“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.”
“Yumi Suzuki said, “If you have not experienced this kind of discrimination the disabled have received, than you cannot understand it.” ”
“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.”
“Many medical societies were involved in the promotion of forced sterilizations, but self-investigations into the practice have been limited to a small portion of the organizations. It is especially rare for the JMSF, the largest academic organization in the country in the medical field, to confront the past history of its member societies and medical scientists. The purpose of the investigation is to identify the factors that led to scientists and physicians at the time to promote forced sterilizations.”
“Prime Minister Shinzo Abe plans to issue a statement offering a state apology to victims of forced sterilization under a now-defunct eugenics law after a redress bill clears parliament, government sources said Tuesday.”
