オランダ政府の反応

はなゆーさんのあるＭＬでの発言で、教えてもらいました。

日本の安倍内閣が「従軍慰安婦（性奴隷）の強制連行はなかった」という驚異的な内容の答弁書を作成した件に素早く反応した、オランダのMaximeVerhagen外務大臣は、オランダ駐在の小町恭士・日本大使を呼び、強い不快感と憂慮の念を伝えた。外務大臣は、他の諸国（米国や旧植民地インドネシアなどを指すのか？）と連繋して日本のやりくちに対処していく方針も示唆した。
（略）

☆Dutch government seeks explanation from Japan on coercion of 'comfort women'　（ＡＰ通信→インドネシアの英字紙「ジャカルタ・ポスト」）

http://www.thejakartapost.com/detailgeneral.asp?fileid=20070317133527&irec=2

http://www.asyura2.com/07/senkyo32/msg/157.html

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP): Tokyo's assertion that it found no evidence that the military or government forced women to work in military brothels during World War II came as an "unpleasant surprise," the Dutch foreign minister said Friday.

Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen spoke to Japan's ambassador to the Netherlands, Kyoji Komachi, by phone Friday evening to seek an explanation for the reported government statement, spokesman Herman van Gelderen told The Associated Press.

The call followed a statement posted on the Web site of a Japanese opposition lawmaker in which the government said it "has not come across anything recorded in the materials it has found that directly shows so-called 'coercion' on the part of themilitary or constituted authorities."

The Japanese Cabinet Office confirmed its contents."This was a very unpleasant surprise if the report is true," Verhagen told the ambassador, according to Van Gelderen.

The ambassador told Verhagen he was aware of reports of the government statement but did not have any more details. He promised to find out more and report back, most likely early next week, Van Gelderen said.

Historians say as many as 200,000 women, most of them Asians, worked in Japanese military brothels across the region in the 1930s and '40s. Japanese defense documents uncovered in 1992 showed the military had a direct role in running the brothels,which the government had previously denied.

Many Dutch women who lived in the Dutch East Indies, the former colony now known as Indonesia, also were forced into the brothels, said Van Gelderen.

"Some are still alive and for them it is very painful ...because old wounds can still be painful, especially when things like this are said," he added.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sparked criticism in Asia and the United States earlier this month by saying there was no evidence the women were forced into prostitution - despite testimony from victims who recounted being kidnapped and forcedinto sexual slavery.

Lawmakers from Japan's ruling conservative party say the women were professional prostitutes who were paid for their services, and maintain that military authorities were not directly responsible for the establishment or running of wartime brothels.

Abe, however, has declared that he stands by the 1993 apology by then-Chief Cabinet Secretary Yohei Kono to the victims after documents were uncovered showing military involvement in the brothels. (***)