Chinese people and a lawyers' group protest at the Tokyo High Court yesterday after the court rejected their demand for compensation for injuries and deaths caused by germ warfare in the 1940s during the Japanese aggression on China. -Xinhua

The Tokyo High Court yesterday dismissed an appeal by a group of 180 Chinese nationals seeking compensation from the Japanese government for injuries and deaths stemming from a germ warfare campaign during Japan’s war of aggression on China, upholding a lower court ruling.
In handing down the ruling, Presiding Judge Yukio Ota acknowledged the fact that the Imperial Japanese Army waged germ warfare, carried out by Unit 731 in China before and during the war, resulting in the deaths of many Chinese people from pest and cholera.
Referring to an international treaty that banned germ warfare at that time, Ota said,“Japan is held responsible for using germ weapons in violation of a treaty.”
The judge, however, rejected the compensation demand, saying that there were“no rules that allow individuals to directly demand damages from perpetrating countries.”
The lawsuit was filed with the Tokyo District Court in 1997 and 1999 by 180 Chinese people—victims and relatives of deceased victims of the Japanese army’s germ warfare—demanding 10 million yen (US$88,609) each and an apology from the government.
In a ruling on August 27, 2002, the district court turned down the plaintiffs’demand but acknowledged that the Japanese army conducted germ warfare in China—the first court to do so.
At that time, the district court rejected the lawsuit, saying,“No international law that enables individuals to sue for war damages had been established at the time or has been now.”
The plaintiffs then appealed to the high Chinese germ warfare victims’families denied compensation court, calling the rejection unfair and unacceptable.
They argued that Unit 731 released fleas infected with bubonic plague and food doused with cholera bacteria in Zhejiang and
Hunan provinces between 1940 and 1942, killing tens of thousands of people.
They asserted that the actions by the Japanese troops violated international laws on the safety of occupied peoples and civil codes.
They also accused the Japanese government of trying to hide the facts about germ warfare and not taking steps to compensate the victims.
The Japanese government rejected the allegations, saying individuals have no right to seek compensation under international law and that it has no responsibility to compensate for acts conducted before the State Redress Law was enacted after the war.
The plaintiffs and their lawyers strongly protested the ruling, saying they would fight the unfair verdict.
“The ruling is brutal for the victims of Japanese army’s atrocities,”said Zhang Lizhong, whose family was destroyed by the germ warfare.
“When my grandfather and two younger brothers were killed in the germ warfare, I was only 10 years old. My grandmother and father died from sorrow soon afterward.”
Lou Xian, a member of lawyers’group for the plaintiffs, pointed out that Japanese judges have lost their independence.“The unfair rulings of the Tokyo High Court on a series of lawsuits related to Chinese victims from Japan’s war indicate the court has gone away from justness and conscience,”the Chinese lawyer said.
Tsuchiya Kohken, a Japanese lawyer for the plaintiffs, expressed disappointment at the ruling and criticized the collusion between the Japanese government and courts, saying they will appeal to Japan’s supreme court.
The supporters group for the plaintiffs also held a protest demonstration after the ruling, urging the Japanese government to apologize and compensate the victims.