July 22nd 2019
TOKYO – The government will give compensation to 22 people who underwent forced sterilization under a now-defunct eugenics law but do not have direct records of the surgery, in its first such approval, a committee said Monday.
An examination committee of eight medical experts set up by the health ministry acknowledged payment for the victims in six prefectures and Hokkaido at its first meeting, based on circumstantial evidence such as scars from operations and individual testimonies, the committee said.
About 25,000 people with disabilities were sterilized under the eugenics law including some 16,500 who were operated on without consent, according to the health ministry and the Japan Federation of Bar Associations.
The legislation for a legal remedy was passed in April under which individuals with sterilization surgery records will be given a lump-sum payment of 3.2 million yen ($29,600) each without having to undergo examination, if they apply through the prefecture. Payment to 26 people has been decided by the end of June.
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