2008 May 28 - June 3 TOP3 [
ANTI-N-ARMS]
Recognize Hibakusha’s illnesses as linked to exposure to atomic bomb radiation
|
June 2, 2008
The government must take a hard look at the damage from the A-bomb radiation exposure, and begin addressing the task of completely settling the lawsuits and fundamentally reviewing the standards for recognition of A-bombed diseases.
Akahata editorial
In collective lawsuits filed by A-bomb survivors (Hibakusha) claiming that they be recognized as Hibakusha suffering from diseases caused by exposure to radiation from the atomic bombing of Hiroshima or Nagasaki, the Sendai High Court in late May ruled that two plaintiffs should be recognized as such. Two days later, the Osaka High Court ruled that all nine plaintiffs should be recognized as Hibakusha who have A-bomb diseases. Thus, the government and the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry were castigated for illegally rejecting the applications for the recognition, as they had been by the preceding six district court decisions.
Courts go farther than government criteria
The high court rulings in May, which came after the government established new standards for the recognition of A-bomb disease patients in April, are historic in that they were not limited to the new standards.
The six preceding district court judgments severely criticized the government for mechanically rejecting Hibakusha applications for the recognition by sticking to the “probability of cause” theory used for many years as the key method for determination. Following these rulings, the government was forced to review and revise the standards.
Although the revision of the standards has expanded the scope of the recognition, the government has also created a category of recognition called “positive certification” to limit immediate recognition to cases of exposure to radiation within 3.5km from ground zero, arrival in Hiroshima or Nagasaki within 100 hours after the A-bomb blast, or to who suffer from cancer or leukemia.
Under the revised standards, of the 305 plaintiffs, 105 have already received certificates that they have illnesses caused by radiation from atomic bombs. But it does not include those who have liver function disorders and other illnesses that do not fall in this category, even though the past district court decisions supported their recognition as Hibakusha with A-bomb related illnesses. Five plaintiffs at the Osaka High Court and two plaintiffs at the Sendai High Court had not received the recognition when the rulings were given.
The high court ruling criticized the government for refusing to accept applications using the “probability of causes” criterion, and exposed the problems the new standards have.
The Osaka High Court ruling stated that in the examination of applications it is necessary to take into consideration the effects of residual radiation, the circumstances in which Hibakusha were exposed to radiation, acute symptoms, and health conditions. It also stated that the state should recognize the effect of radiation in hypothyroidism or circulatory organ diseases, cases that are currently excluded from “positive recognition.”
At the Sendai High Court, radiation as causal to diseases and the need for medical treatment as a condition to recognizing Hibakusha’s illnesses were focal issues, and the ruling stated that a broader and more inclusive decision is necessary.
Two months after the new standards came into effect, they turned out to be ineffective in dealing with the reality in the light of court rulings.
In the concerted Hibakusha lawsuits, the state repeated its specious claim that plaintiffs who were A-bombed more than 2 km away from the hypocenter or who entered the A-bombed city after 100 hours were not affected by radiation. After the new standards were introduced, the government began to deny the effects of radiation on plaintiffs, who are not covered by “positive recognition” because they were exposed to radiation at locations more than 3.5 km from ground zero or have liver functional disorders.
The government lacks any self-criticism of its position of narrowing the scope of recognition using the “probability of causes” theory on the grounds that the knowledge is scientific, even though it was forced to revise the old standards due to a lack of scientific justification. The Osaka High Court judgment has renounced this new discrimination.
The Sendai High Court criticized the state for lacking flexible responses in the light of relieving patients. It said so because the state appealed against the district court rulings over the cases that “need medical treatment” even while acknowledging that radiation can be the cause of diseases under the new standards.
How absurd it is for the government to not acknowledge the error of the “probability of causes” theory by seeking to reject applications for the recognition!
Another review is unavoidable
Forty-eight plaintiffs have already died since the start of the lawsuit. A plaintiff with throat cancer, who could express his opinion only in writing, died 5 days after he was recognized as an A-bomb disease patient under the new standards.
The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry this time must sincerely respond to the court rulings and to the aspirations of Hibakusha and the plaintiffs. The government must take a hard look at the damage from the A-bombings, and begin addressing the task of completely settling the lawsuits and fundamentally reviewing the standards for recognition of A-bombed diseases.
