[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 86 (Wednesday, June 28, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1306-E1307]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           ``COMFORT WOMEN''

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EDOLPHUS TOWNS

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 28, 2006

  Mr. TOWNS. Mr. Speaker, United States and Japan have, since the end 
of hostilities in 1945, enjoyed a strong friendship, an economic 
partnership, and a diplomatic alliance.
  Because our countries have such a durable relationship, it is 
possible for us, when circumstances demand, to offer criticism to each 
other in regard to issues of grave concern.
  The occasion of Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visit to 
the United States, in which he will be meeting with President Bush and 
other prominent Americans, provides a special opportunity for gentle 
but pointed criticism of one of our ally's shortcomings.
  Mr. Speaker, our colleagues, the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. 
Smith) and the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Evans) have introduced H. 
Res. 759, legislation that cals on Japan to acknowledge and accept 
responsibility for forcing women and girls into sexual slavery during 
the World War II era. In Korea, China, the Philippines, and other 
countries in the Pacific region, the Japanese use of women and little 
girls as sex slaves known as ``comfort women'' was among the most 
horrific degradations imaginable.
  Sadly, despite decades of democratic rule and engagement with the 
United States and other countries that have condemned human trafficking 
of the past and of today, the Japanese government refuses to apologize 
to the world for its role in this atrocity. In fact, it will not even 
acknowledge Japan's responsibility for the suffering of so many women 
and girls forced into prostitution.
  ``Comfort women'' were recruited in countries throughout Asia and the 
Pacific as Japanese troops advanced through conquest in the 1930s and 
1940s. The suffering and humiliation of these girls and women ended 
only with the peace that came with the end of the war.
  H. Res. 759 sends a strong signal to Japan, a friend and ally of the 
United States, that American leaders are not satisfied with the silence 
of the Japanese government on this human rights issue. I urge my 
colleagues to become cosponsors of this resolution and to bring this 
issue close to their hearts.
  Mr. Speaker, on this issue, I commend to the House an article that 
appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer on Sunday, June 18, written by 
international health consultant Cesar Chelala and entitled ``Japan Must 
Atone for Acts of Savagery.''

                   [From the Philadelphia Inquirer, 
                             June 18, 2006]

                 Japan Must Atone for Acts of Savagery

                           (By Cesar Chelala)

       Japan's continuing refusal to reach an agreement with the 
     former ``comfort

[[Page E1307]]

     women''--women from conquered countries who were forced into 
     sexual slavery to serve Japanese troops--has been sharply 
     criticized by Amnesty International, which has called on the 
     Japanese government to accept full responsibility.
       Of the estimated 80,000 to 200,000 comfort women, 80 to 90 
     percent were from Korea. Girls as young as 11 were forced to 
     serve between five and 40 soldiers a day, and almost 100 
     soldiers daily on weekends. Those who resisted were beaten, 
     burned or wounded with the soldiers' swords. During the 
     Japanese retreat, many were left to starve or were executed 
     to eliminate any trace of the atrocities.
       For many years after the Second World War, Japan insisted 
     that the comfort stations had been private brothels. Only in 
     1993 did Japan admit any military responsibility. Although 
     many of the comfort women have died, and many are now quite 
     old, Japan must make restitution. The principle is not so 
     much war as the human dignity of women, and as long as Japan 
     does nothing, it implies that it does not care.
       The first South Korean woman to tell her story was Bae Bong 
     Ki in 1980. Kim Hak Soon, who died in 1997, related in 1991 
     how Japanese soldiers had abducted her when she was 17 and 
     forced to carry ammunition by day and serve as a prostitute 
     by night. Her testimony sparked several others. Evidence of 
     comfort stations has already been found in Korea, China, 
     Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, 
     Burma, New Guinea and Okinawa.
       Chung Seo Woon, interviewed by Dai Sil Kim-Gibson in the 
     book Making More Waves, was the only child of a wealthy 
     landowner in South Korea. Her father was sent to prison and 
     badly tortured. When she was 16, she was allowed to visit 
     him. She was told that if she agreed to work in Japan for 2 
     years, her father would be released. Despite strong 
     objections from her mother, she agreed.
       Chung Seo Woon was placed on a ship with many other girls 
     and women. Her group went from Japan to Indonesia, where they 
     were sterilized and sent to Semarang, a coastal town, where 
     they were forced to serve dozens of soldiers and officers 
     daily. In the process, she was forced to become an opium 
     addict. When Chung Seo Woon attempted to commit suicide by 
     swallowing malaria pills, she was revived, and, she remarks, 
     ``It was then that I made up my mind to survive and tell my 
     story, what Japan did to us.'' When war ended and she 
     returned home, she found her house deserted. Her father had 
     died in prison, and her mother, humiliated by a rape attempt 
     by Japanese soldiers, had committed suicide.
       Chung Seo Woon kicked her opium addiction after 8 hard 
     months of struggle and worked hard to regain her dignity. She 
     was never able to attain a normal sex life, but found 
     companionship and care from a physician who had had a nervous 
     breakdown after serving in the Japanese army.
       In November 1994, an international commission of jurists 
     stated that ``it is indisputable that these women were 
     forced, deceived, coerced and abducted to provide sexual 
     services to the Japanese military'' and that Japan ``violated 
     customary norms of international law concerning war crimes, 
     crimes against humanity, slavery and the trafficking in women 
     and children. . .Japan should take full responsibility now, 
     and make suitable restitution to the victims and their 
     families.''
       Still forthcoming is a formal, clear and unambiguous 
     apology to the victims of sexual abuse by Japanese soldiers, 
     adequate monetary compensation, and punishment of those 
     involved.
       In 1995, the Japanese government introduced the Asian 
     Women's Fund as a response to international criticism. But 
     the fund is widely perceived by survivors as a way for the 
     Japanese government not to fulfill its legal 
     responsibilities. As Purna Sen, director of Amnesty 
     International's Asia-Pacific Program, has stated: ``The 
     Japanese government must finally right the wrongs of over 60 
     years by providing full reparations to the survivors of this 
     horrific system of sexual slavery.''
       The money is more than money; it carries with it an 
     important symbolism. During her testimony at the Fourth World 
     Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995, Chung Seo Woon 
     declared, ``I might be poor, but not that poor. I demand the 
     compensation that is rightly due to me, even if I would burn 
     the money after it is in my hand. It is not a matter of money 
     but of principle. The Japanese have defiled my body but not 
     my spirit. My spirit is strong, rich and proud.''
       Contact Cesar Chelala at [email protected].

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