Interview with Ms. Patricia Viseur-Sellers
Chief Prosecutor of Women's International Tribunal
Patricia Viseur-Sellers
Legal Adviser for Gender-Related Crimes in the Office of the Prosecutor for the International Criminal Court for the former Yugoslavia
Q: Could you tell me about the significance of this tribunal?
A: I think it has very positive and entire significance in solving the issue of “comfort women.” Especially, we examined it in the legal and military context. So, people can recognize the issue of injury more definitely.
Q: Could you tell me the focal points of the indictment you made?
A: The focal points of the common indictment are the following. We wanted to make sure who were the architects of the systems of sexual slavery, as crimes against humanity. Therefore, in the indictment, focal issues were on the commanders of a certain army, the war ministry, the then Prime Minister, and Emperor Hirohito. Also, what the common indictment tried to show was that the comfort stations were set up as a regular policy of the then Japanese government. So, we looked at several instances between 1937 and 1945 that proved that the then Japanese government clearly participated in this case.
Q: What is your feeling about and evaluation of each indictment and testimony that the victims made? Especially, about Korean victims?
A: All those were excellent. The joint indictment made by Korea was particularly excellent in terms of evidence, historical framework and as a presentation itself. It was very much organized. I think that extremely important was the fact that north and south Korea jointly presented one indictment to this tribunal. Historically, that was so important because there was only one Korea and Japan thought of Korea as one during World War II when this issue occurred. So, I think that the indictment was really reflective.
Q: The “comfort women” issue has long been discussed both in the UN and at a grass-roots level. But no concrete solution has yet been made. What do you think is the main reason for this?
A: The UN resolutions and reports on this issue are of all-important meaning as they are. But, to solve the “comfort women” issue, the enforcement of the rule of law has to be considered a solution to it. Only when you enforce the rule of law, you can punish those who committed the crime.
Q: Now, victims are demanding action by the Japanese government. What do you think is the best action the Japanese government has to take?
A: I think what the Japanese government must do is something at a human level, that is to say, a sincere apology and compensation suitable for the damage. Also, some measures for both the recovery of the victims’ honor and the non-recurrence of such a crime, including measures in an education field, are needed.
Q: Only north Korea is now officially raising this issue to Japan in the governmental negotiation for normalizing ties with it. What do you think of this?
A: I don’t know exactly anything about the negotiation. What I can say is that I appreciate any government raising this issue as part of negotiation. So, I can only say I am watching that from outside.
Q: What action do we need to take after this tribunal?
A: Slavery exists in various forms in our society. So, I personally think that people must see what is slavery at first. And then, society should not tolerate it in a “soft” way. During this tribunal and caucus, I had been deeply impressed by the inter-action between men and women united for the success of this conference. With regard to this, the Korean Joint Prosecutor Team’s unity was very excellent. This kind of unity will pave the way for the next movement, I think.
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