Horrors of Eugenics Law: Japan’s Supreme Court orders government to pay reparations to forced sterilization victims

The top court’s decision offered a major relief to the victims who had been seeking justice for decades read more In a landmark judgement, Japan’s Supreme Court has ordered the government to compensate the victims of the forced sterilization surgery, despite a 20-year statute of limitations coming into play. The court stated that the victims of the barbarian program should be duly compensated on the basis of the now-defunct eugenics law was unconstitutional, The Japan Times reported. The top court’s decision offered a major relief to the victims who had been seeking justice for decades. These victims were forced to undergo sterilization surgery without their consent or awareness. Most of the victims were suffering from physical and mental disabilities when they were forced to undergo the surgery. Advertisement According to The Japan Times, it was a unified ruling from the Supreme Court that covered five similar lawsuits which were filed in Osaka, Tokyo, Sendai, Kobe and Sapporo. Interestingly, this was also the first time the Japanese court handed down a decision on forced sterilization. What did the ruling say?  It is pertinent to note that this is the 13th case in postwar Japan which the country’s court has referred to...