뉴스레터

From December 8 to 12, 2000, 

'The Women's International War Crimes Tribunal on Japan's Military Sexual Slavery' was held in Tokyo, Japan for five days. 

It was a place where the will to reflect on the history of not punishing 

Japanese sexual slavery crimes and to celebrate a new millennium in terms of peace and women's rights.

 (Collection: War and Women's Human Rights Museum)

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the opening of The Women's International War Crimes Tribunal on Japan's Military Sexual Slavery (hereinafter, ‘The Women's International War Crimes Tribunal’) in 2000. One day in December 2000, The Women's International War Crimes Tribunal was held in Tokyo, Japan, near TWS, where Japanese war crimes perpetrators were enshrined. This court meant to reflect on the past that did not properly deal with Japan's military sexual slave crime in the war crimes trial after World War II. And it was a place that expressed its willingness to create a new 21st century from the perspective of peace and women's rights.

The Final Judgment of The Women's International War Crimes Tribunal on Japan's Military Sexual Slavery 

(December 4, 2001, Hague, Netherlands)

The court convicted Hirohito and 10 other defendants of committing crime against humanity.

 (Source: 『The Judgment of The Women's International War Crimes Tribunal on Japan's Military Sexual Slavery: Hirohito is Guilty』, 

The Korean Council for the Women Drafted for Military Sexual Slavery by Japan).

20 years after The Women's International War Crimes Tribunal, asks again the meaning

The Women's International War Crimes Tribunal was a civil court with no legal binding. It was clear that the authority of the court was not from the national organization, but from the people of the Asia-Pacific region, and even the people of the world. The damage was acknowledged in accordance with international law of the day. The purpose of this court was not to share the truth of the crime, but to confirm that the Japanese government is not legally and morally responsible.

A panel of judges, made up of international law experts, issued a summary ruling on December 12. And a year later, in December 2001, they made a final ruling in The Hague, Netherlands. In other words, former Japanese Emperor Hirohito and nine war criminals committed 'crimes against humanity', and the Japanese government was responsible for it.

Many researchers who record the meaning of The Women's International War Crimes Tribunal evaluate the historical nature of this court as a result of the cross-border women's movement, the civil movement. Women from all over Asia who have struggled to solve the problem of Japan's Military Sexual Slavery have held the Asian Solidarity Conference since 1992. And in 1998, Yayori Matsui proposed and Asian women agreed to hold The Women's International War Crimes Tribunal. Global citizens and women have identified the history of sexual violence against women and impunity in the process of preparing for court, other events, and seeking future directions.

And, realizing the power of the people to face and correct the problem, it became aware that the prevention of recurrence of sexual violence and injustice is only possible on punishment of the perpetrator and historical reflection. Therefore, at the present time when violence against women continues and the backlash of those who deny the damage of Japan's Military Sexual Slavery remains, we should talk more actively about the contents and meaning of The Women's International War Crimes Tribunal.

Defendants in International Military Tribunal for the Far East After the War

The Allies did not shed light on Japanese colonial rule and Japanese sex slavery crimes 

in court dealing with ‘Japanese war crimes’. 

The Women's International War Crimes Tribunal on Japan's Military Sexual Slavery was 

intended to overcome its limitations, but it was still passive about colonial rule. 

What is not covered in ‘The Women's International War Crimes Tribunal’

This article is to examine the problems that the 'The Women's International War Crimes Tribunal' did not deal with sufficiently in terms of 'colonialism and Japanese colonial responsibility'. Korean researchers who participated in the The Women's International War Crimes Tribunal expressed regret that the joint prosecutions of the two Koreas tried to make the Coloniality implied in the Japan's Military Sexual Slavery issue an independent theme, but it was not accepted.

Yoon Jung-ok, co-chair of the International Organization Committee for The Women's International War Crimes Tribunal, said: “The victims of South and North Korea tried to reveal that they experienced not only discrimination as women under the forced occupation of Japan but also ethnic discrimination by the policies of the state, but they did not achieve their intention. We wanted to clarify the facts of this double discrimination in the Charter and reflect the spirit of the Charter in the judgment. But international advisers were reluctant to accept our arguments.”

Jung Jin-sung, vice chairman of the Korean committee, commented, “The Japan’s Military Sexual Slavery issue has been raised as a matter of infringement of universal women’s rights under the wartime. So it is an unsolved task to consider the problems of colonial rule."

Cho Si-hyun, the prosecutor of the joint procedures of the two Koreas, said: “The Women’s International War Crimes Tribunal’s judges have acknowledged the responsibility of the Allied States for not taking the Japan’s Military Sexual Slavy crime after World War II. But they did not point to colonialism, which was the background of impunity.” Eventually, The Women's International War Crimes Tribunal has some limitations that the Allied countries have revealed in the war crimes trial after the war.

On the other hand, Yuki Fujime, who attended as an expert witness, pointed out that the criminality of the licensed prostitution implemented by modern Japan was not covered, and as a result, the Japan's Military Sexual Slavery problem became invisible. This means that this issue should not be treated as a sin and punishment between Japan and the affected countries. This means that this issue should not be treated as a sin and punishment between Japan and the affected countries. In other words, it is criticized that it can not deal with the problem of those who were sexual slave victims for the Japanese imperial army as a Japanese woman and can make an error that can not take issue with the discriminatory view of the perpetrator country.

Victims of North and South Korea Testifying in ‘The Women's International War Crimes Tribunal on Japan's Military Sexual Slavery’

To put Japan responsible for colonialism and colonial rule would be a fundamental solution 

to the issue of the Japanese military sexual slavery, an organized and systematic crime. 

(Collection: War and Women's Human Rights Museum)

The Judgment of ‘The Women's International War Crimes Tribunal’ in the Postcolonialism

Judgment consists of eight parts: Tribunal's introduction and background, applicable law, and individual criminal liability. Among them, the second part corresponds to the confirmation of the damage. This is divided into 11 sub-subjects; however, the issue of colonialism which is the background of the war or Japan's colonial rule is not set as an independent subject.

The joint prosecutions of the two Koreas claimed that Japan illegally colonized Joseon from 1905, and thus committed war crimes by mobilizing Koreans in occupied states. But the judges did not adopt the claim. Cho guessed that the judges were burdened by judging the issue of disagreement between Korea and Japan.

The mention of Japanese colonization is that "the first colonies of the empire Japan, Taiwan and Taiwanese residents were ruled by Japan" and "Japan unofficially merged Joseon in 1905 and officially in 1910 as a result of the Russian War". As such, Judgment only stated the facts and did not judge them according to international law. On the other hand, in the background, "Japan's dominance of Joseon was a long and brutal economic and social exploitation of Joseon land and society", "The Japanese military regarded Taiwan as a useful source of girls and women", "As the Japanese army's demand for organized sexual services increased, Joseon was also regarded as a major source of women for sexual slavery facilities." This is not to say that Japan's colonial rule became a political background for the systematic mobilization of women, but it became a factor that constitutes Japan's Military Sexual Slavery crime.

Judgment pointed out that the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia and East Timor were colonies of the United States, Britain, the Netherlands and Portugal, and examined the damage of comfort women in each region. And as part of the review of the atrocities of the Japanese army in common in all regions, it was said that ‘rape and sexual slavery were part of the comfort women system’. However, when the historical characteristics of the Japanese military 'comfort women' system were found in 'organized and systematic sexual violence system', it was hardly examined how the Japanese military used the characteristics of Asia where political characteristics moved from colonies to occupied territories while implementing sexual slavery.

In order to think about the comfort women issue in terms of organized and systematic crime, it is necessary to consider not only the management and control of the comfort station but also the mobilization and transfer of women should be considered. In this regard, the part that should be noted in Judgment is as follows. “The Japanese military preyed on the most vulnerable members of society for its sexual slavery system - those who because of age, poverty, class, family status, education, nationality, or ethnicity were most susceptible to being deceived and otherwise trapped into slavery. The women were drawn primarily from Japan's occupied and annexed territories, mostly from poor and rural communities.” and “As with other crimes, many people are involved in the sexual slavery of girls and women. the Japanese military, military police, civilian police, and bureaucrats were deeply involved in coercive kidnappings and deceptive conscription, and civilian recruiters acted as Japanese servants in securing women.”

In the mobilization and transfer system of the Japanese military 'comfort women', the most trusted private contractors of the Japanese military were those who operated the licensed prostitution. They used human trafficking mechanisms formed under the licensed protection to mobilize women, concealing clients(the Japanese military). In the process, job fraud, sweet talk, violence and intimidation were utilized. Police, military police, and soldiers from the victim's home, border, battlefield and occupied territory supported the recruitment of comfort women, movement and arrival. The majority of colonial women were taken to the comfort station under the control of the licensed prostitution operator, who was protected by public power. The League of Nations, activists for abolition of licensed prostitution, and some Japanese police criticized Japan's modern licensed prostitution at the time as slavery and human trafficking.

Nevertheless, the Japanese military planned, organized and operated the sexual slavery system through the licensed prostitution. Therefore, it is necessary to clarify the historical situation that the Japanese military and the Japanese government actively utilize the licensed prostitution in order to mobilize and transport women, manage and control the comfort station. Based on this, taking responsibility for public power is like identifying the historical responsibility of the comfort women system of the Japanese military. They targeted the lowest class of women when mobilizing comfort women, and in the process public power was deeply involved, and civilians acted as puppets. This fact will only be seen when we look at the scope of the application of the Japanese statute that implemented the licensed prostitution. If we ignore the criminality of the licensed prostitution, there is a concern that not only Japanese victims but also colonial victims under the management and control of licensed prostitution operators may not be able to properly examine.

Expanding ‘The Women's International War Crimes Tribunal’

Based on the experiences and achievements of The Women's International War Crimes Tribunal, efforts to prevent the recurrence of sexual violence crimes under war and armed conflict should not be undermined. But we can't even be immersed in the diachronicity of The Women's International War Crimes Tribunal and miss out on the publicity or the special points inside. This is why, after the court was finalized, researchers and activists spoke with one voice that "The Women's International War Crimes Tribunal is not over".

The Japanese military 'comfort women' crime is committed by certain powers at certain times and specific areas, and is characterized by an organized and systematic sexual violence system. To identify this, it is necessary to reveal how public power was involved in the process of mobilizing victims and sexual slavery. This not only marks the crime committed by the public authority at the peak of the command structure, but also reveals the role that the public authority intervened and performed. At that time, Japanese government officials recognized the Japanese comfort women system as "damaging the prestige of the empire Japan." Therefore, we should clarify how the comfort women of the Japanese military were institutionalized and implemented in the principle of 'concealment', identify the responsibility, and dismantle the structure.

The political situation of Japan's colonial rule such as Joseon and Taiwan, and Japan's occupied territory which was a colony of Western powers, was an important background for Japan to implement sexual slavery without being aware of external gaze. Shim A-jung pointed out that the damage suffered by colonial women was not judged in the post-war trial, and that colonial women were the Others of International Law. The Women's International War Crimes Tribunal, which criticized and tried to overcome post-war trials, was also passive in dealing with colonial issues, so it did not get out of its limit. The purpose of this study is to examine the responsibility of colonialism and to dismantle the political and social structure that makes it impossible for women to live their own lives. This is also to reveal the truth of the narrative of the Japanese comfort women mobilized against their will. And it is to find a fundamental way to overcome postcolonial society and to prevent recurrence by understanding the historical truth of the ‘comfort women’ issue. The Women's International War Crimes Tribunal's goal of overcoming the limitations of past historical awareness and impunity on Japanese military sexual violence system crimes and creating a better world where peace and women's rights are respected is still ongoing.