philippine Judicial
> Academy, Supreme Court of the Philippines
> Prof. Ricardo Jose, Professor of History, University of the Philippines,
> Atty. Evalyn Ursua,  Professor of Law, University of the Philippines
> Ms. Aurora Javate de Dios,  Dean, Miriam College
>
> 		For Indonesia
> Nursyahbhani Katjasungkana, lawyer and Secretary  General of
> Indonesian Women Coalition for Justice and Democracy
> Antarini Ama , lawyer of the Indonesian Women's Coalition for Justice
> and Democracy
> Asnifriyanti Damanik - Legal Aid Indonesia Women Association for Justice
> Paulus R. Mahulette - Lawyer,  LBH Jakarta (Jakarta Legal
> 				Aid Institute)
>
>   		For Japan
> Atty. Kazuko Kawaguchi, Chief Lawyer, VAWW-NET Japan
> Atty. Yuichi Yokota, Lawyer, VAWW-Net Japan
> Atty. Yasushi Higashizawa, Lawyer, VAWW-Net Japan
> Professor Koki Abe
> Professor Shin Hae Bong
>
> 		For the Netherlands
> Atty. Henry Grant, (Professor of Law & former Prosecutor ICTY)
>
> The Public Hearing on Current War Crimes
>
> 	A one-day public hearing is being organized to hear the
> testimonies of the victims from on-going war and conflict around the
> world, to demonstrate that the crimes against the former 'comfort
> women'  is still happening to  women today.  The public hearing will
> be comprised of testimonies of victims and survivors of wars and
> conflicts in different regions of the globe such as Guatemala,
> Colombia, Chiapas, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Congo, Nigeria, Rwanda,
> Somalia, Sudan, Kosovo, Bangladesh, Kashmir, Cambodia, Vietnam,
> Burma, East Timor, Afghanistan, Algeria and Puerto Rico.
>
> 	The hearing will not only present testimonies of women who
> had been victimized by war but also provide a forum simultaneously to
> talk about the initiatives of women and men in other countries to
> rise and demand justice and peace in their communities. The public
> hearing will usher the continuing work of women and men for justice,
> peace and end to impunity.
>
> The series of consultative meetings among the women's and human
> rights groups, peace networks and law reform advocates. The four
> themes that were eventually identified at this meetings represent the
> source or the root cause of  wars/conflicts and human rights
> violations.
>
> The themes identified are:
>
> キ Conflicts/violations resulting from extremism.  Many countries are
> in situations of war, conflict and unrest as a result of rise of the
> power and stronghold of states, groups and organizations that profess
> extreme ideologies based on nationalism, ethnicity, religion, race,
> marginalization, majoritarianism, which take violent forms and
> terrorizes the communities.
>
> キ Conflicts/violations resulting from militarism: Aggression,
> invasion, state repression, military or other kinds of occupation and
> foreign policy of powerful countries are the source of conflicts in
> many countries around the world today.  In the process, fundamental
> rights of peoples, particularly women are violated.
>
> キ Resource-based conflicts/violations: Access and dispute over
> resources have been the root cause of wars and conflicts. Disputes
> over land, natural resources, borders, territories, water, natural
> resources have intensified in many countries and their communities.
>
> キ Violations during post-conflict and the lasting impacts in the
> event of non-resolution of conflicts on peace and reconstruction:
> Women are often ignored or marginalized during the peace process and
> in the subsequent efforts of reconstruction and rehabilitation.  Many
> forms of violence against women take place as accountability often
> are not ensured during this phase.
>
> 	The public hearing will be held on December 11, after the
> third day of the Tokyo Tribunal proceedings  and  followed the next
> day  by the Tokyo Tribunal judgement.  The Women's Caucus for Gender
> Justice for the ICC in New York is the Secretariat for the public
> hearing.
>
> Women's Caucus for Gender Justice, PO Box 3541 Grand Central Post
> Office, New York,
> NY 10163,USA Tel.1-212-697-7741 & Fax. 1-212-949-7996 Email <iccwomen at igc.org>
>
>
> Groups supporting the Tribunal
>
> Various organizations and individuals have already endorsed and
> expressed their support for the Tribunal.  UN Special Rapporteurs
> will be invited to attend the proceedings.  In particular, UN SR
> Rhadhika Coomarswamy will specifically attend the Public Hearing on
> Current war Crimes to hear the cases of women for her next report at
> the UN Commission on Human Rights in March 2001.  Following are the
> initial list of these organizations:
> NGO Coalition to the International Criminal Court (CICC); Amnesty
> International (AI); CIDA-SEAGEP; Shaler Adams Foundation;
> Akina-Mama-Wa Africa; Asian and Pacific Development Center (APDC);
> International Women's Human Rights Law Clinic (CUNY- NY); ISIS-WICCE;
> ISIS-Manila; International Center for Human Rights and Democratic
> Development (ICHRDD); Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML); Women's
> International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF); Equality Now;
> International Alert; Human Rights Watch; Urgent Action Fund; MADRE;
> Autonomous Women's Center Against Sexual Violence; Coalition Against
> Trafficking in Women (CATW); Asia Pacific Forum on Women Law and
> Development (APWLD); Global Alliance Against Trafficking in Women
> (GAATW); Australian National Committee of Refugee Women; INFORM, Sri
> Lanka; AGHS Legal Aid Cell, Pakistan; Asian and Pacific Development
> Center (APDC);  Revolutionary Association of the Women of
> Afghanistan; Women's Caucus for Gender Justice - ICC and more.
>
> The Convenors of the Tribunal
>
> キ Yayori Matsui
>        VAWW-NET Japan
> 2-10-10 Shiomi, Koto-ku, 135-8685, Japan
> Tel/Fax: (813) 5337-4088
> Email: vawwjs at jca.apc.org
> URL: http://www.jca.apc.org/vaww-net-japan
>
> キ Yun Chung Ok
>        The Korean Council for the Women Drafted for
>        Military Sexual Slavery by Japan
> 3F, CISUD Bldg., #35 Chungieongro 2 Ga
> Seodaemun Gu, Seoul, Korea
> Tel: (822) 365-4016  & Fax: (822) 365-4017
>
> キ Indai Sajor
>        Asian Centre for Women's Human Rights (ASCENT)
> Suite 306 MJB Bldg., 220 Tomas Morato Ave.,
> Quezon City, Philippines
> Tel: (632) 926-4386 or 410-1512
> Fax: (632) 928-4973

Mark Caprio
Department of Law and Politics
Rikkyo University
Tokyo, Japan





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