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Japan compensates poison gas victims
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In an unprecedented ruling, the Tokyo District Court on Sept. 29 ordered the state to pay a total of ¥190 million to 13 Chinese who lost relatives or suffered health problems due to weapons abandoned by the Imperial Japanese Army at the end of World War II.
It is the first time a Japanese court has recognized the government's responsibility for wartime gas barrels abandoned in China.
The lawsuit was filed in 1996 by the 13 plaintiffs over three incidents in China's Heilongjiang Province: leakages of poison gas in 1974 and 1982, and the explosion of an artillery shell in 1995.
Presiding Judge Yoshihiro Katayama said the government could have predicted the dangers if it had examined documents left by the military or asked former soldiers who returned from China for information.
Katayama said the government could have prevented the accidents by providing China with relevant information or offering to search for and recover the weapons.
In May, the Tokyo District Court dismissed a similar case brought by five Chinese who had suffered from discarded weapons, ruling it was difficult for Japan to collect those weapons from a sovereign state. (The Japan Times)
旧日本軍毒ガス被害で賠償命令
旧日本軍が敗戦時に中国に遺棄した兵器で被害を受けたとして、中国人被害者と遺族計13人が損害賠償を求めた訴訟で、東京地裁は29日、請求をほぼ全面的に認め、原告全員に慰謝料計約1億9000万円を支払うよう国に命じる異例の判決を言い渡した。
Shukan ST: Oct. 10, 2003
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