Joint Statement by SF “Comfort Women” Justice Coalition and Kansai Network of Osaka (October 11, 2018):

We, the undersigned people and grassroots organizations in Osaka and San Francisco, jointly pledge, in solidarity, with the victims and survivors of the Japanese military sexual slavery system, euphemistically called “comfort women,” to fight for and demand justice from the current Japanese government.

We vividly remember that in 2012-2013, the former Mayor of Osaka, Toru Hashimoto, degraded the survivors of Japanese military sexual slavery by stating that there is no evidence for forced transportation and that the “comfort women” were a necessity of war. Kim Bok-dong, a former military sex slave, said of Hashimoto’s statement, “What do they mean that there is no evidence, while I am the living evidence? They lied to me that they were taking me to a factory to manufacture military uniforms. Instead they forced me to satisfy soldiers’ sexual desire. You say you don’t know the cruel history?” Infuriated, people in Osaka and in San Francisco condemned Hashimoto’s vicious attack against the victims.

The current Mayor of Osaka, Hirofumi Yoshimura, has followed the missteps of his predecessor. In a letter to San Francisco Mayor London Breed dated October 2, 2018, he informed San Francisco that he is unilaterally terminating the 60-year-old San Francisco–Osaka sister-city relationship, because San Francisco has refused his request to remove the “Comfort Women” Memorial, installed on Sept 22, 2017, in San Francisco, from public grounds.

In the letter, Yoshimura falsely portrays himself as champion of women’s human rights, while in the very same breath he dehumanizes the survivors and demands the removal of any memorialization to their suffering. In fact Yoshimura not only denies the survivors’ testimonies, but tries to silence them, in order to erase their very existence from history. Clearly the main purpose of his letter is to make excuses as to why Japan should not be held accountable as the perpetrator of these heinous war crimes and held to the international standards for war victims of official apology, reparations, and redress.

Through their global campaign to promote Japanese “culture,” Yoshimura, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and the rest of the denialists have officially denied and downplayed the depth of the crimes committed by the Japanese military. Undoubtedly their understanding and interpretation of history is distorted by their racial hatred and misogyny. Their sense of reality is a fantasy, far removed from the understanding by members of the global community as to what the Japanese military did and what they are continuing to do today — re-victimizing the victims, again and again. Their failure to understand the meaning of the San Francisco “Comfort Women” Memorial, their reckless demands to take it down, and their drive for Japan’s re-militarization are threatening world peace. That is why Grandmother Lee Yong-soo stated already in 2007, “If you leave [the Japanese Government] alone, violence against women during world war will continue. We have to rip out the roots of violence against women and girls during war so we cannot leave the Japanese Government alone.” She is right. We must bring justice to the victims first, as we rebuild a peaceful world free of sexual violence and sexual slavery.

In her statement on October 2, 2018, San Francisco Mayor London Breed astutely made the point: “These victims deserve our respect and this memorial reminds us all of events and lessons we must never forget.” Dr. Denis Mukwege, the recent Nobel Peace Prize laureate, concurred. Pointing to the fact that war-time sexual violence is often utilized as a tool to destroy families and communities, he stated that Japan has to take accountability for the sexual violence it perpetrated.

Very simply, Japan should and must take responsibility as the perpetrator of these crimes because Japan, in fact, committed those crimes. The institutionalized system of sexual slavery from the early 1930s to 1945 by Japan was the largest in the twentieth century. The extreme cruelty administered to the victims by rape, torture, and murder, coupled with the ongoing denial, warrants the calling out of Japan as a country in need of genuine self-remorse and repentance.

While Yoshimura tries to terminate the sister-city relationship between San Francisco and Osaka, we, the people of these two cities, have become closer and our relationship stronger across the ocean. While Yoshimura and the Japanese Government intensify their attacks against people and organizations who demand justice to the victims, our movement has grown all over the world. It is courageous survivors, like Kim Hak-sun, Kim Bok-dong, and Lee Yong-soo, who have led the movement and united us. Nadia Murad, the recent Nobel Peace Prize laureate, is a Yazidi woman who was sexually enslaved by ISIS. Her courage and commitment to speak out echos that of the “comfort women.”

We will never let Japan or any other nation repeat this horrific crime against any person. We are determined to work towards a world free of sexual violence, a world where women, girls, LGBTQ individuals, and people from all communities can live a life without sexual violence free from fear of being used as weapons of war. We will fight for respect, dignity, and peace for everyone.

Sources:

http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1026&context=humtraffdata

https://sfmayor.org/article/statement-mayor-london-breed-sister-city-relationship-between-san-francisco-and-osaka

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23qoGpSWgy8

http://www.city.osaka.lg.jp/hodoshiryo/keizaisenryaku/0000448185.html

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/10/05/world/denis-mukwege-nadia-murad-named-winners-nobel-peace-prize-work-sexual-violence-weapon-war/#.W763ExNKiCQ

共同声明

日本軍「慰安婦」問題・関西ネットワーク・「慰安婦」正義連盟

日本軍性奴隷制度の被害者と連帯し、正義実現のために立ちあがった私たち大阪とサンフランシスコ両市の草の根の市民団体・市民は、2018年9月、サンフランシスコ「慰安婦」メモリアル碑の前で出会った。そして、私たちはその残酷な犯罪を、日本やその他のいかなる国においても繰り返させないという強い意志を確認し合い、ここに表明する。

橋下徹前大阪市長は、2012年に「強制連行の証拠があるなら出せ」、2013年には「兵士に『慰安婦』は必要」と発言した。橋下前市長の歴史修正論は、世界中の人々から非難をあび、被害者を怒らせた。金福童ハルモニは「証拠がないとはどういうことか。私自身が証拠だ。軍服を作ると嘘をつかれ、軍人の性の相手をさせられた残酷な歴史を知らないのか」と迫った。

橋下前市長は2015年8月、サンフランシスコ市長に「慰安婦」メモリアル碑建立に反対する書簡を初めて送った。橋下前市長の歴史修正主義を継承する吉村洋文現大阪市長もたびたび書簡を送り、しつこく妨害を続けた。にもかかわらず、2017年9月22日、「慰安婦」メモリアル碑はサンフランシスコ市民の手によって、ついに建ったのだ。吉村市長はさらに碑の公共物化反対を要求して、姉妹都市関係の解消を振りかざし始めた。サンフランシスコ市長は取り合わず、吉村市長は自分の要求を実現できなかった。そして、大阪市議会や市民の反対の声を無視して、2018年10月2日、大阪とサンフランシスコ両市の市民が60年間にわたって築いてきた姉妹都市関係解消を一方的に通知した。

書簡において、吉村市長は「碑の被害者の人数、日本軍の関与の度合い、被害の規模が問題」と主張した。これは、被害者の証言を認めないばかりか、被害者を黙らせ、被害者の存在そのものを歴史から消し去ろうとする行為である。吉村市長が「（戦時下性暴力は）旧日本軍だけではない」と主張することは、この残忍な戦争犯罪の加害者としての日本政府の責任を認めない態度だ。安倍晋三首相、吉村市長をはじめとする歴史修正主義者たちは、偏狭な歴史理解と現実認識の中に捕えられ、被害者の尊厳を深く傷つける発言を繰り返し、国際社会から孤立している。日本政府に残された道は、国際人権原則である被害者中心アプローチで被害者への謝罪と法的賠償を一日も早く行い、日本軍性奴隷問題を解決することである。

今年のノーベル平和賞受賞者の、ISの性奴隷被害者であるイラクのヤジディ教徒のナディア・ムラド・バセ・タハさんは語った。「声をあげられない人々の声になる。正義を求める人々のために立つ」。ブリード サンフランシスコ市長は、10月4日付の声明で鋭く突いている。「被害者は尊敬されるべき人々だ。そして、この「慰安婦」メモリアル碑は私たちが決して忘れてはならないすべての歴史的事実と教訓を我々に思い起こさせる」。私たちは大阪とサンフランシスコで、「＃Me Too」「＃With You」の声をあげ続ける。

一市長である吉村市長が姉妹都市関係解消を宣言しても、私たち大阪とサンフランシスコ両市の市民の絆は強まった。女性、少女、LGBTやすべての人々が誇りと尊厳を持って生きることができ、性暴力の恐怖や戦争の手段として利用される恐怖から解き放たれた世界を実現するため、私たちは太平洋を越え連帯し続ける。

2018年10月11日