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to went99@women.or.kr with your name, e-mail address and address.

Please photocopy the sheets if necessary. We are very glad to explain further details. Contributions will be greatly appreciated for expanding this petition campaign.

DEAR PRIME MINISTER RYUTARO HASHIMOTO

The United Nations Human Rights Commission released the official report on the wartime sex slavery on February 5, 1996. The Commission appointed Dr. Radhia Coomaraswamy as the UN Special Rapporteur in 1994, who completed the official report after two years' investigation. The Special Rapporteur examines the historical backgrounds and legal responsibilities of military sex slavery, and presents recommendations as follows:

The Government of Japan should:

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1. Acknowledge that the system of comfort stations set up by the Japanese Imperial Army during the Second World War was a violation of its obligations under international law and accept legal responsibility for that violation.
2. Pay compensation to individual victims of Japanese military sexual slavery according to principles outlined by the Special Rapporteur of the Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities on the right to restitution, compensation and rehabilitation for victims of grave violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms. A special administrative tribunal for this purpose should be set up with a limited time-frame since many of the victims are of a very advanced age.
3. Ensure that a full disclosure has been made of documents and materials in its possession with regard to comfort stations and other related activities of the Japanese Imperial Army during the Second World War.
4. Make a public apology in writing to individual women who have come forward and can be substantiated as women victims of Japanese military sexual slavery.
5. Raise awareness of these issues by amending educational curricula to reflect historical realities.
6. Identify and punish, as far as possible, perpetrators involved in the recruitment and institutionalization of comfort stations during the Second World War.

This UN report is founded on four-years' investigations and recommendations at the Sub-Commission of the UN Human Rights Commission, as well as the 'Platform for Action' at the World Women's Conference (Beijing, September 1995). While the estimated number of the victims varies between historians (ranging from 80,000 to 200,000), we are all struck by the immensely harsh experiences of the victims of military sex slavery. The UN report points out the responsibility of the Japanese government which bears the legacy of past war crimes. The government should thus accept the recommendations, and consider how to materialize the spirit of the UN report into concrete policies.

Amongst of all, the 'Asian Women's Fund' is not considered as the appropriate solution for the victims. We consider that the Japanese government should assume state responsibility and pay compensation to individual victims.

In addition, as Dr.Coomaraswamy recommends, a special tribunal should be set up which listens to diverse opinions in society in order to re-investigate into the 'comfort women' issue, to draft the letter of apology to the victims, and to reform history education to reflect these historical realities. The tribunal should also discuss whether the people in charge of masterminding the system of sex slavery should be convicted at the international legal institutions (such as the International Court of Justice or the Permanent Court of Arbitration) or at Japanese domestic courts.

In a word, we all appreciate the recommendations. When we think of the victimization of women in Okinawa by military violence and of those in Asia by Japanese sex tourism, the UN recommendations can be viewed as a small step to restore our own human dignity and to construct genuine relations with the rest of the world. We thus demand that the Japanese government should;

1. Accept the UN recommendations on military sex slaves ('comfort women')
2. Establish a special tribunal in order to realize compensation to individual victims by seeking wide public input.

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