On June 30, the Tokyo District Court rejected the claim of a a man in his 70s demanding compensation for being forced to undergo sterilization under the now defunct Eugenic Protection Law. The Tokyo District Court ruled that “the right to claim damages has already disappeared,”
With the spread of the new coronavirus infection, due to the lack of ventilators, a debate about who should give priority has started in Japan.
‘Junko Iizuka’, said she “has been feeling down” since the ruling. She divorced for not being able to have a child, and such sorrow triggered mental health conditions, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression. For Iizuka, who has repeatedly thought of killing herself due to the treatment, it’s baffling why the government is not held accountable.
“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.”
“Thousands of men and women in Japan who were forcibly sterilised are to receive compensation from the government, decades after they became victims of a eugenics law designed to prevent the birth of so-called inferior children. In April, MPs passed a bill that will compensate 25,000 people who were sterilised from 1948 until the law was abolished in 1996. They include 16,500 people who were operated on against their will.”
“only about 3,000, or slightly more than 10 percent of the people who underwent state-ordered sterilizations, have been identified.”
“Two women who underwent forced sterilization in Japan decades ago appealed Friday a district court ruling that denied a damages suit despite determining the country’s now-defunct eugenics protection law was unconstitutional.”
“After a court in Sendai reports that forced sterilization was unconstitutional but awarded no damages, NHK made a report,, here is an extract from it. Apologies for the sound quality at certain points in the video.”
“A Japanese court determined on Tuesday 28th May that the now-defunct eugenics protection law that mandated the government to stop people with intellectual disabilities from reproducing was unconstitutional, but it dismissed a damages suit filed by two women who underwent forced sterilization.”
“The new law, drafted by both ruling and opposition parties, offers an apology to victims but critics say its wording lacks clarity over where the responsibility lies.”
