Japan Press Weekly

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2013 July 31 - August 13 [ANTI-N-ARMS]

Court orders gov’t to recognize 8 plaintiffs as victims of A-bomb disease

The Osaka District Court on August 2 ordered that the national government officially certify the diseases of eight atomic-bomb survivors living in the Kinki region as caused by atomic bomb radiation in 1945 in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Pointing to a clear causal relationship between the symptoms exhibited by the eight plaintiffs and the A-bomb radiation, the ruling states that the dismissal of their applications for the state recognition of their diseases as A-bomb related was illegal and invalid.

It also states that the current 2008 standards for A-bomb disease patient certification are likely to underestimate the applicants’ radiation doses, and that the standards should be regarded only as a rough guide. The state should take into account all possibilities of having been exposed to radiation, the ruling added.

Miyanaga Heihachiro, 78, one of the plaintiffs, was exposed to radiation from the atomic bomb in Nagasaki City. He said, “We have been waiting for the longest time for this recognition. At last I feel like I’m seeing the light at the end of a long tunnel. I hope this ruling will encourage Hibakusha in court battles around the country.”

Past related articles
> [Editorial] Gov’t should play its role to support A-bomb survivors [August 6, 2012]
> Osaka Court rules Hibakusha’s diseases as A-bomb related [December 22, 2011]