Gay McDougall, a U.N. special investigator on human rights, has urged the government to admit its legal liability and provide compensation to Asian women forced into prostitution before and during World War II.
McDougall, who last August issued a report calling for reparations for the wartime operation, denounced the Japanese military's abuse of Asian women as "one of the most egregious examples of wartime systematic rape and sexual slavery in history."
"What the government of Japan can actually do for the former 'comfort women' is to acknowledge its legal liability," she said.