Diet enacts aid law on forced sterilization victims

Japan's Diet enacted Tuesday a law to pay 15 million yen each to victims of forced sterilization surgery under a now-defunct eugenics protection law, providing remedy to those who have not joined lawsuits to demand compensation from the state.

Under the law, designed to address what is considered the worst human rights violation in Japan's post-World War II history, spouses of victims will also receive 5 million yen. It follows a recent landmark top court ruling that said the eugenics protection law was unconstitutional, issuing a compensation order to the state.

A cross-party lawmakers' group proposed the legislation. The new law provides significantly higher damages than the one-time state compensation of 3.2 million yen paid under a different law enacted in 2019 and newly includes the victims' spouses as recipients.

Parliament and the government "accept responsibility for legislative acts and enforcement in violation of the Constitution and sincerely and deeply apologize," the preamble to the law says.

It was passed by the House of Councillors on Tuesday following its passage in the House of Representatives on Monday.

Under the law, if the victim or his or her spouse has died, their relatives, including children, grandchildren, or siblings can receive the compensation.

Those who have been forced to undergo abortion surgery under the eugenics law will also be eligible to receive a lump sum of 2 million yen.

The funds will be paid on request from the victims, with the deadline five years from the law's implementation. To ensure prompt compensation without going through litigation, a board at the Children and Families Agency will take charge of identifying the extent of damage.

The eugenics law, in effect from 1948 to 1996, permitted the sterilization of people with intellectual disabilities, mental illnesses, or hereditary disorders without their consent, aiming to prevent "inferior" traits from entering the gene pool.

About 25,000 people were sterilized, 16,000 of them without consent, according to government data.

In July, the Supreme Court, ruling on five lawsuits among a series of lawsuits seeking damages against the state over the forced sterilization, said that the statute of limitations of 20 years for an unlawful act does not apply to cases involving the eugenics law.

Diet enacts aid law on forced sterilization victims

Diet enacts aid law on forced sterilization victims

Diet enacts aid law on forced sterilization victims

Diet enacts aid law on forced sterilization victims

Diet enacts aid law on forced sterilization victims