National Human Rights Commission of Korea expresses its words of condolences to late Mrs. Kim Gunja, a former ‘comfort women’ and her families. It also urges the governments of Korea and Japan to take necessary to protect human rights of former ‘comfort women’.
In November, 2012, the NHRCK recommended to the government of Japan to acknowledge human rights infringements committed against ‘comfort women’ and implement recommendations from the international human rights institutions to identify truth, announce official apologies and provide compensation and to the government of Korea to take diversified and active diplomatic measures to restore human rights of ‘comfort women’.
The Constitutional Court of Korea decided that non-act of the government to abide by article 3 of the Agreement on the Settlement of Problem concerning Property and Claims and the Economic Cooperation between the Republic of Korea and Japan in 1965 is unconstitutional as it severely infringes upon the basic rights of the victims.(2006Hunma788, 30 October 2011)
In addition, establishment of the comfort women system and violation and illicit activities against victims of comfort women is in violation of international humanitarian acts and international customary acts including the Hague Convention Ⅳ(1907), International Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Women and Children(1921), Slavery Convention(1926) and ILO Convention on Forced Labor(193).
The ‘comfort women system’ for which persons in charge are not punished yet, was operated by Imperial Japanese Military during the Second World War under which women were forced into sexual slavery. There is no doubt that this system greatly infringed upon human rights of women and people under colonial ruling.
Despite government’s efforts to address the issue, not only victims but also the general public do not agree with the agreement made between Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Korea and Japan in 2015. The international community also pointed out that there’s no sufficient provision of remedy for victims and identification of truth.
In addition, on 30 May, the UN Committee on Prevention of Torture stated that even though it welcomes the agreement between Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the two countries made on December 28, 2015, the agreement does not sufficiently provide compensation for victims or identifies truth, with 38 victims still alive. It recommended revising the agreement to compensate and restore reputation of former ‘comfort women’.
Accordingly, NHRCK urges the government of Korea and Japan to take recommendations from international community seriously and look back on historical facts in regards to the ‘comfort women’ and take necessary measures to provide remedy to victims.
