Sisyphus in a Coal Mine: Responses to Slave Labor in Japan and the United States

29 Pages Posted: 24 Aug 2010

See all articles by Timothy Webster

Timothy Webster

Western New England University School of Law

Date Written: March 4, 2006

Abstract

During World War II, the Japanese state and corporate sector committed various war crimes against the people of China. Beginning in the 1990s, Chinese plaintiffs have filed numerous lawsuits seeking compensation for these acts. This paper analyzes one stream of cases – brought by slave laborers – and various verdicts that Japanese have handed down. Given the mixed results that the courts have provided, the paper ends by proposing a comprehensive solution, modeled loosely on US holocaust litigation, to compensate the remaining victims of Japanese war crimes.

Keywords: human rights, civil litigation, war crimes, slave labor, China, Japan

Suggested Citation

Webster, Timothy, Sisyphus in a Coal Mine: Responses to Slave Labor in Japan and the United States (March 4, 2006). Cornell Law Review, Vol. 91, No. 729, 2006, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1664663

Timothy Webster (Contact Author)

Western New England University School of Law ( email )

1215 Wilbraham Road
Springfield, MA 01119
United States

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