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Statements Archive |
LAST UPDATE July
31, 2007 |
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| July 31, 2007 |
Peace Boat Statement Regarding the US House of
Representatives "Comfort Women" Resolution |
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Att: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
On 30 July, the US House of Representatives unanimously approved the resolution
regarding the Japanese military's gcomfort womenh issue, after it being passed
by the House Foreign Affairs Commission on 26 June. We strongly call for the Japanese
government to take this seriously, and to respond sincerely to the demands.
Peace Boat's founding in 1982 was triggered by the history textbook issue, and
as an organization we have continued to conduct citizens' diplomacy throughout
the Asia Pacific region. However, as long as the Japanese government does not
take a serious and responsible stance regarding its past of colonial rule and
the victims of World War II, true reconciliation cannot be achieved the Asia Pacific
region.
This resolution demands that the Government of Japan:
(1)Should formally acknowledge, apologize, and accept historical responsibility
in a clear and unequivocal manner for its Imperial Armed Force's coercion of young
women into sexual slavery, known to the world as `comfort women', during its colonial
and wartime occupation of Asia and the Pacific Islands from the 1930s through
the duration of World War II;
(2)Should have this official apology given as a public statement presented by
the Prime Minister of Japan in his official capacity;
(3)Should clearly and publicly refute any claims that the sexual enslavement and
trafficking of the `comfort women' for the Japanese Imperial Armed Forces never
occurred; and
(4)Should educate current and future generations about this horrible crime while
following the recommendations of the international community with respect to the
`comfort women'.
Points 1 and 2 call for not just an apology like that of Prime Minister Abe to
President Bush upon his visit to the United States, but for an apology to the
victims, to women of the Asia Pacific who were forced to become sex slaves to
the Japanese military. It seeks a sincere apology for the suffering continually
inflicted on the victims. Even now, 60 years after the end of the war, the women's
dignity as human beings is denied by successive bureaucrats who refute Chief Cabinet
Secretary Kono's 1993 statement expressing apology and remorse. If a gclear and
unequivocalh apology is not made now, while some of the victims are still alive,
it will long be difficult for the Japanese government to restore its honour.
Point 3 also calls for a clear and public refutation of gTHE FACTS,h an advertisement
published in the 14 June Washington Post. Over 40 Diet members listed their names,
claiming that there was no force on the part of the Japanese military in the gcomfort
womenh system. We condemn the Japanese government's tacit acquiescence of this
claim.
In regards to point 4, we call for observance of the 1982 Neighbouring Countries
Clause (an international commitment set as a standard on textbook screening, which
contains the condition that gthe treatment of modern historical events relating
to neighbouring Asian countries must have the necessary consideration of the standpoints
of international understanding and cooperationh). We also call for the historical
facts regarding the Japanese military's gcomfort womenh system to be fully included
in history textbooks used in schools, and for the historical responsibility to
be made clear.
Peace Boat |
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