ID :
22933
Mon, 10/06/2008 - 21:12
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/22933
The shortlink copeid
A-bomb survivors, kin abroad sue state for compensation+
HIROSHIMA, Oct. 6 Kyodo - Scores of atomic-bomb survivors and their relatives living abroad sued the Japanese government on Monday to receive compensation for what they say is mental distress caused by the state's refusal to pay medical benefits because they live abroad.
The suit filed with the Hiroshima District Court is part of the process in
which the welfare ministry would pay every atomic-bomb survivor, or
''hibakusha,'' 1 million yen in compensation once courts recognize them as
such.
The plaintiffs -- 80 survivors of the 1945 atomic bombings living in Brazil and
81 survivors and two relatives in the United States -- are demanding 1.2
million yen each, or a total of 190 million yen.
A 1974 notice issued by the then Ministry of Health and Welfare stipulated that
atomic-bomb survivors would lose the status of a benefit recipient if they
settled overseas. The notice was rescinded in 2003.
The survivors in the suit went overseas after they were exposed to radiation
either in Hiroshima or Nagasaki.
The plaintiffs argue that the survivors, many of them facing financial burdens
and health problems, thus experienced hardship by having to give up coming to
Japan to apply for government certificates as sufferers of atomic bomb-related
diseases and for medical benefits.
In June, the requirement to come to Japan to apply for such certificates was
dropped from the Atomic Bomb Victims Relief Law, and those seeking to apply for
the certificates overseas will be able to do so at diplomatic offices outside
Japan by the end of the year.
The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry decided in August to pay 1 million yen
in compensation and some more in legal fees to every survivor if courts
recognize them as atomic-bomb survivors in lawsuits filed against the state.
The move came after the Supreme Court declared the decades-old ministry notice
illegal in a ruling last November, ordering the government to pay damages to 40
South Koreans who were brought to Japan as forced laborers and exposed to
radiation in the blast in Hiroshima.
At a press conference held after the filing on Monday, lawyer Shuichi Adachi,
who represents the plaintiffs, said, ''I hope the state agrees to a settlement
without contesting the case.''
Monday's move came ahead of other suits planned to be brought to courts in
Osaka, Hiroshima and Nagasaki involving more than 2,000 atomic-bomb survivors
living in South Korea who will seek compensation on the same grounds.
Of the atomic-bomb survivors who settled abroad after the war, some 4,330
people in 35 countries held atomic-bomb sufferers' certificates as of March,
including about 160 in Brazil and about 970 in the United States, according to
the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
Of the 4,330, some 3,300 were receiving health-care benefits and other forms of
benefits.
The suit filed with the Hiroshima District Court is part of the process in
which the welfare ministry would pay every atomic-bomb survivor, or
''hibakusha,'' 1 million yen in compensation once courts recognize them as
such.
The plaintiffs -- 80 survivors of the 1945 atomic bombings living in Brazil and
81 survivors and two relatives in the United States -- are demanding 1.2
million yen each, or a total of 190 million yen.
A 1974 notice issued by the then Ministry of Health and Welfare stipulated that
atomic-bomb survivors would lose the status of a benefit recipient if they
settled overseas. The notice was rescinded in 2003.
The survivors in the suit went overseas after they were exposed to radiation
either in Hiroshima or Nagasaki.
The plaintiffs argue that the survivors, many of them facing financial burdens
and health problems, thus experienced hardship by having to give up coming to
Japan to apply for government certificates as sufferers of atomic bomb-related
diseases and for medical benefits.
In June, the requirement to come to Japan to apply for such certificates was
dropped from the Atomic Bomb Victims Relief Law, and those seeking to apply for
the certificates overseas will be able to do so at diplomatic offices outside
Japan by the end of the year.
The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry decided in August to pay 1 million yen
in compensation and some more in legal fees to every survivor if courts
recognize them as atomic-bomb survivors in lawsuits filed against the state.
The move came after the Supreme Court declared the decades-old ministry notice
illegal in a ruling last November, ordering the government to pay damages to 40
South Koreans who were brought to Japan as forced laborers and exposed to
radiation in the blast in Hiroshima.
At a press conference held after the filing on Monday, lawyer Shuichi Adachi,
who represents the plaintiffs, said, ''I hope the state agrees to a settlement
without contesting the case.''
Monday's move came ahead of other suits planned to be brought to courts in
Osaka, Hiroshima and Nagasaki involving more than 2,000 atomic-bomb survivors
living in South Korea who will seek compensation on the same grounds.
Of the atomic-bomb survivors who settled abroad after the war, some 4,330
people in 35 countries held atomic-bomb sufferers' certificates as of March,
including about 160 in Brazil and about 970 in the United States, according to
the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare.
Of the 4,330, some 3,300 were receiving health-care benefits and other forms of
benefits.
