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Japan blasted over sex slaves in UN human rights meeting

Japan blasted over sex slaves in UN human rights meeting

Posted November. 02, 2012 08:10,   

한국어

Japan faced international criticism Wednesday over its military`s use of sex slaves in World War II in a United Nations Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review meeting in Geneva, Switzerland.

Japan’s Kyodo News Agency said South Korean delegates urged Tokyo to “recognize its legal responsibility and take measures acceptable to the victims.” North Korea and China also blasted Japan for failing to take “sincere measures” on the matter.

Dutch representatives said Japanese textbooks no longer mention the sexual slavery, asking what Japan is doing to teach its future generations about the issue. The delegates used the term “sex slaves” instead of “comfort women” coined by Japan to refer to the sex slaves, emphasizing the forced nature of Japan’s mobilization of the women.

Japanese delegates said their government was aware of the issue, reiterating Tokyo`s claim that compensation for the victims was covered by the 1951 San Francisco Peace Treaty and other agreements with relevant countries.

Introduced in 2008, the Universal Periodic Review meeting reviews the human rights situations of U.N. member nations and makes recommendations on improvements. Each member state is subject to review every four years, and the latest meeting was the second on Japan after one in 2008.

Seven countries criticized Japan over the sex slaves in the meeting, up from five in 2008. China mentioned the issue in 2008 without directly criticizing Japan, but this time, Beijing referred to Tokyo on the matter.



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