Nobel peace laureates issue statement slamming Hashimoto

Five female winners of the Nobel Peace Prize issued on Thursday a joint statement blasting Toru Hashimoto, mayor of Osaka and co-chair of the Japan Restoration Party. The five are Shirin Ebadi from Iran, Mairead Corrigan Maguire from Northern Island, Rigoberta Menchu Tum from Guatemala, Jody Williams from the U.S., and Leymah Gbowee from Liberia.

Through the statement, they condemned in the strongest possible terms the recent deplorable remarks by Hashimoto, who said the military comfort women system was necessary, and urged the mayor to withdraw the remark and apologize. The statement said that sexual slavery in wartime is a form of gender violence and is today defined as war crime. It also pointed out that the crimes committed against the comfort women continue to cause terrible pain for individuals and their families, and contribute to the continued tensions, enmity and mistrust in East Asia today.

The Nobel winners also urged the Tokyo government to implement a policy banning sexual violence during war, while calling on Japanese citizens to make unanimous voice to deny sexual assaults.