The Tokyo District Court dismissed on Wednesday a lawsuit filed by Chinese forced to work at a copper mine in Akita Prefecture during the last years of World War II.

As soon as Presiding Judge Hideho Sonobe handed down the ruling, people in the gallery raised their fists and shouted protests. "We won't forgive this unfair ruling!" many yelled at Sonobe in Chinese as he exited the courtroom.

In dismissing the suit, Sonobe cited the 20-year statute of limitations. Takashi Niimi, a lawyer for the 11 plaintiffs, said the group will appeal the decision within a few days.

The plaintiffs, including the former forced laborers and their families, claim that 986 Chinese were forcibly brought from China to Hanaoka mine in Akita between August 1944 and June 1945 and were forced into hard labor for Kajima-gumi, the predecessor of Kajima Corp. They sued the giant construction firm in June 1995, demanding 5.5 million yen each in damages for their wartime experience that included malnutrition, hard labor and torture.

In June 1945, the Chinese revolted and killed four Kajima employees and a Chinese who was cooperative with the Japanese. The uprising was led by Geng Zheng, 83, one of the plaintiffs. The laborers were soon rounded up and tortured in retaliation. In the end, 113 Chinese died by torture, the plaintiffs claimed.

In July 1990, Kajima apologized for its wartime conscription and started negotiating a settlement. But the negotiations fell through, and the contractor has since denied its legal responsibility to compensate the victims. Kajima has based its rejection of compensation on the Japanese government's stance that China abandoned all rights to claim war redress through the bilateral normalization agreement in 1972.

The lawsuit was the first in a series of damages suits filed by Chinese over Japan's wartime responsibility.

In February, Judge Sonobe angered the plaintiffs when he, during an oral hearing, suddenly announced that the court would wrap up its deliberations without questioning the plaintiffs. The plaintiffs immediately filed for dismissal of the judges, but the Tokyo High Court rejected the motion.

On Wednesday, when judges entered the courtroom, plaintiffs and their lawyers snubbed a clerk's call to rise, in apparent anticipation of an unfavorable ruling. The judge stared at them and dismissed their request to increase the number of interpreters before announcing the ruling.

After the ruling, the plaintiffs' supporters carried placards and picketed outside the courthouse. "Shame on you, Judge Sonobe!" one of the protesters cried out.

Geng, dressed in a blue Chinese official uniform, vented his anger during a news conference. "An unjust ruling like this has not only hurt the Hanaoka victims," he said, "but also has downgraded the credibility and dignity of the Japanese justice system.

"Kajima might have won in a shallow sense, but they will surely lose in the long term."

A Kajima spokesman released a statement, saying, "The Hanaoka incident occurred in the extraordinary and abnormal circumstances of war, and it was an unfortunate event for Chinese people. We would like to follow the court's ruling."