'Comfort Women' case

Country of proceedings: Japan
Context of crimes: Asia-Pacific, World War II (Japan)
Date: 2000 - 2001
Keywords: Crimes against humanity (rape/sexual slavery), accountability (head of state, state organs)

Court Documents
04-12-2001 - Judgement (part 1) (part 2)

Presentation of the case
The Women’s International War Crimes Tribunal on Japan’s Military Sexual Slavery was a people’s tribunal established by Asian women, human rights organisations and international NGO’s to adjudicate crimes committed by the Japanese military in the 1930s and 1940s, particularly against “comfort women” (Prosecutors and the People of the Asia-Pacific Region v. Hirohito Emperor Showa (et al.) and the Government of Japan). The Tribunal had jurisdiction over war crimes, crimes against humanity and other international crimes, covering all countries and regions colonized, ruled, or under the military occupation of Japan before and during WWII. It also had jurisdiction over the acts or omissions of states in violation of international law. The Tribunal’s competency was based on international law at the time of the commission of the crimes (i.e. the laws applied by the International Military Tribunal for the Far East), taking into account subsequent developments in international law.

The Tribunal convened on 8 December 2000 in Tokyo and was adjourned on 12 December 2000. After a year of deliberation, its Final Judgment was rendered on 4 December 2001 in The Hague.

The Tribunal found that the “comfort system” was designated and maintained to facilitate the rape and sexual slavery of tens of thousands of women and girls, being so widespread and organised that no other conclusion could be reached than that it was in essence, “state-sanctioned rape and enslavement”. Contrary to (continued) Japanese denial, the Tribunal found that the “comfort system” had been proven beyond any reasonable doubt, and that it was “conceived, established, regulated, maintained, and facilitated by the Japanese government and military”.

The Tribunal found nine senior military and government officials, as well as Emperor Hirohito (the de jure Head of State), guilty of rape and sexual slavery as crimes against humanity. The Tribunal also found Emperor Hirohoto guilty by way of his superior responsibility for mass rape committed at a Filipino village. Further, the Tribunal found the Japanese government responsible for the harm inflicted by the “comfort system”. The Judgment makes recommendations to the Japanese government, former Allied Nations and the UN. The Tribunal has no power to enforce its Judgment, relying solely on its moral authority and enforcement by the international community and national governments.

Other information
10-08-2010 - Statement by Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan [in English] [in Korean] [in Japanese]
15-08-1995 - Murayama Statement [in English] [in Korean] [in Japanese]