March 8 & 12, 2013
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2013 March 6 - 12 [NUCLEAR CRISIS]
1,650 people sue gov’t and TEPCO for Fukushima damage |
The filing date marks the 2nd anniversary of the earthquake and subsequent tsunami that caused a nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
The four teams of lawyers on March 7 held a joint press conference in Tokyo and announced that they will work to shed light on the legal responsibility of the state and the Fukushima plant operator in order to help evacuees receive national reparations and compensation for damages.
A representative of the four legal teams said that it is noteworthy that those who evacuated from Fukushima and those who have still had to live with radiation anxiety in their hometowns or neighboring communities will stand up together as one.
Anxious about their future, an estimated 160,000 people have still been forced to lead lives as refugees inside and outside Fukushima. Due to the government-set limit of 20mSv/y, hundreds of thousands of local residents have continued to be exposed to radiation levels exceeding 1.3mSv/quarter, the dose set by the guideline for no-entry zones.
The four legal teams told the press that the state, having promoted the pro-nuclear policy without necessary regulations, and the utility, having neglected to secure safety in order to go after increased profits, should both be held responsible.
The lawyers also pointed out that their negligence is trampling on basic human rights; the right to exist; the right to the pursuit of happiness; the right to life, body, and physical freedom; the right to freedom of movement and choice of where to live; and the right to freedom of choice in employment as guaranteed in the Constitution.
A man from Fukushima’s Iwaki City said to reporters, “I want my grandchildren in Tokyo to feel that it is safe to come to visit us in Iwaki.”
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A total of 1,650 farmers, self-employed workers, teachers, company employees, mothers, and pensioners on March 11 joined the list of plaintiffs in the four cases that were brought to the courts of Fukushima District, its Iwaki branch, Tokyo District, and Chiba District.
They are seeking more than 5.36 billion yen in total in compensation for their unnecessary sufferings as refugees and for exposure to radiation caused by the nuclear accident at TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
Their lawyers said that it is the first large-scale proceedings against the state as a defendant in regard to the Fukushima crisis, and that the second and third round of this kind of lawsuit is being considered.
About 90% of the plaintiffs were living in Fukushima and the remaining 10% were living in Miyagi, Yamagata, Ibaraki, and Tochigi prefectures when the accident occurred two years ago.
The head of the 800 plaintiffs in the case with the Fukushima District Court, Nakashima Takashi said, “The actual state of the recovery is far from what we expected,” and expressed his determination to press TEPCO and the national government in court to drastically help the nuclear-affected victims.
Itoh Tatsuya, heading the 822-plaintiff team in the case with the Iwaki branch of the Fukushima court, said, “The accident created severe tensions in my family and divided our local communities. With so much stress and anxiety, my life has been turned upside down,” releasing his anger on the perpetrators who caused the trouble.
In the case with the Tokyo court, Kamoshita Yuya, one of the eight plaintiffs escaping from Fukushima’s Iwaki City which the national government excludes from the nuclear evacuation zone, said, “Because the government drew a line at a zone 30km radius from the plant, many of the evacuees from Iwaki are leading emotionally-stressful lives.” He wants the government to admit the necessity of evacuation also for those who are outside the evacuation zone.
Twenty plaintiffs filed the case with the Chiba court. A plaintiff escaping from Namie Town said, “I want my hometown back for the sake of my children.”
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