Human Rights Committee expresses surprise at whitewash of atrocities

A United Nations panel has sharply criticized Japan for its failure to acknowledge its wartime atrocities and for its attempts to whitewash the plight of "comfort women", who were forced into sexual slavery.

The UN Human Rights Committee said on Wednesday that since the 1990s, numerous reports and recommendations from UN bodies have criticized Japan for not accepting responsibility for its war crimes, Indo Asian News Service said on Thursday.

The observation came after the committee reviewed Japan's sixth periodic report on Tokyo's implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

"This is the first time in six years that Japan has received such a harsh review", South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo said.

Yet the Japanese delegation said at a meeting on the report that the term "sexual slaves" was not appropriate, adding that Japan did not consider "comfort women" a slavery issue, Japan's Sankei Shimbun newspaper reported.

Committee members expressed bewilderment over Japan's answer.

Sankei Shimbun commented that "it is a rare case for a Japanese government" to publicly deny the widely accepted term "sexual slaves" at international meetings involving human rights discussions.

Zhou Yongsheng, a professor of Japan studies at China Foreign Affairs University, said the Japanese ruling party has not missed any chance to whitewash and deny the past.

"Right-wing forces within Japan have never weighed the feelings and attitudes of other nations in their considerations," Zhou said.

Zhou warned that the campaign to deny history in Japan comes in waves and dies down in the face of widespread international revulsion, only to return at a more opportune moment.

Meanwhile, Tokyo and Seoul are making final preparations for talks between the heads of their foreign ministries, Japan's Jiji Press News Agency quoted unnamed diplomatic sources as saying on Thursday.

The "comfort women" issue and compensation for the forced labor of Korean workers and their ill-treatment are expected to dominate the talks, the report said.

Lyu Yaodong, director of the department of Japanese diplomacy of the Institute of Japanese Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said Japan has "sabotaged its relationship" with China and South Korea because of its dishonest take on history.

"Historic revision has become an official position" of Japan's ruling administration, Lyu said.

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