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Eight Chinese women sue Japan, demand apology
( 2001-07-16 16:51 ) (7 )

Eight Chinese women forced to serve as sex slaves for the Japanese military during World War II sued the Japanese government and demanded an official apology Monday, their lawyer said.

Lawyer Hitoshi Nakano filed a lawsuit with the Tokyo District Court on behalf of the women and demanded Tokyo pay a total of 24 million yen (US$200,000) in compensation and apologize to the women, all now in their 70s.

"The Japanese government should apologize and pay three million yen each to the eight women for having neglected to restore their honour after the war," Nakano told reporters.

"These women have decided to sue the Japanese government they are still suffering from incurable (psychological) wounds inflicted by the Japanese military," the lawyer said.

Living on the southern Chinese island of Hainan, the women are from indigenous ethnic minorities and their names and exact ages have been withheld to protect their privacy, Nakano said.

"These women were raped by the Japanese Imperial Navy which invaded Hainan Island during the war," he said.

The lawsuit followed a Tokyo court ruling on Thursday that awarded the family of a Chinese wartime forced labourer 20 million yen in compensation.

Liu Lianren, escaped slavery in a mine in Hokkaido, northern Japan, in July 1945 and spent 13 years hiding in the mountains, unaware the war was over.

Liu launched his case against the Japanese government in 1996 but died last September aged 87.

In April 1998, a court in the western city of Yamaguchi ordered the government to pay 300,000 yen each to three South Korean women forced to work as sex slaves during the war, the only finding in favour of "comfort women" ever by a Japanese court.

A higher court overturned the ruling in March this year, denying the women their compensation on the basis that compensation for wartime suffering was a matter for parliament, not the courts, to decide.

More than 50 damage suits have been filed against Japan over its wartime sexual enslavement of women, mainly from South Korea and China, according to Kyodo News agency.

Many suits have been rejected by Japanese courts on the grounds that the 20-year period for demanding compensation has expired.

The first hearing in the latest case could take place by November, the plaintiffs' lawyer said, but it is likely to be several years before the court hands down a ruling.