請給本地國會議員致電致信 希望華裔支持鄒至蕙議員有關慰安婦的動議

請給本地國會議員致電致信 希望華裔支持鄒至蕙議員有關慰安婦的動議
2007年3月25日

希望加拿大所有的華裔，亞裔，以及不同族裔的人士，凡對日本法西斯在二戰期間所犯滔天罪行保持正義感，希望世界和平的人們，都應該儘快與自己區內的國會 議員(Member of Parliament)聯繫，表達對慰安婦問題的強烈關注，讓他們在國會討論中投出贊成票。如果全加所有地區的人們都能這樣做的話，定將凝結出一股巨大的力量，迫使日本政府 儘快就慰安婦事件做出正式道歉。

加拿大史維會(Association for the Learning and Preserving of the History of WWII in Asia)已於3月初向聯邦國會發出公開信，希望加國政府在國際間保持正義立場，敦促日本政府儘快對二戰期間犯下的罪行做出正式道歉。

加拿大聯邦新民主黨華裔國會議員鄒至蕙(Olivia Chow)周五（2007年3月23日）把有關慰安婦的動議，提交國會的國際人權小組委員會討論。該動議要求聯邦政府促請日本首相及日本國會向慰安婦道歉及賠償，預料委員會將在27日的例會討論這項議案。若議案在人權委員會通過，最快可在一至兩周后直接交給國會由4大政黨表決，毋須按正常程序等國會排期討論。

日本政府長期以來對二戰罪行缺乏深刻反省，日本軍國主義右翼勢力重新泛起。在2007年3月初不長的幾天內，日本首相安倍晉三先後表示，沒有證據證明慰安婦是被強迫的，不需要再向慰安婦道歉，並考慮對「慰安婦」問題再次展開調查以期否定這一歷史問題。由上百名日本政要組成的「思考日本前途與歷史教育議員協會」８日向首相府提交建議書，要求再次調查「慰安婦」問題。這一協會成立於１９９７年，一直試圖從日本歷史教科書中刪除提及「慰安婦」的部分，安倍本人一度也是協會成員。日本國內這種反常現象卻不是偶然的。早在2006年8月日本東京地方法院作出一審判決，駁回中國海南島「慰安婦」原告要求日本政府謝罪並給予賠償的訴求。這個法院，雖然基本認定了侵華日軍二戰期間在中國海南島設立「慰安所」的事實，但是不承認日軍二戰期間強迫中國婦女充當慰安婦是犯罪行為。

2007年1月日裔美國議員邁克•本田(Mike Honda)向眾議院外交關係委員會提交了一份譴責舊日本軍隊強征慰安婦的決議，要求日本政府「正式承認、道歉並承擔責任」。2月，外交關係委員會所屬亞洲太平洋小委員會就慰安婦問題舉行了一場聽證會，韓國和澳大利亞的3名原慰安婦到場控訴日軍罪行，這是美國國會首次舉行這樣的聽證會。

面對著國際上的壓力，面對本國議會，日本首相安倍卻表示沒有證據證明慰安婦是被強迫的，不需要再向慰安婦道歉。日本政府認為，在1993年，日本的一名長官先生河野發表了道歉講話，承認日本軍隊直接參与在朝鮮半島、中國等地設置「慰安所」，並對此表示道歉和反省。因此，日本政府並不需要再道歉了。一般外界媒體把河野的談話，看作是日本政府的正式表態； 但是他的道歉講話從來沒有被日本議會承認和批准過。日本右翼勢力甚至公開提出，工作在軍隊妓院中是慰安婦們的正常生意而已（"Working at the brothels was their commercial business. They were never sex slaves," Former education minister Nariaki Nakayama）。

東西方的歷史學家普遍認為，二戰日軍侵略東亞及東南亞期間，至少有20萬的亞洲各國及澳洲、荷蘭等國婦女和少女遭到拐騙和俘掠，被強迫向日軍提供性服務，淪為性奴隸，不少婦女死在日本軍隊之中。多年來，一直有受害婦女舉行示威和集會，要求日本政府「謝罪」和賠償。

此次加拿大華裔國會議員鄒至蕙向國會人權委員會提出動議，表達了亞裔對二戰日本法西斯軍國主義強烈關注的態度，促使加拿大國會向日本政府施壓，維護人權還二戰受害者以正義，以抵制戰爭、維護和平。

目前加拿大史維會已經發表了致加拿大總理的公開信，並寄給了300多名本屆國會議員們，隨信並寄出了一張講述日本侵略罪行的DVD。這張DVD中的評論，90％以上來自加拿大本地教師。史維會近年來，多次在暑假組織加拿大本地教師赴中國等地參觀二戰日軍法西斯罪行現場及採訪相關倖存者。

加拿大史維會呼籲加拿大所有華裔，亞裔及一切主張世界和平的人們，向本地區國會議員致電致信，希望他們支持對鄒至蕙議員之動議(vote YES to Olivia Chow's motion)。

你可以在以下網址發現你所在地區的國會議員聯繫方法：
Find your Member of Parliament using your Postal Code
http://www.parl.gc.ca/informatio ... age=E&source=sm

謝謝大家的支持！


Tell Your MPs to vote YES to Olivia Chow's motion


鄒至蕙議員之動議要點

New Democratic Party MP Olivia Chow:

"That, in the opinion of the House, the government should urge the Prime Minister  and the Parliament of Japan to:

(a) pass a resolution in the Diet to formally apologize to the women who  were coerced into military sexual slavery during the Second World War and were euphemized as "comfort women" by the Japanese Imperial Army;
and

(b) to provide just and honorable compensation to these victims."

為了幫助大家了解相關背景
和
幫助大家與議員們聯繫

相關資料，以便於讀者向本地區國會議員致電致信

Tell Your MPs to vote YES to Olivia Chow's motion

1.
加拿大史維會渥太華分會致加拿大首相哈珀的一份公開信
20 March 2007
Dear Hon. Mr. Stephen Harper, the Prime Minister of Canada

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe』s claim on Thursday, March 1 2007 that there is no evidence to prove there was coercion by Japan』s military to force foreign women into sexual slavery during World War II is not only a lie but also an insult and disrespect to the victims  and  human dignity.  Even though he has backtracked by accepting the fact of existence of the comfort women, he continued to deny the conduct of Japanese military through an investigation set up by him and a group dedicated to whitewash the whole affair.  This is obvious a delaying tactics to overturn the Kono statement which admits the involvement of the Japanese military. Whether the military used force or not is immaterial because all these dirty works were done under the name of the Japanese emperor.  The evidence of the misconduct and explicit involvement are so overwhelming that any denial will be self defeating.  

As the Prime Minister of Canada, you have done a noble and historic act by sincerely apologizing to the Chinese Canadians on the mistake of the past by redressing the infamous Head Tax Act.  Lately you have disappointed us by refusing to take a stand against the government of Japan over the war responsibility while you have been very quick in condemning China for its poor human rights records. To us human rights is human rights. Whether the victim died in the Nazi concentration camp or in the streets of Nanking in 1937 by the Japanese soldiers is the same crime and atrocity against humanity and should be equally condemned. We hope that you will use your moral example to condemn Mr. Abe in refusing to face the historic facts
and call on the government of Japan to formally and unambiguously apologize and acknowledge the tragedy which the comfort women endured under its Imperial Army during World War II. Not only should Japan』s Prime Minister issue a public apology, Japan must take responsibility of the war and atrocities committed between 1937-45 unequivocally.  No more investigations or half-hearted apologies!

A nation that will admit past mistakes and make amendments to prevent future occurrence will be a great nation to be respected.  Thank you.
  
Ottawa ALPHA(Association for Learning & Preserving the History of WWII in Asia


2.
美國國會議員本田的動議內容
美國國會蘊釀通過一項決議，要求日本正視史實，同時要求日本政府在中小學進行慰安婦史實教育。這項議案是由日裔美國眾議員邁克•本田（Mike Honda)提出的。
具體內容見http://www.house.gov/list/press/ca15_honda/COMFORTWOMEN.html
這位正直的日裔美國眾議員提出：
(Rep. Honda Statement for the Congressional Record Regarding Comfort Women Resolution)
the Government of Japan—
(1) should formally acknowledge, apologize, and accept historical responsibility in a clear and unequivocal manner for its Imperial Armed Force』s coercion of young women into sexual slavery, known to the world as 『『comfort women』』, during its colonial and wartime occupation of Asia and the Pacific Islands from the 1930s through the duration of World War II;
(2) should have this official apology given as a public statement presented by the Prime Minister of Japan in his official capacity;
(3) should clearly and publicly refute any claims that the sexual enslavement and trafficking of the 『『comfort women』』 for the Japanese Imperial Armed Forces never occurred; and
(4) should educate current and future generations about this horrible crime while following the recommendations of the international community 7 with respect to the 『『comfort women』』.

3.
荷蘭政府要求日本解釋慰安婦問題
Dutch government seeks explanation from Japan on coercion of 'comfort women'

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2 ... apan-Sex-Slaves.php

荷蘭外交大臣馬克西姆•費爾哈亨３月１６日說，日本政府當日制定的稱未發現有關過去日軍曾強征「慰安婦」的直接記述的答辯書「令人感到不愉快」，並要求日方對此作出解釋。費爾哈亨當天晚上打電話給日本駐荷蘭大使小町恭士表示，如果有關日本政府制定答辯書的報道是真實的，那麼這是「令人非常不愉快之事」。費爾哈亨要求日方對此事作出解釋。２０世紀三四十年代，許多婦女被迫成為日軍「慰安婦」，其中也包括不少當時在亞洲居住的荷蘭婦女。

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP): Tokyo's assertion that it found no evidence that the military or government forced women to work in military brothels during World War II came as an "unpleasant surprise," the Dutch foreign minister said Friday.

Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen spoke to Japan's ambassador to the Netherlands, Kyoji Komachi, by phone Friday evening to seek an explanation for the reported government statement, spokesman Herman van Gelderen told The Associated Press.

The call followed a statement posted on the Web site of a Japanese opposition lawmaker in which the government said it "has not come across anything recorded in the materials it has found that directly shows so-called 'coercion' on the part of themilitary or constituted authorities."

The Japanese Cabinet Office confirmed its contents."This was a very unpleasant surprise if the report is true," Verhagen told the ambassador, according to Van Gelderen.

The ambassador told Verhagen he was aware of reports of the government statement but did not have any more details. He promised to find out more and report back, most likely early next week, Van Gelderen said.

Historians say as many as 200,000 women, most of them Asians, worked in Japanese military brothels across the region in the 1930s and '40s. Japanese defense documents uncovered in 1992 showed the military had a direct role in running the brothels,which the government had previously denied.

Many Dutch women who lived in the Dutch East Indies, the former colony now known as Indonesia, also were forced into the brothels, said Van Gelderen.

"Some are still alive and for them it is very painful ...because old wounds can still be painful, especially when things like this are said," he added.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sparked criticism in Asia and the United States earlier this month by saying there was no evidence the women were forced into prostitution - despite testimony from victims who recounted being kidnapped and forcedinto sexual slavery.

Lawmakers from Japan's ruling conservative party say the women were professional prostitutes who were paid for their services, and maintain that military authorities were not directly responsible for the establishment or running of wartime brothels.

Abe, however, has declared that he stands by the 1993 apology by then-Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono to the victims after documents were uncovered showing military involvement in the brothels.

4.
一位讀者致日本時代報社的抗議信
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/rc20070311a2.html
Sunday, Mar. 11, 2007

READERS IN COUNCIL

Choosing denial over justice

By JOAN DAWSON
Seoul
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is following the latest trend: denial. Iran's president denies that the Holocaust happened and he has many followers. Some groups deny statistics showing violence against women despite the quantity or quality of data. I am going to follow the trend: I will deny myself the visit I had planned to Tokyo next month. I refuse to spend my money in a country that will not take responsibility for its past atrocities.
Abe denies that Japan's military forced women into sex slavery during World War II despite the documented evidence and testimonials from the women themselves. It is an outrage. It is cruel and demeaning not only to the "comfort women" but to women everywhere. Inhumane acts cannot be ignored or denied.
The opinions expressed in this letter to the editor are the writer's own and do not necessarily reflect the policies of The Japan Times.
The Japan Times


"Japan cannot be trusted"
Since:

Some groups in Japan are now campaigning against the documented evidence and testimonials from the women themselves.

And, by now most of junior high school textbooks in Japan deleted words such as 'military comfort women' or that the women were 'forcibly taken' (to the frontline brothels).

Denial is becoming a trend in Japan.
否定不利歷史事實，正在成為日本國內的一種潮流
Japan PM Abe follows this trend to deny.
日本 首相卻跟隨這種潮流
This is the key point about comfort women:
If Japan』s government is Choosing denial over justice?
我們不禁在問，難道日本政府正在以否定來代替正義？
That is why we promote Canada past a relevant resolution about comfort women.

左上圖為日本侵華期間，日本陸軍直屬營部在上海設立的「慰安所」，日軍經常在此強姦中國婦女。右上圖為８０歲的譚亞棟。左下圖為８１歲的林亞金。右下圖為日本侵華期間，等候在日軍營「慰安所」門前的日軍官兵，慰安所中的女性多為中國婦女。 新華社發

[COLOR="Red"]Tell Your MPs to vote YES to Olivia Chow's motion  [/COLOR]



一些相關新聞：
1.

[COLOR="Lime"][COLOR="Black"]Comfort women weren't coerced, Japanese PM suggests[/COLOR][/COLOR]
（Last Updated: Thursday, March 1, 2007  http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2007/03/01/japan-slave.html）
3月1日，日本首相安倍否認強迫婦女慰安
"The fact is, there is no evidence to prove there was coercion," Abe said. "We have to take it from there."
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Thursday there is no evidence Japan coerced Asian women into working as sex slaves during the Second World War, backtracking from a landmark 1993 government statement acknowledging that tens of thousands of women were forced into prostitution for the military.
Abe's comments to reporters came as a group of ruling party legislators urged the government to revise the so-called Kono Statement acknowledging that Japan's wartime military sometimes used coercion to recruit women to work in the brothels.

2.
[COLOR="Black"][COLOR="Black"]Japan's refusal to apologize for wartime brothels sparks furor[/COLOR][/COLOR]
（Last Updated: Wednesday, March 7, 2007  http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/20 ... me-brothels.html）
日本拒絕向慰安婦道歉引發憤怒
The refusal by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to formally apologize for his country's Second World War brothels has incensed critics in China, North and South Korea, and the Philippines who have demanded Japan acknowledge its responsibility.
Abe said Monday there was no need for Japan to apologize again when he commented about a proposed resolution before the U.S. House of Representatives. And his government made it clear Wednesday it was sticking to that position.
"The U.S. resolution is not based on objective facts and does not take into consideration the responses that we have taken so far. Therefore, we will not offer a fresh apology," said Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki.
…
In South Korea, just 113 of the former sex slaves are still alive. A shelter has been set up for them in Gwangju, 50 kilometres south of Seoul, where Lee Ok-seon lives with eight other women.

The beatings Lee endured during three years of sexual enslavement to Japanese troops left her nearly deaf from blows to the head, with speech slurred from missing teeth and scars on various parts of her body.


She was shocked to hear the Japanese prime minister say last week there was no proof she and other so-called comfort women had been coerced into prostitution.

The proof, she said, is all over her body.

日本首相安倍說，沒有證據表明慰安婦是被強迫的。證據在哪裡？就在我身上，全身！

"They took away other people's young daughters only to beat them to death, make them sick to death and starve them to death," said Lee, now 79. "And now they say there was no coercion in taking us. How evil are they?"
他們奪走人們的年輕的女兒，打她們，餓她們，許多人被折磨至病至死。

但是日本政府現在卻說，慰安婦從來沒有被強迫過！？

How evil are they?"

3.
日本政府對二戰罪行長期的這種「輕描談寫」、或者說「掩耳盜鈴」的態度，是深有原因的。
請看日本一些主流社會的觀點和長年活動(campaign)
Former education minister Nariaki Nakayama takes pride in an achievement he and about 130 fellow members of the Liberal Democratic Party took the past decade to accomplish: getting references to Japan's wartime sex slaves struck from most authorized history texts for junior high schools.
日本前教育部長Nakayama非常自豪：
"Our campaign worked, and people outside the government also started raising their voices, creating a national trend," said the 63-year-old Lower House member from Miyazaki Prefecture, who also openly claims the 1937 Nanjing Massacre was a "pure fabrication."
我們的活動見成效了，這是日本民間的聲音，正在形成為全國的潮流。這位前部長現為議員，他公開聲稱1937年的南京大屠殺為「地地道道的虛構」。
Nakayama feels he and the LDP group he heads played a key role in getting the descriptions of the "comfort women," the euphemism Japan used for the wartime sex slaves for its army, deleted from most junior high school history books.
這位日本前教育部長Nakayama感到他們起到關鍵作用，他們的已經實現一個目標，即把慰安婦這一個雖委婉的說法但有害的用語從大多數初級中學課本中去除。
"Now few textbooks carry words like 'military comfort women' or that the women were 'forcibly taken' (to the frontline brothels). I think that's good," said Nakayama, a former elite Finance Ministry bureaucrat who served as education minister from September 2005 to October 2006.
現在可以看到，很少有教科書使用「軍用慰安婦」和「強迫」等字眼。
Nakayama's group has been busier than ever lately. They are now campaigning against a resolution before the U.S. House of Representatives that demands a formal apology from Japan's prime minister for the wartime sexual enslavement of women and girls across Asia. They have also pushed for the LDP to reinvestigate the sex slavery with an eye to watering down a 1993 official government apology.
近來，日本前教育部長Nakayama和他的同志們非常的忙碌，因為他們現在正在發起一個「運動」以反對美國議會正在討論慰安婦決議案。他們要求日本政府重新調查慰安婦「史實」。

Nakayama claims the women were professional prostitutes at frontline brothels run by private agencies, and neither the state nor the army forcibly took the women there.
這位日本前教育部長Nakayama認為，那些婦女是職業妓女，只不過她們的工作地點在軍隊而已，根本沒有證據來證明她們是被強迫帶到軍隊的。
Some historians estimate the sex slaves numbered up to 200,000, including those in their teens, while others say the figure was much lower.
一些歷史學家認為日軍性奴有20萬人，一些歷史學家認為這個數字被誇張了。
"(Working at the brothels) was their commercial business. They were never sex slaves," Nakayama reckoned, challenging the public testimony of scores of aging Asian and Dutch women who recalled being forcibly taken, some in their teens, to the frontline brothels and being gang-raped by Japanese troops for little or no reward.
「工作在軍隊妓院是她們的商業生意，她們從來就不是性奴」，當亞洲和荷蘭的倖存者指證日軍殘暴地對待慰安婦時，這位日本前教育部長這麼說到。
（Sex slave history erased from texts; '93 apology next? By REIJI YOSHIDA
The Japan Times: Sunday, March 11, 2007
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070311f1.html）

內容編輯：馬銘
引用資料來自相關新聞媒體和歷史資料，恕不一一註明