Tokyo ordered to compensate WWII gas victims

[dArKeR]

The Japanese government was ordered yesterday to pay compensation for a group of Chinese made ill by poison gas or injured by an unexploded shell left behind by Japanese forces in World War Two.

A Tokyo court ordered the government to pay compensation ranging from 6.66 million to 20 million yen (US$59,700-$179,400) to each of the 13 plaintiffs, which include families of victims who have died, a court official said.

A Japanese government official called the ruling harsh. "I think it is a very severe ruling for our country. There is nothing more to say because we haven't sufficiently considered the contents," Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Masaaki Yamazaki told reporters. He declined to say if the government would appeal.

The case arose from poison gas incidents in 1974 and 1982 and from an explosion in 1995, all involving discarded munitions in Heilongjiang province in northeastern China.

http://www.etaiwannews.com/Asia/2003/09/30/1064885913.htm

[dfong63]

1. cool - so will US courts also find the US govt liable for

... unexploded cluster bombs in afghanistan, bosnia, etc? for depleted uranium left in iraq? for agent orange in vietnam? for radioactivity in hiroshima? why not???