Hidankyo makes full use of achievement in Hibakusha lawsuits for relief of A-bomb survivors

Japan Press Weekly

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Hidankyo makes full use of achievement in Hibakusha lawsuits for relief of A-bomb survivors

With lawsuits by A-bomb survivors (Hibakusha) heading for final settlement, the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers’ Organizations (Hidankyo) on October 21 and 22 held a rally and made representations to the government, calling for the relief for Hibakusha and for the abolition of nuclear weapons.

In the past six years of court struggles to get the government to recognize their illnesses as caused by exposure to A-bomb radiation, Hibakusha have won 19 consecutive victories and succeeded in forcing the government to revise its unrealistic criteria for recognition. In August, Hidankyo and former Prime Minister Aso Taro reached an agreement to provide relief to all plaintiffs.

In a meeting on October 21, Hidankyo Secretary General Tanaka Terumi said, “Taking advantage of the outcome of the lawsuits, we must further address the challenge of winning the still pending cases, creating a ‘fund’ to give relief to all plaintiffs, and providing relief measures to plaintiffs who lost their cases.”

Plaintiffs, ex-plaintiffs, their lawyers, and some other Hibakusha made representations on October 22 to the Japanese Communist Party to request that it urge the government to:

(1) take the initiatives to work for the abolition of nuclear weapons and contribute to a success of the 2010 NPT Review Conference;

(2) scrap the Japan-U.S. secret deal on nuclear weapons and make the “Three Non-Nuclear Principles” into law;

(3) create a “fund” to provide relief to the plaintiffs and hold regular consultative meetings between Hibakusha and the health and welfare minister;

(4) revise the recognition criteria again in order to speed up recognition procedures because 7,600 Hibakusha are still on a waiting list; and

(5) make efforts to convey to the world the horror of the use of nuclear weapons and support Hibakusha testimony activities.

In response, JCP representative Nihi Sohei said, “The JCP will press the Japanese government harder than ever to take a lead in working for a ‘world without nuclear weapons’.”

Hidankyo also made similar representations to the health and welfare ministry, the foreign ministry, other political parties, and Dietmembers followed by a rally in the House of Representatives members’ office building.

At the rally, Hidankyo confirmed the need to lobby the government to implement a state compensation system for the suffering caused by the A-bombs and to hold regular consultative meetings with the health and welfare minister and Hidankyo representatives.

Miyahara Tetsuro, secretary of the plaintiffs’ legal team, pledged to bring about a victory for all 48 plaintiffs who still have cases pending in court based on the Hibakusha-government agreement.

- Akahata, October 22 & 23, 2009