Women’s International War Crimes Tribunal 20th Anniversary Online Symposium

The judgement of the women’s international war crimes/ How can we use testimonies to create a better future.
〜To eliminate sexual violence decriminalization and colonialism now〜
■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■

<Date> December 12th (Saturday) 　2020 1pm to 6pm
<Viewing method> Live streaming via zoom webinar. Simultaneous interpretations
in Japanese, English and Korean will be provided.

<Fee> Viewing from overseas is free!

・1500yen per adult
・500 yen per student
・Free for people residing outside of Japan
＊The deadline for transfer is December 10th 1pm
★ticket information     https://houtei20.peatix.com/
<Contact> houtei20@gmail.com

<Part 1>　13:00
●Screening the documentary of the 2020 tribunal(credit to Video juku/Eriko Ikeda)

・Keynote speech: Ustinia Dolgopol（chief justice of the court）
“The Tokyo Women’s Tribunal-civil society’s reframing of the search for justice.“
・From Japan: Kouki Abe(Japan public prosecutors association/Prof. Meiji gakuin university)
“Reconsider Japanese Colonialism from the Tribunal”
・From Korea: Nayoung Lee (The chief director of the Korean Council/Prof. Korean and Chuo university )
“From the Tribunal to South Korea’s #MeToo movement that punished sexual violence”

●Message from judge, chief prosecutor, Japan, North and South Korea, China , etc.

<Part 2>
・Listening to the testimonies of Japanese military “comfort women” and survivors of wartime sexual violence.
Valuable testimonies of survivors past and present from North and South Korea, China, Taiwan, Philippines, Indonesia, and East Timor.
・Proposals from the next generation〜Connecting to the future〜
Current activities and proposals of the next generation in the Philippines, Taiwan, Korea and Japan.

●Message from Hyunah Yang： “The Importance of Passing the Survivor’s Testimony ”

[Caution]
・It is prohibited to film, record, or screen capture this symposium.
・Those who have applied will be able to view the recording for a limited period of time after the symposium.

[Donation] The fee is not included in the donation
・Single unit of group donation is 5000 yen.(You can donate multiple times. The name of the organization will be included in the materials)
・Individual donations are also accepted.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/joseihoutei20
Twitter:＠joseihoutei20

Organizer: Executive Committee of Women’s International War Crimes Tribunal 20th Anniversary
Co-organizers: Violence Against Women in War Research Action Center (VAWW RAC)/The Korean Council for Justice and Remembrance for the Issue of Military Sexual Slavery by Japan(Korean Council)
Supporter organization: International Peace Research Institute Meiji Gakuin University
Supporting organization: Seeking

In December , the Women’s International War Crimes Tribunal is celebrating its 20th anniversary. In honor of this, we are having an international symposium with support groups and ”comfort women” /wartime sexual violence survivors from Korea , Taiwan , Philippines , Indonesia and East Timor.

Since the association with VAWW-Net Japan (now VAWW RAC) and support groups from the affected countries, the tribunal was convened in Tokyo. The tribunal was hold with the member of 64 victim women , prosecutors/women’s organizations from 8 countries and global citizens.
The purpose of the tribunal was to respond to the victims’ demands for justice and to use evidence from Japanese perpetrators to prevent further unpunished sexual violence ( which still exists now). The tribunal judged the perpetrators of Japanese military sexual slavery under international law based on the evidence. In the final judgement, the court explicitly found that the Japanese military and government had “perpetrated rape and sexual slavery as crimes against humanity ”.

Twenty years later, the issue of “comfort women” remains unsolved, and unpunished sexual violence and hate speech against other ethnic groups are still very serious in Japan. Meanwhile, the #MeToo movement and the Black Lives Matter movement are expanding to protest unpunished sexual violence and slavery/colonialism around the world.
The symposium is a good opportunity to reflect on the tribunal and to pass on the verdict and testimonies to future generations by hearing directly from survivors in various countries. We hope you will join us.