UK POWs Call on Government to Help Claim Against Japan

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LONDON, Dec 2 (Reuters) - Former British prisoners of war (POWs) held by the Japanese during World War Two on Wednesday dismissed as ``rubbish'' the government's claim that it was powerless to persuade the Japanese administration to grant them more compensation.

The POWs said they did not believe the reasons put forward by Prime Minister Tony Blair's government for not fighting their cause and vowed to put more pressure on foreign office minister Derek Fatchett to act.

Last week, a Tokyo court tersely rejected a lawsuit brought by thousands of World War Two POWs from Britain, Australia, New Zealand and the United States for extra compensation.

"Derek Fatchett's claim that Britain is powerless is rubbish, absolute rubbish,'' said Keith Martin, a British POW, at a meeting with Members of Parliament in London.

"It's about time the government stopped holding our coats while we are in the ring and did something about it.''

Japan has held that it is not liable for compensation because all World War Two claims were settled in 1951 under the San Francisco peace agreements.

Martin said Fatchett's claim that the government is bound by the treaty is not true.

The POWs' lawyers have advised them that articles in the treaty allow it to be reopened if other countries get a better deal in terms of compensation from Japan.

The lawyers say there is no time bar on the settlement agreed in 1951, another argument put forward by the government.

"We say to Derek Fatchett we want you to reopen that treaty. We will be in touch,'' said Arthur Titherington, the British POW who spat on the entrance to the Japanese parliament after the Tokyo court's ruling last Thursday.

The ex-prisoners of war plan to appeal against the Japanese court's ruling, which could take up to a year.

They said their hopes were raised by a court ruling in Tokyo on Monday on a case brought by Dutch POWs. Their claim for more compensation was also rejected but the court used a more sympathetic form of words in its judgment.

"We think the court has been affected by the outrage after our ruling and softened its tone,'' said Titherington.

The court, the same court that passed the ruling on the British POWs, recognized the treatment the Dutch prisoners had received had violated their human rights.