World War II captives to sue Japan companies
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A group of World War II captives will sue Japan's Mitsubishi Materials over their sufferings before the 79th anniversary of the September 18th Incident in 1931, according to Xinhua.
One hundred victims will jointly sign a letter of authorization in Gaomi, Shandong Province, to take judicial proceedings against Mitsubishi and its branches in China. They hope to win an apology and compensation of 100,000 yuan (US$14,728) for each individual.
Fu Qiang, director of Pengfei Law Firm in Shandong, said the victims will show their confidence and strength to protect their rights and interests through this measure, but this lawsuit isn't the only option, and they hope to receive significant compensation through other means, though Fu didn't elaborate.
The victims are all from Shandong and represent tens of thousands of captives. According to statistics, there were about 40,000 Chinese laborers forced into servitude in Japan up until 1945, before the United States permanently ended the Japanese war efforts. About 7,000 of them were persecuted to death.
"During World War II, 2,709 Chinese laborers were forced to work in nine Mitsubishi Materials construction sites, and additionally a large number of Chinese captives also did forced labor for two other Japanese companies," Fu Qiang said. "Most of them were seized from Shandong Province, especially from Weifang, Jinan, and Zibo cities."
Chinese victims began the litigation process in the early 1990s; however, their suits have been rejected in all 15 cases submitted to Japanese courts for various reasons, such as disapproval of the compensation plan.
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