December 22, 2011
The Osaka District Court on December 21 acknowledged four out of five plaintiffs as sufferers of diseases caused by the 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
This was the last district court ruling in a concerted lawsuit action launched by Hibakusha (A-bomb survivors) in 2003 in protest against the national government’s rejection of their applications for state recognition of their illnesses as A-bomb related.
The ruling suggested the need to take into account possible effects of internal exposure to radiation on human health.
The plaintiffs’ lawyer Bito Hiroki stressed the significance of the ruling in that it acknowledges for the first time internal exposure to radiation as possibly bringing about effects different from that from external exposure.
On August 6, 2009, following a series of Hibakusha victories in court battles, the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo) and then Prime Minister Aso Taro reached an agreement to give relief to all plaintiffs in the lawsuits.
Commenting on the latest ruling, Hidankyo Secretary General Tanaka Terumi stated, “The government has failed to sincerely respond to the 8.6 agreement and the subsequent court rulings. The state’s system of certifying A-bomb related diseases must be drastically improved.”
This was the last district court ruling in a concerted lawsuit action launched by Hibakusha (A-bomb survivors) in 2003 in protest against the national government’s rejection of their applications for state recognition of their illnesses as A-bomb related.
The ruling suggested the need to take into account possible effects of internal exposure to radiation on human health.
The plaintiffs’ lawyer Bito Hiroki stressed the significance of the ruling in that it acknowledges for the first time internal exposure to radiation as possibly bringing about effects different from that from external exposure.
On August 6, 2009, following a series of Hibakusha victories in court battles, the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo) and then Prime Minister Aso Taro reached an agreement to give relief to all plaintiffs in the lawsuits.
Commenting on the latest ruling, Hidankyo Secretary General Tanaka Terumi stated, “The government has failed to sincerely respond to the 8.6 agreement and the subsequent court rulings. The state’s system of certifying A-bomb related diseases must be drastically improved.”
