Global Security Newswire

A court in Japan ruled yesterday the government did not owe compensation to Chinese citizens injured or killed by chemical warfare materials abandoned by the Japanese military during World War II, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Jan. 23, 2009).

Forty-eight Chinese plaintiffs sought $16 million in damages, along with reimbursement for medical expenses and loss of wages, in the lawsuit filed in 2007 with the Tokyo District Court. Forty-three of the plaintiffs said they were exposed to a liquid that was stored in barrels excavated and opened in 2003 in the northeastern Chinese city of Qiqihar; the other five are relatives of a construction worker who died following exposure.

Effects of exposure include blisters, vision troubles and extended exhaustion, according to the plaintiffs.

The Tokyo court acknowledged the danger posed by the abandoned chemical weapons but said the Japanese government could not be determined liable for not making safety checks at that specific location a priority matter.

The decision was "extremely unfair," according to Satoshi Ibori, a Japanese attorney who is representing the claimants. He said he would file an appeal.

The Japanese government previously said it would offer $3.3 million to the people harmed at Qiqihar. That funding level is insufficient even for addressing the medical and wage issues, according to the plaintiffs.

Japan to date has recovered 37,000 chemical weapons in China, leaving an estimated 700,000 (Mari Yamaguchi, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, May 24).