ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to address the issue of Japan's war crimes. The Japanese-Americans in Hawaii avoided the mass relocation that took place on the mainland and the calamity that came with it. As a community, Japanese-Americans harbor bitterness and many remain forever scarred. There are significant parallels between the Japanese American Redress Movement and the international call for reparations for Japanese war atrocities. A writer in a 1987 Harvard Civil Rights Review article identified several prerequisites for meritorious redress claims: a human injustice must have been committed, it must be well documented and the victims must be identifiable as a distinct group. A violation of human rights is a crime against all of humanity and is not subject to treaties between countries. The Hague Convention also supports the mechanism of redress for violations of international law. The Hague Convention prohibited rape, torture, and forced labor including prostitution against both combatants and civilians.
