‘I’m Not a Fabricator’ ～Former Asahi Reporter Files Suit against Historical Revisionists

UEMURA　Takashi　, former Asahi Shimbun reporter, filed a defamation suit with the Tokyo District Court on Jan. 9 against a university professor and a publisher.  He had been criticized by  NISHIOKA Tsutomu, a professor of Korean studies at Tokyo Christian University, and Bungeishunju Ltd., which published the weekly magazine Shukan Bunshun, as having fabricated newspaper articles on “comfort women.”  In the lawsuit, Uemura demands correction of the magazine article, an apology and compensation for being stigmatized as fabricator, losing public credibility and suffering personal attack. Some 170 lawyers formed a defense team and said, “This is not a personal problem of Uemura alone but a significant issue relating to democracy and freedom of speech in Japan.” After he filed the suit, he reported on the case at an event hall of the House of Councilors, and nearly 300 people participated. Uemura told the audience how he decided to bring the case to the court, sometimes with tears in his eyes. “I decided to file the suit to protect the rights of myself, my family, my friends and the colleagues at Hokusei University,” he said. When he finished, he received long applause of encouragement. (By M)  

植村隆さん提訴「私は捏造記者ではない」～ 歴史修正主義者への反撃はじまる
 
1 月9日、慰安婦捏造とバッシングを浴びていた元朝日記者・植村隆さんが東京地裁に「名誉毀損裁判」を起こした。植村さんは、「週刊文春」および西岡力氏に よって捏造記者とされ、社会的信用を傷つけられ、個人攻撃を浴びたとして、両者に記事の訂正・謝罪・損害賠償を求めている。弁護団は170名で「これは植 村個人の問題でなく、日本の民主主義・言論の自由がかかっている大問題」と全国の弁護士が結集した。提訴後の報告集会が参院議員会館講堂で開催された。た くさんの市民がかけつけ、会場を急遽変更したが、300人近い人が詰めかけた。「私の人権、家族・友人の人権、北星の仲間を守るために提訴した」。植村隆 さんは、提訴にいたった経緯と決意を時には涙を浮かべながら、じっくり語った。話おわると激励の拍手が鳴り止まなかった。（M）  
＊写真＝提訴に臨む植村さん（TVニュースより）

Fictitious story made up by rightists: WATANABE Mina

Labornet TV on Oct. 8 aired the program entitled, “Don’t rewrite the history of ‘comfort women’!” Taking advantage of the report of Asahi Shimbun’s “false testimony of YOSHIDA,” the Abe administration attempts to spread propaganda that the Asahi report formed the international public opinion on comfort women of the Japanese military during the World War II. But WATANABE Mina, the executive director of Women’s Active Museum on War and Peace, showed that it is entirely a nonfactual “made-up story.” She contradicted Abe’s propaganda by giving concrete evidence one after another that “the comfort women issue” began spreading with the confession of KIM Hak-sun, a wartime comfort woman; that the wartime brothels expanded not only in Korea but also all over Asia; that the Japanese Imperial Army documents described the procurement of “comfort women”; and that the films vividly illustrate testimony of comfort women. She said with anger, “We can’t let them rewrite the history. What we should do now is to summon the former prime minister NAKASONE Yasuhiro and others responsible for opening wartime brothels to the Diet and to elucidate the truth. ”

In the second part of the program, AMAGASA Taro explained the background and meaning of the Occupy Hong Kong movement. (Labornet TV project)
Photo; Watanabe Mina in the middle
(Ustream of the Labornet TV, special feature from 9 minutes)

事実に基づかない「右派のつくり話」～レイバーネットTV「慰安婦特集」で渡辺美奈さん

10月8日のレイバーネットTVは、「『慰安婦問題』歴史の書き換えはダメ！」を放送した。安倍政権は「吉田証言虚 偽報道」をここぞとばかり利用して、朝日新聞の報道が国際世論をつくった、と喧伝しようとしている。しかし「女たちの戦争と平和資料館」の渡辺美奈さんは、それはまったく事実に基づかない「つくり話」であることをズ バリ示した。キムハクスンさんの名乗り出から「慰安婦」問題が広がったこと、韓国だけでなくアジア規模に広がっていた慰安所の実態、「慰安婦」調達を示す陸軍文書、そして慰安婦自身の生々しい証言映像など、次から次 へ具体的証拠を示して反論した。「歴史の書き換えは許せない。いまやるべきことは、慰安所をつくった中曽根元総理らを国会に喚問し真実を解明することだ」と怒りをこめて語った。また二部では雨傘太郎氏が登場し、香港 オキュパイ運動の背景・意義をわかりやすく解説した。（レイバーネットTVプロジェクト)
放送アーカイブ（全99 分・特集は9分から、香港は65分から）　＊写真＝渡辺美奈さん（中央）・聞き手は山口正紀さん（左）

Stop taking the same path to war!

 Vicious and despicable abuses of human rights are being committed. Threats were sent to Hokusei Gakuen University in Sapporo, demanding the dismissal of UEMURA Takashi, a part-time lecturer and former Asahi Shimbun newspaper journalist. The sender threatened to bomb the school unless it dismisses him and urged Uemura’s daughter to kill herself by posting her name and photograph online. In the midst of this, a group “Makeruna Hokusei! no Kai” (Don’t Give In, Hokusei! ) was formed mainly by lawyers and scholars on Oct. 6.  On the same day, a press conference was held at the House of Councilors.  “This is a terrorism against free speech, and it is a crime. Before the war, there was a similar incident, in which Professor YANAIHARA was expelled from the university. It is paving the path to war. The freedom of speech and academic freedom will be destroyed unless we stop it here,” said YAMAGUCHI Jiro, a founding member of the group.  UTSUMI Aiko, another member called out, “Hokusei is a respectable university with its own peace declaration. Although there have been moves to support Uemura within the school, let’s support him and Hokusei from outside of the school !” (By M)
Youtube

 ここで止めよう！いつか来た道～「北星学園脅迫事件」で記者会見

札幌市にある北星学園大学に「元朝日記者・植村隆をやめさせなければ爆破する」という脅し、さらに高校生の長女の写真をネットにさらし「自殺に追いこ む」と脅迫するなど、悪質で卑劣な人権侵害行為が、いま起きている。そうした中、学者・弁護士を中心に「負けるな北星！の会」が発足し、10月6日、衆院議員会館で記者会見が開かれた。「これは言論へのテロリズムで犯 罪行為。戦前も矢内原教授が追放された事件があったが、今回の問題は戦争への道を重なるもの。ここで止めないと“表現・学問の自由”が崩壊する」（山口二郎さん・写真）。内海愛子さんは「北星学園は平和宣言をもって いるりっぱな大学。だから植村さんを守る動きがつくれているが、外からも応援しよう」と呼びかけた。（M）
動画（YouTube 4 分半）