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Zeid Ra‘ad Al Hussein

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, who has played a key role in the issue of sexual violence in wartime, struck a blow on Mar. 10 against the settlement reached by the South Korean and Japanese governments on Dec. 28 about the issue of the so-called comfort women for the Imperial Japanese Army.

This was just three days after the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) issued concluding remarks on Mar. 7 in which it directly criticized the two government’s agreement on a “final and irreversible resolution” on the comfort women issue.

During his yearly address to the UN Human Rights Council, which was held in Geneva, Switzerland, on Mar. 10, Zeid described the former comfort women as “women who survived sexual slavery by Japanese military forces during World War II,” reminding his audience that the comfort women issue was a war crime by the Japanese government and a crime of the state.

Zeid went on to say that the terms of the Dec. 28 agreement reached by South Korea and Japan “have been questioned by various UN human rights mechanisms, and most importantly by the survivors themselves.”

“It is fundamentally important that the relevant authorities reach out to these courageous and dignified women; ultimately only they can judge whether they have received genuine redress,” the high commissioner said.

Zeid was emphasizing the fact that, despite the agreement between the South Korean and Japanese government, as long as that agreement is not accepted by the former comfort women – the ones who suffered - the issue cannot be resolved.

Zeid’s remarks contrast dramatically with the recent attitude adopted by South Korean Minister of Foreign Affairs Yun Byung-se. Yun did not mention the comfort women issue even once during a speech before the UNHRC on Mar. 2 that was more than 1,000 words long. Even when he met Zeid immediately after the speech, Yun only emphasized the North Korean human rights issue, without bringing up the comfort women issue.

This is consistent with the previous recommendation made by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women for Japan and South Korea to move swiftly to reach an agreement from the perspective of the victims.

“The announcement of the bilateral agreement with the Republic of Korea, which asserts that the ‘comfort women’ issue ‘is resolved finally and irreversibly’ did not fully adopt a victim-centred approach,” the committee said.

By Kim Ji-eun, staff reporter

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