From 1938 to 1943, the Japanese bombed Chongqing more than 200 times. In March 2006, victims of the Chongqing bombing filed a lawsuit with the Tokyo District Court, demanding an apology and compensation from the Japanese government (the defendant). June 5438 In October 2009, three more lawsuits were filed, bringing the number of plaintiffs to 188.
2065438 On February 25, 2005, the first instance result of the Chongqing bombing civil claims case was pronounced in the Tokyo District Court. The court declared that the plaintiff 188 had lost the lawsuit and dismissed its lawsuit. The litigation costs were borne by the plaintiff.
After the judge pronounced the verdict, Su, the head of the plaintiff team, immediately protested against the judge’s improper judgment.
Earlier report: The plaintiffs of the Chongqing bombing went to Tokyo to hear the second-instance verdict.
During China’s Anti-Japanese War, from February 1938 to February 1944, the Japanese army carried out strategic bombing of Chongqing, the wartime capital of the Republic of China, and its surrounding counties and cities for six years and ten months. According to incomplete statistics, during this period, the Japanese invaders bombed Chongqing alone 218 times, dispatched more than 9,000 aircraft sorties, and dropped more than 16,438 bombs. At the same time, the Japanese army also launched brutal bombings on civilians in Chengdu, Leshan, Zigong, Songpan and other places, affecting 76 cities and counties in Sichuan Province, killing and injuring hundreds of thousands of innocent people.
China’s Chongqing Bombing Claims Team has 31 members, including plaintiffs, lawyers, and volunteers from Chongqing, Chengdu, Leshan, Songpan, Zigong and other places. Ms. Wang Xuan, who "moved the Japanese people in 2002" and has persisted in helping Japanese victims of germ warfare sue the Japanese government for more than 20 years, also participated in the claim, supporting and championing this claim.
The claim team plans to go to Tokyo, Japan in the near future to hear the second-instance judgment of the Tokyo High Court on the Chongqing bombing lawsuit issued in June 5438 and February 65438 April, and to launch a protest at the same time.
Compared with previous claims missions to Japan, the Chongqing Bombing Claims Mission had the largest number of participants and the largest scale. It received strong support from the Chinese Civilian Claims Claims Against Japan Federation and caring entrepreneurs at the beginning of the preparations. After learning about the Chongqing bombing's claim for compensation from China, the Civilian Claims Claims Association against Japan launched a fundraising event in the WeChat group of the Claims Claims Association, raising a total of 79,700 yuan, including 35,000 yuan donated by Zou Xichang, a patriotic entrepreneur and member of the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
After several years of careful preparation, the victims of the "Chongqing Bombing" filed the first lawsuit against Japan in March 2006 in Tokyo, Japan. This lawsuit, which spanned 12 years, gathered the efforts of many Chinese and Japanese lawyers, civil society groups, victims and volunteers, and sang the voice of justice for Chinese and Japanese civil society organizations to expose the Japanese war atrocities and maintain peace.
In the nine years from 2006 to 2015, headed by Japanese lawyer Keiichiro, with the full help of Chinese and Japanese lawyers, non-governmental organizations and volunteers, large groups from Chongqing, Chengdu, Leshan, Songpan and Zigong Victims of the bombing came together and launched four lawsuits against the Japanese government. During the nine years, there were a total of 188 victims and accusers. In Japanese courts, numerous atrocities committed by Japanese troops were prosecuted. Although the court made a factual finding of the Japanese government's crime of infringement, it still made a first-instance judgment on the grounds that the individual's right to claim was invalid and the state had not responded.
The losing verdict failed to stop the plaintiffs, defense lawyers, and support groups from pursuing justice and maintaining peace. Subsequently, the Japanese legal team launched a second-instance appeal on behalf of the victim and presented a 957-page indictment to the Japanese court in 2016. After two trials, the second trial judgment will be ushered in on April 2017.
The long-running Chongqing bombing lawsuit against Japan, like all other lawsuits against Japan, will inevitably lead to a failed second-instance verdict because the Japanese government manipulated Japanese courts that refused to assume war responsibility and refuse to apologize and compensate. .
At that time, 22 elderly people died before the first-instance verdict; the surviving plaintiffs are now in their eighties, and most of them no longer have the physical strength to participate in cross-border litigation. Even so, the 84-year-old plaintiff Su, the 85-year-old plaintiff Chen Guifang, and the 79-year-old plaintiff Jian Quanbi are still old and frail. They represented tens of thousands of victims across the ocean in court and in Japanese society, and issued an appeal to the Japanese government. The voice of justice.
This event has received support from people from all walks of life in Chongqing. Su Zai, the 84-year-old leader of the Chongqing bombing plaintiff group who has led the plaintiff group to Japan for compensation many times, said: "Most of the plaintiffs we insist on claiming compensation from Japan are 80-year-old people. We carry our sick bodies and overcome the economic difficulties." Difficulties, insisting on claiming compensation from Japan, the purpose is to safeguard the dignity of the Chinese nation, uphold justice, remember history, and cherish peace!”
Although this lawsuit with fewer and fewer plaintiffs will once again usher in a losing verdict, but Because of the 12 years of litigation by these plaintiffs and lawyers, the atrocities committed by Japanese militarism were prosecuted and exposed in court. The Japanese militarism was nailed to the pillar of shame in history through the court’s identification of criminal facts, and the criminal facts were forever Can't be covered up. Cai, an international student who has always supported claims against China, commented in the WeChat group of the Claims Association: "Pay tribute to the plaintiffs and lawyers of the victims of the Chongqing bombing, and pay tribute to the Japanese folk heroes who knew they could not do it. No matter whether they win or lose, it is A great victory! ”