Photo/Illutration Part of the full draft report on forced sterilizations under the former eugenics law based on an investigation by Diet staff members (The Asahi Shimbun)

Victims as young as 9 were among the approximately 25,000 people with disabilities and certain diseases who were sterilized, many without consent, under the former eugenics law, according to the Diet's full draft report.

The report, a copy of which was obtained by The Asahi Shimbun, also shows that suspected unlawful practices were followed regarding sterilization operations and serious damage was inflicted on victims while the Eugenic Protection Law was in force from 1948 to 1996.

The draft report on the background of the law’s enactment and the extent of the damage, based on an investigation primarily by Diet staff members, was submitted to the chairs of the welfare committees of the Diet's two chambers on June 12.

The report will not be made public until the committee chairs submit it to the Lower House speaker and the Upper House president next week. Only a seven-page summary had been distributed to media representatives.

The full draft report, which runs more than 1,000 pages, said the youngest people who were sterilized were 9 years old, citing materials compiled by municipalities.

A boy underwent an operation in the early 1960s and a girl was given a surgical procedure in the early 1970s. The reasons and other details are unknown.

The oldest person who was sterilized was 57 years old.

The former welfare ministry notified concerned parties that people with disabilities or diseases could be deceived so that they would submit to an operation.

The full draft report contained a case in which a person was sterilized during an appendectomy without the patient’s knowledge.

The eugenics law approved sterilization primarily by binding fallopian tubes or deferent ducts.

It said other types of operations to render people incapable of reproduction, as well as X-ray radiation, should not be performed without justification and were subject to penalties.

In response to an inquiry, the former welfare ministry told municipalities in 1954 that the testicles could be removed only “when it was therapeutically effective” or “as an emergency measure.”

However, unauthorized methods, such as removal of uteruses and irradiation, were widely adopted.

The draft report contained a case in which the chief of a welfare facility requested a hysterectomy for a teenager to cause her menstrual periods to stop.

Approval by a prefectural examination committee was required if operations were to be performed without the consent of people with disabilities or diseases.

But the draft report said a person with an intellectual disability in such a case was likely sterilized without discussions at an examination committee.

There were cases in which such committees held sessions without the required number of members in attendance or examined applications only on paper without holding sessions.

Experts have said the government should utilize the report’s findings to formulate future policies.

But the draft report has no entry in which the government examined the former eugenics law based on the latest investigation.

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