Japan Press Weekly

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2007 March 7 - 13 [SOCIAL ISSUES]

U.S. indiscriminate bombardment violated international law: Tokyo air raid lawsuit lawyers

Plaintiffs, lawyers, and supporters of the Great Tokyo Air Raid lawsuit held a rally on March 9 after filing it at the Tokyo District Court.

The plaintiffs’ legal team emphasized the significance of the lawsuit, saying, “The U.S. indiscriminate bombardment in WWII clearly violated international law. In the Treaty of San Francisco, however, Japan renounced its claim against the United States for compensation. Therefore, it is the Japanese government that should assume the responsibility for compensating air-raid survivors.”

A plaintiff criticized the Japanese government for having neglected its duty to relieve civilian victims and for pushing ahead with the scheme to change Japan into a nation waging wars abroad by abandoning the war-renouncing Article 9.

The rally confirmed its policy to launch a campaign to publicize the lawsuit in every corner of the country on the grounds that raising public awareness will lead to a victory in court.