Court rescinds Hiroshima decision on A-bomb victims+

HIROSHIMA, March 25 Kyodo - The Hiroshima District Court on Wednesday rescinded the Hiroshima city government's decision not to designate seven plaintiffs as A-bomb survivors.

The seven requested the local government to issue health handbooks for A-bomb
survivors between 1996 and 2004. They claimed that they were exposed to
radiation when they were engaged in rescue work in and around Hiroshima shortly
after the Aug. 6, 1945 bombing.
The health handbooks are issued not only to those directly hit by the A-bomb
but also to those who are believed to have been exposed to radiation after the
bombing.
The city government rejected their request on the grounds that it cannot
confirm their activities.
Under the recognition criteria used by Hiroshima, those who came into contact
with more than 10 A-bomb victims a day through either providing support or
disposing of dead bodies are eligible to receive a health handbook.
Presiding Judge Tomoyuki Nonoue said, however, ''The city mayor has loosely
relied on the criteria without fully checking their reasonableness.''
''It cannot be denied that those who stayed with many A-bomb victims for
certain period of times were highly likely to be affected in the form of
internal irradiation,'' he said.
The judge rejected the plaintiffs' demand that the city government pay 2.2
million yen in compensation to each of them.
In Tokyo, Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura, referring to the ruling, told
a press conference, ''It is necessary for the government to take measures based
on the positions of the A-bomb victims.''
==Kyodo