Bill seeks justice for World War II POWs.

Frank Bigelow was 20 years old and a seaman second class during World War II when he was taken prisoner by enemy military forces. In captivity, he was transferred to Japan to work in a coal mine, where he toiled as part of a slave-labor force for the Japanese company Mitsui.

Long hours, little food, and frequent beatings took their toll on Bigelow's six-foot-four frame, quickly reducing it to just 95 pounds. He was kept in these horrific conditions until he was 24.

Now nearly 80, Bigelow and thousands of former prisoners of war (POWs) like him who endured such suffering may at long last receive some justice.

U.S. Reps. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Cal.) and Michael Honda (D-Cal.) have introduced H.R. 1198, the Justice for United States Prisoners of War Act, which would allow World War II POWs to pursue legal action against Japanese companies that forced them to perform slave labor.

"These American heroes don't seek any action or retaliation against the current Japanese government or against the Japanese people. They seek just compensation from the Japanese companies who profited from their suffering," Rohrabacher said in a press statement about the bill.

"It is my great hope that this historic legislation will restore some measure of dignity to our World War II POWs by setting the record Straight and giving them their much-deserved and long-awaited day in court," said Honda.

Because of his Japanese heritage, Honda was forced as a young child to live in an internment camp in Colorado during the war.

The so-called redress movement, "which focused the United States on coming to terms with the injustices of the internment of its own citizens, shaped my desire to set the record straight for our POWs," he said.

Under the postwar peace treaty between Japan and the United States, Japan admitted liability for its illegal and inhumane conduct toward U.S. prisoners. Despite this admission, POWs have been unable to bring their cases to court because judges have interpreted the treaty to preclude individual causes of action.

The treaty provided that if the government of Japan entered into a war-claims settlement agreement with another country that was more beneficial than Japan's agreement with the United States, the more favorable terms would also be extended to the United States. It is one of the "findings" in the bill that since the treaty was ratified, Japan has, in fact, entered into such agreements with other countries, with terms allowing nationals of those countries to pursue claims without limitation.

Under the bill, courts would no longer be permitted to "construe ... the treaty of peace with Japan as constituting a waiver by the United States of claims by nationals of the United States, including claims by members of the United States Armed Forces" against one or more Japanese nationals.

Cases brought by POWs under the bill would not be war-crimes trials, which are international criminal law matters. H.R. 1198 provides only for civil actions to be pursued by individual POWs and their attorneys.

The bill has received support from both Democrats and Republicans, including Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) and Minority Whip David Bonior (D-Mich.). Both are among the more than 100 representatives who have signed on as cosponsors. On the Senate side, Robert Smith (R-N.H.) and John Warner (R-Va.) have sponsored a similar measure, which has been referred to the Judiciary Committee.

The executive branch has been less enthusiastic. The State Department under President Clinton came out against the bill proposed in the previous Congress, and President Bush's State Department opposes the bills in the current Congress, arguing that they conflict with the treaty.

At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the topic in June 2000, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) compared the efforts of former POWs to seek compensation to litigation involving Holocaust victims.

"In the Holocaust, litigation, the U.S. played a facilitating role in discussions between the German companies and the victims," said Hatch. "Here, in contrast, there has been no effort by our government ... to open a dialogue between the Japanese and the former POWs....

"What, if any, are the criteria used to decide whether to intervene? ... From a moral perspective, the claims of those forced into labor by private German companies and private Japanese companies appear to be of similar merit, yet they have spurred different responses from the [Clinton] administration. Why? There may be legitimate reasons ... but we must ask the questions."

POWs who were present at the hearing urged the government to shift its position and recognize the plight of those who labored for Japanese companies.

"I feel as if I am once again being sacrificed--abandoned not for the war effort as in the past, but for the benefit of Japanese big business," said author and retired college professor Lester Tenney. "We are being abandoned by our Department of Justice.... It is not money that motivates us; it is a need to remind the world of the importance of basic human rights and dignity."

Kristin Loiacono is media relations coordinator for ATLA.