英字新聞

The Yomiuri Shimbun
Determine fate of detainees at former Soviet camps outside Siberia
旧ソ連抑留者　「シベリア以外」の解明も急げ

At long last, there are important clues in regard to finding out the whole truth about a tragedy that has so far been shrouded in darkness.
　闇に埋もれた悲劇の全容解明を進める重要な手がかりとしたい。

Materials concerning Japanese nationals who were detained at camps and other facilities of the former Soviet Union after the end of World War II have recently been discovered one after another.
　第２次大戦終結後、旧ソ連の収容所などに抑留された日本人に関する新たな資料が続々と見つかった。

It has been disclosed that the Russian national archives have a number of documents, such as 55 photos of Japanese interned in Dalian in northern China and lists of deceased Japanese detainees in the northern part of the Korean Peninsula, the southern region of Karafuto (now called Sakhalin) and in Dalian.
　中国・大連で抑留された日本人の写真５５点や、朝鮮半島北部、南樺太（現サハリン）、大連での抑留死亡者の名簿などが、ロシアの公文書館に保管されていた。

In the wake of reporting by The Yomiuri Shimbun on the lists of deceased internees, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry has made public lists of a total of 10,723 Japanese internees, although some cases may have been listed more than once.
　名簿に関する本紙報道を受け、厚生労働省は、のべ１万７２３人の抑留者名簿を既に開示している。

Among the lists released by the ministry are the names of 2,130 people who do not fall into the category of “detainees in Siberia” − those who were interned in the former Soviet Union or Mongolia.
旧ソ連とモンゴルで抑留された「シベリア抑留者」とは別の２１３０人の氏名が含まれる。

Actual conditions of Japanese detainees in areas other than Siberia are virtually unknown, including how many died. Measures to support bereaved families must be provided promptly, including fact-finding investigations and providing information to aging families of the deceased.
　シベリア以外での抑留の実態は全体の死者数を含め、ほとんど明らかになっていない。実態調査と、高齢化する遺族らへの情報提供など支援を急がねばならない。

In the 1956 Japan-Soviet Joint Declaration, Tokyo and Moscow agreed to mutually abandon the right to claim compensation for wartime damage.
　日ソ両国は１９５６年の「日ソ共同宣言」で、賠償請求権の相互放棄に合意した。

Returnees from Siberia and bereaved families of deceased detainees in Siberia have filed lawsuits for compensation against the Japanese government, demanding payment of wages that the plaintiffs say should have been paid for forced labor the detainees engaged in, as well as damages for their internment.
　シベリアからの帰還者や遺族らは日本政府を相手取り、強制労働の賃金支払いや損害賠償を求める訴訟を起こした。

The 1988 legislation of a special fund law for the provision of compensation for those who were interned and the 2010 enactment of a temporary statute requiring the government to conduct investigations were all designed to provide detainees in Siberia with relief measures.
　抑留者への慰労金支給を決めた８８年の特別基金法や、政府に調査を義務づけた２０１０年の特別措置法は、シベリア抑留者に救済措置を講じるためのものだった。

Russia’s ‘confidential’ info a key

Regarding those who died while interned in areas other than Siberia, however, the government fell short of making public lists of detainees’ names and failed to carry out investigations, even though the government obtained the lists in and after 2000, as priority was given to those who were detained in Siberia. The fact that health and welfare minister Yasuhisa Shiozaki apologized for this, pledging to take steps to rectify the situation, can be considered a positive step forward.
　しかし、シベリア以外の抑留死亡者については、政府は２０００年以降、名簿を入手していたにもかかわらず、シベリアを優先し、公表や調査を行わなかった。塩崎厚労相がこれを陳謝し、是正を約束したのは、一歩前進である。

Many tasks must be undertaken if the government attempts to provide bereaved families of those who were interned in areas other than Siberia with new assistance measures and to put into effect investigations relevant to them. This is because the current laws have limited the scope of beneficiaries to those who were interned in the former Soviet Union and Mongolia.
　シベリア以外の抑留者に対する新たな支援や調査を実施するには、課題が少なくない。現行法は、その対象を旧ソ連とモンゴルでの抑留者に限定しているからだ。

Studies should be made in connection with this on ways to beef up arrangements to conduct investigations. One idea would be to let Japanese experts on the matter to take part in investigation.
　調査体制の強化も検討したい。知見を持つ日本の専門家を参加させる工夫も考えられよう。

To uncover what actually happened, it is imperative to dig out information Russia still has not offered Japan.
　実態解明には、ロシアがまだ日本に提供していない情報の掘り起こしが欠かせない。

To cite an example, Russia has yet to make public information about the fate of the Japanese interned in a number of detention camps near Pyongyang, where several thousands of the detainees are said to have perished. Even though Russia has provisioned the information to the Japanese government regarding the situation in the northern region of the Korean Peninsula, or information about “repatriation camps” in two areas of Hungnam and Wonsan.
　例えば、朝鮮半島北部に関し、ロシアは興南、元山両地区の「送還収容所」の情報は政府に提供したが、数千人が死亡したとされる平壌近郊の複数の収容所については、公開していない。

Because the records relating to deaths by execution and abuses of the Japanese detainees have been designated as “confidential,” Russia’s security institutions in charge of the matter is said to be negative about lifting the ban on disclosing this information.
　刑死や虐待が絡む記録は「機密」指定がなされ、担当の治安機関が解禁に消極的だという。

Whether Russia discloses the information in question may depend on a high political judgment in Russia, perhaps by President Vladimir Putin.
　資料の公開には、プーチン大統領など、露政府の高いレベルでの判断がカギとなろう。

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been probing the possibility of having face-to-face talks with Putin this autumn. If the meeting materializes, Abe should seek a cooperation in resolving the problem of the detention of Japanese by the former Soviet Union.
　安倍首相は今秋、プーチン氏との会談を探っている。抑留問題の解明でも協力を求めるべきだ。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Aug. 31, 2015)