【ジュネーブ時事】国連の人権条約に基づく拷問禁止委員会は３１日、旧日本軍の従軍慰安婦問題について「政府や公人による事実の否定、被害者を傷つけようとする試みに反対する」ことを日本政府に求める勧告をまとめた。橋下徹大阪市長らによる最近の発言を踏まえたものとみられる。
日本政府は、慰安婦問題は拷問禁止条約が発効した１９８７年以前に起きた事象であり、対象外と主張してきた。しかし、勧告は日本政府に対し「慰安婦問題の法的責任を認め、（法律を犯した者を）適切に処罰する」よう求めた。
同委による対日審査は２回目。２１、２２日に６年ぶりに実施され、同委が日本政府に見解をただしていた。
同委のマリーニョ氏はジュネーブの国連欧州本部で記者会見し、慰安婦問題の解決に向け「日本政府の歴史的、現実的なさらなる取り組みが必要だ」と強調。「歴史教科書に慰安婦問題の記述がほとんどないことを強く懸念している」と述べた。 （2013/06/01-02:05）
Victims of military sexual slavery
19. Notwithstanding the information provided by the State party concerning some steps taken to acknowledge the abuses against victims of Japan’s military sexual slavery practices during the Second World War, the so-called “comfort women”, the Committee remains deeply concerned at the State party’s failure to meet its obligations under the Convention while addressing this matter, in particular in relation to: (arts. 1, 2, 4, 10, 14 and 16)
(a) Failure to provide adequate redress and rehabilitation to the victims. The Committee regrets that the compensation, financed by private donations rather than public funds, was insufficient and inadequate;
(b) Failure to prosecute perpetrators of such acts of torture and bring them to justice. The Committee recalls that on account of the continuous nature of the effects of torture, statutes of limitations should not be applicable as these deprive victims of the redress, compensation, and rehabilitation due to them;
(c) Concealment or failure to disclose related facts and materials;
(d) Continuing official denial of the facts and re-traumatization of the victims by high-level national and local officials and politicians, including several diet members;
(e) The failure to carry out effective educational measures to prevent gender-based breaches of the Convention, as illustrated, inter alia, by a decrease in references to this issue in school history textbooks;
(f) The State party’s rejection of several recommendations relevant to this issue, made in the context of the universal periodic review (A/HRC/22/14/Add.1, paras.147.145 et seq.), which are akin to recommendations made by the Committee (para.24) and many other UN human rights mechanisms, inter alia, the Human Rights Committee (CCPR/C/JPN/CO/5, para.22), the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW/C/JPN/CO/6, para.38), the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (E/C.12/JPN/CO/3, para.26) and several special procedures’ mandate-holders of the Human Rights Council.
Recalling its general comment No. 3, the Committee urges the State party to take immediate and effective legislative and administrative measures to find victim-centered resolution for the issues of “comfort women”, in particular, by:
(a) Publicly acknowledge legal responsibility for the crimes of sexual slavery, and prosecute and punish perpetrators with appropriate penalties;
(b) Refute attempts to deny the facts by the government authorities and public figures and to re-traumatize the victims through such repeated denials;
(c) Disclose related materials, and investigate the facts thoroughly;
(d) Recognise the victim’s right to redress, and accordingly provide them full and effective redress and reparation, including compensation, satisfaction and the means for as full rehabilitation as possible;
(e) Educate the general public about the issue and include the events in all history textbooks, as a means of preventing further violations of the State party’s obligations under the Convention.