Government reneges on prime minister’s promise by appealing against court ruling in favor of Hibakusha

   The Health Ministry on August 10 appealed to a higher court against the recent Kumamoto District Court ruling that had ordered the ministry to retract its rejection of atomic-bomb sufferers’ (Hibakusha) demand for recognition as patients of A-bomb related diseases.

   This court decision was the sixth ruling to criticize the government for using criteria of certifying Hibakusha’s diseases that fail to take into consideration their actual health conditions.

   Faced with Hibakusha’s tenacious struggles and growing public support as well as the government’s six straight losses in Hibakusha concerted lawsuits, Prime Minister Abe Shinzo in a meeting with representatives of seven Hibakusha organizations in Hiroshima on August 5 stated that the government is considering reviewing the criteria.

   The Health Ministry already appealed against all the other five rulings in favor of Hibakusha, but the government appeal this time has provoked bitter anger among Hibakusha because it trampled on aging Hibakusha’s hope and expectations that the prime minister’s remark had given them.

   Plaintiffs and their lawyers expressed their protest against the government action at a press conference later in the day in Kumamoto City.

   Nakayama Takamitsu, a 78-year-old plaintiff, said “As the only atom-bombed country, the government is responsible for making clear before the world the seriousness of the health problems the atomic bombings inflicted on human-beings. Unless the government responsibility is established, more countries will try to possess nuclear weapons. Our efforts will not be frustrated by the government action. We will continue to strive for a government that can face up to the reality.”

   Lawyer Terauchi Daisuke said, “Prime Minister Abe talked about revision of the government criteria. Acceptance of the court ruling will be the starting point for him to fulfill the promise. Hibakusha are aging. The appeal must not be condoned from a humanitarian point of view.”

   Japanese Communist Party House of Councilors member Koike Akira pointed out that Prime Minister Abe promised to review the government criteria in word but in deed he betrayed the Hibakusha. Koike demanded that the government retract its appeal and drastically revise the criteria.

   The Kumamoto District Court ruling, which recognized 19 of 21 plaintiffs as suffering from diseases caused by the A-bombs, went further than other five rulings by criticizing the government criteria for its failure to take into account Hibakusha’ internal exposure to residual radiation.

The government has used the distance between the epicenter and where Hibakusha were at the time of bombing as a measure to estimate the amount of radiation they were exposed to. Mechanically applying this calculation, it has rejected many of Hibakusha’s applications for recognition as suffering from A-bomb related illnesses. Out of 260,000 Hibakusha who have the Hibakusha certificate, only 0.8 percent or about 2,000 have been officially recognized as A-bomb disease patients.                  - Akahata, August 11 & 12, 2007