Japan decides to not comply with the recommendations of the UN torture committee on comfort women issues (OBN)

"No obligation to comply," Tokyo decides on the recommendations of the UN  Torture Committee on Comfort Women Issues

(TOKYO, June 18) According to the Asahi Shimbun, The Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe decided on Tuesday to effectively reject the recommendations on the so-called "comfort women" issues presented by the UN Committee Against Torture (CAT) on May 30. The recommendations "are not legally binding and do not oblige the state parties to the Convention to comply," the Cabinet Decision issued on June 18 stated.

The decision was made in response to a parliamentary memorandum of questions (Japanese-only) submitted by Councillor Tomoko Kami of the Japanese Communist Party on June 11 questioning the intent of the government to take follow-up actions. The CAT recommendation ("Concluding Observations") urged the Japanese government to "refute attempts to deny the facts by the government authorities and public figures and to re-traumatize the victims through such repeated denials."

In response to a reporter at his regular afternoon press briefing (video, Japanese-only) on the same day, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga described the underlying intent of the decision as follows: "The Japanese Government has expressed in numerous occasions in the past its position concerning the issue. The intent of the decision is to state that the Government does not intend to restate our position." 

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