Japan Govt Apology Eyed over Forced Sterilization

October 22, 2018

Tokyo- A Japanese ruling coalition team will include a government apology in a planned package of redress for forced sterilization under the now-defunct eugenic protection law, informed sources said Sunday.

The package will also call for making one-time payments to those eligible for the redress, including victims who do not hold surgery records, the sources said.

The package is being crafted by the working team of the Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, Komeito.

Separately, a nonpartisan lawmaker group has drafted an outline of envisioned legislation to redress victims of the forced sterilization.

The outline includes an apology from the government and one-time payments to victims.

Another key item in the outline is the introduction of a system to judge the eligibility of victims without records of sterilization surgeries. Under the system, the health minister will make the judgements based on the results of examinations by a panel of experts.

The ruling coalition's package will be almost in line with the nonpartisan group's outline, a coalition lawmaker said.

The two teams are trying to submit the legislation to the next ordinary session of the Diet, Japan's parliament, starting early in 2019.

The ruling coalition team is considering including the government apology in the planned legislation and Diet resolutions.

In 2001, the government apologized to sufferers of leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease, for its discriminatory policy of isolating them, in a law to redress them. In addition, the two Diet chambers expressed their deep regrets and apology in their resolutions.

Forced sterilization victims across the country have filed damages lawsuits against the government, claiming the unconstitutionality of the surgeries and demanding an apology.

The ruling coalition team will hold its first meeting with a group of lawyers for such victims Thursday to hear its opinion on redress measures. Jiji Press