TOKYO, Aug. 27 (UPI) -- A Tokyo District Court judge said Tuesday that Japan conducted biological warfare in World War II that included spreading bubonic plague and cholera bacteria among Chinese civilians.
Judge Koji Iwata, however, dismissed a lawsuit by 180 Chinese victims and relatives who demanded the Japanese government apologize and pay compensation of 10 million yen -- about $84,000 -- to each of the plaintiffs.
"The evidence shows that the Japanese troops, including Unit 731 (a germ-warfare group) and others, used bacteriological weapons under the order of the Imperial Japanese Army's headquarters and that many local residents died."
But Iwata ruled that individuals had no right to seek compensation under international law and that the government had no responsibility for acts committed before the State Redress Law was enacted following the war.
Plaintiffs claimed Unit 731 operated in China from 1937-45 and conducted experiments on more than 3,000 people including Chinese, Koreans and Russians. Unit members managed to avoid the Tokyo War Crimes Trial by providing details of their activities to the Allies. Atrocities were confirmed by unit members and in other court cases although the Japanese government has remained silent.
Some Japanese involved in the experiments later led some of Japan's most successful pharmaceutical companies while others become academic leaders, according to published accounts.
Attorney Kohken Tsuchiya, who headed the legal team for the Chinese plaintiffs, told a news conference that Iwata's 100-page decision contained 10 pages in which "the court recognized and admitted the facts that biological warfare was conducted by the Japanese Imperial Army which inflicted very large damage (giving) location by location where the damage was inflicted."
The lawyer highlighted this because higher courts "can never overturn the recognition of the facts which have been admitted by the district court."
Tsuchiya said his legal team expected to file an appeal within two weeks. He said he planned to rebut the court's argument of non-responsibility by using Article 715 of the Civil Code in which the employer, in this case the Japanese army, is responsible for his employee's actions.
The lawsuit, filed in 1997, specifically charged that Unit 731 released fleas inflicted with bubonic plague and food laced with cholera bacteria in Zhejiang and Hunan provinces between 1940 and 1942, killing many civilians.
Wang Xuan, 50, a representative of the plaintiffs, said eight member of her great-grandfather's family died in an experimental germ attack on their village. Wang told reporters Tuesday she was disappointed and angry with the court decision.
Another plaintiff, Chen Zhifa, 71, who said his father and other relatives died of the plague, called the decision unfair. Plaintiff Xu Wabnzhi, 62, said, "We are ready for a prolonged fight."
