Le thème des tabous en histoire et de leur usage peut être parcouru avec quelques exemples qui concernent les histoires nationales française, allemande ou japonaise...etc. sur le site d'Arte. On lira ou écoutera avec profit l'étude de l'usage du mot tabou par l'historien Antoine Prost. http://www.arte.tv/fr/histoire-societe/histoire/Tabous-de-l-histoire/1383070.html
Au Japon, on n'a toujours pas accédé à une vision sereine d'un passé peu glorieux. Sur le site du Parlement européen on trouve ce texte officiel qui concerne la question de l'esclavage sexuel auquel des milliers de femmes en Asie ont été contraintes depuis les années 30 jusqu'à la fin de la seconde guerre mondiale, au profit des troupes d'occupation. La question du droit à réparation pour les victimes d'actes contraires au droit international rejoint la question de la reconnaissance publique et officielle des crimes et celle de l'enseignement de l'histoire.
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/expert/infopress_page/015-14857-344-12-50-902-20071211IPR14818-10-12-2007-2007-false/default_fr.htm
Use of sex slaves by Japanese forces in World War II
Use of sex slaves by Japanese forces in World War II
A resolution on the 'comfort women' (sex slaves) used by Japan in World War II calls for a change of official attitudes in modern-day Japan, a right for survivors or families to apply for compensation and measures to educate people about these historical events. The resolution states that the government of Japan, during its colonial and wartime occupation of Asia and the Pacific Islands from the 1930s until the end of World War II, officially commissioned the acquisition of young women, who became known to the world as ianfu or ‘comfort women’, for the sole purpose of sexual servitude to its Imperial Armed Forces. The system "included gang rape, forced abortions, humiliation, and sexual violence resulting in mutilation, death or eventual suicide, in one of the largest cases of human trafficking in the 20th century". The survivors are still waiting for justice to be done. The dozens of ‘comfort women’ cases brought before Japanese courts have all ended in the dismissal of plaintiffs’ claims for compensation, despite court judgements acknowledging the Imperial Armed Forces’ direct and indirect involvement, and the state’s responsibility. Call for formal acknowledgment of responsibility by government The EP refers to the acknowledgements of these abuses made by Japanese politicians and officials, although "some Japanese officials have recently expressed a regrettable desire to dilute or rescind those statements". At all events, the EP believes more needs to be done. The resolution calls on the Japanese government "formally to acknowledge, apologize, and accept historical and legal responsibility, in a clear and unequivocal manner, for its Imperial Armed Force’s coercion of young women into sexual slavery, known to the world as ‘comfort women’, during its colonial and wartime occupation of Asia and the Pacific Islands from the 1930s until the end of World War II". Legal obstacles to compensation must be removed It also calls on the Japanese government "to implement effective administrative mechanisms to provide reparations to all surviving victims of the ‘comfort women’ system and the families of its deceased victims". The Japanese National Assembly is urged "to take legal measures to remove existing obstacles to obtaining reparations before Japanese courts". In particular, say MEPs, "the right of individuals to claim reparations against the government should be expressly recognized in national law, and cases for reparations for the survivors of sexual slavery, as a crime under international law, should be prioritized, taking into account the age of the survivors". Education about the past MEPs also want the government of Japan "to refute publicly any claims that the subjugation and enslavement of ‘comfort women’ never occurred". Lastly, the resolution "encourages the Japanese people and government to take further steps to recognize the full history of their nation, as is the moral duty of all countries, and to foster awareness in Japan of its actions in the 1930s and 1940s, including in relation to ‘comfort women’" and "calls on the government of Japan to educate current and future generations about those events".
