Apology to forcibly sterilised citizens

TOKYO: The Japanese Government apologised yesterday to tens of thousands of victims forcibly sterilised under a nowdefunct Eugenics Protection Law and promised to pay compensation.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said he was offering ‘‘sincere remorse and heartfelt apology’’ to the victims.

His apology comes just after the parliament enacted legislation earlier yesterday to provide redress measures, including ¥3.2 million ($NZ43,212) compensation for each victim.

An estimated 25,000 people were sterilised without consent while the 1948 Eugenics Protection Law was in place until 1996. The law was designed to ‘‘prevent the birth of poorquality descendants’’ and allowed doctors to sterilise people with disabilities.

The apology and the redress law follow a series of lawsuits by victims who came forward recently after breaking decades of silence. — AP