“73-year-old Kazumi Watanabe filed a lawsuit in Kumamoto for 33 million yen in compensation. When he was around 10 years old, he claims that unbeknownst to him, his testicles were removed at a hospital where he was taken by his mother.”
“Two more lawsuits were filed against the central government on June 28 over forced sterilization, including one by a couple who say the wife was also coerced into having an abortion.”
“These cases are the second en masse lawsuits surrounding the old eugenics law following those filed in the Sendai District Court on May 17, and the Kumamoto case is the first to be filed in western Japan. This is also the first time a case has been brought before a court in which a plaintiff was subject to both a forced abortion and a forced sterilization surgery. The new suit brings the number of people nationwide who have filed compensation lawsuits against the central government over the law to seven.”
“The government contended in court that if victims sought compensation, they could have used the 1947 State Redress Law in the absence of any law specifically designed to deal with forced sterilization, despite never having recommended its use for that purpose before.”
“Chikara Sakaguchi, the first Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare in 2001, said that it is “important” to compensate those who underwent forced sterilization surgeries under the defunct eugenics protection law (1948-1996) in an interview with the Mainichi Shimbun.”
“Four victims of forced sterilization under the now-defunct eugenics protection law (1948-1996) in Hokkaido and Kumamoto prefectures are set to file lawsuits on June 28 with respective district courts seeking damages from the national government, the Mainichi Shimbun has learned.”
“The state will reject that argument by citing a past Supreme Court decision that found the state should be held responsible for violating an individual’s rights only in exceptional cases, the plaintiff’s lawyers said.”
“All Japan Deaf Federation (headquarters / Tokyo) surveyed hearing-impaired people nationwide, and 70 people answered that they were forced to have sterilization surgery and have abortions. The Federation held a press conference in Osaka on the 9th June.”
“The late official, Shunichi Kakurai, who headed the then Health and Welfare Ministry’s public health bureau, also asserted that the law’s provision that allowed forced sterilization operations as “necessary for public good” was “very problematic.” ”
“A woman in Kumamoto city is seeking damages and has given notice of her intention to file a complaint in the Kumamoto district court; having undergone surgery without having a disorder.”
Barrier Free Japan