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“The 67th Anniversary of the End of World War II: The 10th Memorial Service for Detainees in Siberia and Mongolia” (provisional translation) was held at the Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery for the War Dead in the Chiyoda Ward of Tokyo on August 23. Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare Yoko Komiyama attended from the government side; and Senior Vice Minister of Justice Hiroyuki Tani and Member of the House of Representatives Eiko Ishige, Chair and Acting Chair of the DPJ Siberia parliamentary league (addressing the issues of postwar Japanese detainees) respectively, attended with other Diet members from the DPJ side. About 100 people, including former detainees and the bereaved families, were present and offered a silent prayer and flowers. This ceremony has been held annually since 2003.
Chair Tani gave a speech on behalf of the DPJ. In his speech, he referred to the “Special Measure for Siberia” bill, which was approved and enacted after the change in government thanks to sponsorship by DPJ Diet members and cooperative parties. He reported that 68,000 former detainees had received a special benefit, for a total of around 18.8 billion yen, as of the end of March 2012. He expressed his appreciation to the cooperative parties. In addition to the above, he also introduced the progress of investigations to reveal the facts of the detention situation in Siberia.
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