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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Justin McCurry in Osaka

Court orders Japanese government to pay damages over forced sterilisations

Lawyers and supporters of victims of forced sterilisation carrying a banner demanding apologies and compensation march towards the supreme court of Japan in Tokyo
Wednesday’s ruling by the country’s highest court marks a major victory for the 39 plaintiffs and thousands of others who underwent procedures without their consent. Photograph: Yuichi Yamazaki/AFP/Getty Images

Japan’s supreme court has ordered the government to pay damages to dozens of people who were forcibly sterilised under a now-defunct eugenics law, saying the practice had violated their constitutional rights.

Wednesday’s ruling by the country’s highest court marks a major victory for the 39 plaintiffs, and thousands of other people with illnesses and genetic and mental disorders who had undergone procedures without their consent, mostly between the 1950s and 1970s.

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