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Japanese court rejects compensation for Chinese WWII germ warfare victims
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-07-19 14:50
A Tokyo court Tuesday rejected compensation for Chinese victims of Japan's notorious World War II germ warfare unit, in the latest lawsuit amid a row between the two nations over wartime history.
The judge had rejected the lawsuit but acknowledged that the Japanese military had engaged in germ warfare, said a lawyer for the plaintiffs, Jun Ogino.
"This is an unfair ruling that rejected compensation, although it acknowledged the facts (of germ warfare)," Ogino said.
Jiang Hongcai, 81, whose feet have rotten due to an anthrax fungus infection, walks with the help of a crutch at his home in Jinhua, east China's Zhejiang province, July 5, 2005. [Reuters/file] |
The lawsuit was brought by 180 Chinese plaintiffs who said they were survivors or relatives of the victims of Japanese germ warfare in Zhejiang and Hunan provinces from 1940 to 1942.
They wanted an apology and damages of 10 million yen (90,000 dollars) each from Tokyo for atrocities carried out by Unit 731, including bombing cities with the plague, cholera and other germs.
In 2002, consistent with a long line of rulings, the Tokyo District Court rejected their claims, saying that compensation is made between states and not individuals.
However the presiding judge had also recognized in that case that the Japanese military had engaged in germ warfare.
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