慰安婦問題、国連委が勧告　「日本の政治家が事実否定」

　【ジュネーブ＝前川浩之】国連の拷問禁止委員会は３１日、旧日本軍の慰安婦問題で「日本の政治家や地方の高官が事実を否定し、被害者を傷つけている」とする勧告をまとめた。橋下徹大阪市長らの最近の発言を念頭に置いたものとみられる。日本政府に対し、こうした発言に明確に反論するよう求めている。

　拷問禁止委員会は、人間の非人道的な取り扱いを禁止する条約を守っているかどうかを調べる国際人権機関。慰安婦を条約上の被害者だとしている。１０人の委員が数年に１回のペースで各国を審査する仕組みで、１９９９年に条約を締結した日本は、５月２１、２２の両日、６年ぶり２回目の審査を受けた。

　勧告は、慰安婦問題について「国会議員を含む政治家や地方政府高官によって、事実を否定する発言が続いている」と批判。日本政府がただちにとるべき対応として「当局者や公的人物による事実の否定や、それによって被害者を再び傷つける行為に反論すること」をあげた。

　名指しはしていないが、審査では、慰安婦問題を取り上げた委員４人のうち３人が「慰安婦制度は必要なのは誰だってわかる」「強制連行を示す証拠はない」などとした橋下氏の発言に触れ、日本政府の見解をただしていた。

　勧告対象は、代用監獄問題など多項目にわたった。慰安婦問題では、元慰安婦に対する公的な補償や救済措置がなく、関係者の訴追が行われていないことに懸念も表明。さらに、日本政府に対し、全ての歴史の教科書に慰安婦問題を含めるよう求めた。

　審査で日本政府代表は、９３年の河野談話や償い金を支給したアジア女性基金の取り組みを説明したが、橋下氏の発言には一切触れなかった。

■慰安婦をめぐる国連委の勧告（英文）

Victims of military sexual slavery

　　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.