A series of ongoing damages lawsuits filed against the government over forced sterilizations conducted under the country's now-defunct eugenics law will now likely move for settlement talks and come to an end subsequently.
The prospect emerged after Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, at a meeting with victims of the forced sterilization surgeries and others concerned Wednesday, said that the government will stop demanding the application of the 20-year statute of limitations for damages claims in the pending lawsuits.
Unveiling the plan, Kishida said that the government's responsibility is "extremely serious" and that the old law "inexcusably violated the human rights and trampled on individual dignity."