Final Preliminary Statement of the War Crimes Tribunal.

                                                                                                                                            by María Suárez Toro, FIRE.

On 12 December 2000 in Japan, judges of the War Crimes Tribunal on Japanese Military Sexual Slavery during the II World War, Gabrielle Kirk McDonald, Carmen Argibay, Christine Chinkin and Willy Mutunga found Emperor Hirohito guilty of violations of women´s human rights. They announced that they will issue a broader verdict on March 8, 2001 due to the volume of evidence that has to be revised.

However, at the end of the three days of hearing, and in the voice of presiding judge, Gabriele Kirk McDonald, their verdict was very clear: "38. After considering the extensive documentation received by the Tribunal during the course of these proceedings, and in reviewing the applicable law as it stood at the time the crimes were committed, the Tribunal rendered its summary of findings. The final Judgment will be delivered on March 8, 2001.  39. The Tribunal finds, based on the evidence before it, that the Prosecution has proved its case against the accused Emperor Hirohito, and finds him guilty of responsibility for rape and sexual slavery as a crime against humanity, under Counts 1-2 of the Common Indictment, and guilty of rape as a crime against humanity under Count 3 of the Common Indictment. Additionally, the Judges determine that the government of Japan has incurred state responsibility, as recognized under Article 4 of the Charter, for its establishment and maintenance of the comfort system."

In the opening of the statement they recognized the strength of the testifiers by saying that "In the early 1990s, Asian women began to break almost five decades of painful silence to demand apology and compensation for the atrocities they and others suffered under Japanese military sexual slavery during the War in the 1930s and 1940s in the Asia Pacific region. The courageous revelations of the victimized survivors, euphemistically called "comfort women", inspired hundreds more survivors, throughout the Asia Pacific region, to speak out. Together, they have awakened the world to the horror of the Japanese military's institutionalization of rape, sexual slavery, trafficking, torture and other forms of sexual violence inflicted upon an estimated minimum of 200,000 girls and women. Robbed of their youth and their future, they were conscripted and trafficked through force, coercion, and deception and confined to "comfort stations" or, more accurately, sexual slavery facilities, where Japanese troops were situated, including on the front lines."

They also summarized some of the main statements of the comfort women during the Tribunal:
 

"I don't want to die as the ghost of a virgin."  Mun Pil-gi, Korea  "We went back home and we were crying. We couldn't tell anyone or we would be executed. It was so shameful so we dug a deep hole and covered it."  Maxima Regala Dela Cruz, Philippines  "I lost my life. I was regarded as a dirty woman. I had no means of supporting myself and my job opportunities were extremely limited. I suffered terribly. The next generation of Japanese people must know my suffering that their parents did such bad things." Teng-Kao Pao-Chu, Taiwan.  "My husband said, 'it is better to have a left over dog than a left over person." Belen Alonso Sagun, Philippines "I obeyed in order to live"  Mang-Mei Lu, Taiwan  "I was a virgin. Ten men raped me. One got off and another replaced him. They treated us like animals. Blood came out of our vaginas. I couldn't walk after." Ms Suhanah, Indonesia  "We want Japan to ask for forgiveness." Yuan Zhulin, China  "We want justice. We want the Japanese government to take responsibility... What we are saying is the truth. We didn't come here to lie. We didn't come here to see Japan. We came her to tell the truth."  Esmeralda Boe, East Timor.   At the non-formal or legal tribunal, the victims and survivors received the respect and recognition that has been denied to them by the legal courts in Japan or elsewhere. Listen to Judge Mc Donald talking about the significance of the event: click here Philippines lawyer Indai Sajor, one of the conveners of the Tribunal, talked to FIRE about the parallel actions that were undertaken by some of the comfort women in the formal Japanese courts. There, they were denied justice. click here