Bar association demands restoration of ‘red purge’ victims’ honor

Japan Press Weekly

Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

Bar association demands restoration of ‘red purge’ victims’ honor

The Japan Federation of Bar Associations (JFBA) on August 31 advised Prime Minister Kan Naoto to restore “red purge” victims’ honor and compensate them for their suffering.

Currently, 26 “red purge” victims (one is already dead) are seeking human-rights relief in a claim they filed in Tokyo and Saitama. They are former union activists, public high school teachers, national railway workers, and others.

The JFBA recognizes that the “red purge” seriously violated such human rights as freedom of thought, conscience, and association.

“Although Japan could have easily restored the victims’ honor after the 1952 San Francisco Peace Treaty came into effect, the government has left the situation as it is up until today. It should be held responsible for that,” the JFBA states.

The Bar demands that the government also take relief measures to all the victims of the “red purge”, said to be 30,000, who were expelled from their jobs.

The JFBA argues that to guarantee freedom of thought and conscience at work remains a human-rights challenge even in present-day Japan.

Saikawa Saburo, a “red purge” victim said, “I will press the government to immediately carry the JFBA advice into effect.”

The “red purge” took place mainly in 1950 in Japan based on GHQ orders, and many Japanese Communist Party members and sympathizers were displaced from companies and public offices.

- Akahata, September 2, 2010