Japan has reiterated that issues regarding wartime sexual slavery have all been settled in response to the UN’s request that Tokyo actively address controversial remarks and historical distortions by some politicians.

The UN Committee Against Torture held extensive discussions in Geneva on Tuesday and Wednesday on the controversial remarks by Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto who claimed that wartime sex slaves were not forced into sexual service. The committee also deliberated on how the Japanese government is handling issues regarding wartime sexual slavery. The committee is the first international organization to focus discussions on such issues.

However, Japan’s delegation present at the meeting said it is not appropriate for the committee to deliberate on the issue. It explained Japan joined the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in 1999 and wartime sexual slavery occurred 70 years ago.

On Japan’s colonial rule, the Japanese delegation claimed that Tokyo apologized via a statement in 1995 by then Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama and another statement in 2005 by then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

In particular, the Japanese delegation strongly blasted claims that the number of women forced to serve as sex slaves for Japanese soldiers during World War Two totaled 200-thousand, saying such claims were groundless.

The members of the committee, however, are known to have disagreed with the Japanese delegation.

During a deliberation in 2007, the Committee Against Torture urged the Japanese government to actively address the issue of wartime sexual slavery.