By EMIKA TERASHIMA/ Staff Writer
December 12, 2022 at 14:07 JST
Children of atomic bomb survivors, their lawyers and supporters hold a rally in Nagasaki on Dec. 12. (Minako Yoshimoto)
NAGASAKI—The Nagasaki District Court on Dec. 12 dismissed a lawsuit filed by children of “hibakusha” atomic bomb survivors that sought government compensation over their exclusion from a medical relief law.
The lawsuit, filed by 28 people, revolved around the Atomic Bomb Survivors’ Support Law, which provides a medical assistance program for hibakusha but not their children.
The plaintiffs, 25 of whom are children of those who suffered from the 1945 Nagasaki atomic bombing, are aged between 55 and 75 and live in four prefectures: Nagasaki, Fukuoka, Osaka and Hiroshima.
Three of the 28 plaintiffs are successors of a hibakusha’s child who has died.
They said their lack of coverage under the law was unequal and unconstitutional. They demanded the central government pay 100,000 yen ($730) in compensation per plaintiff.
The plaintiffs said the genetic effects of radiation, such as increased risk of developing cancer, have been confirmed in laboratory animal studies and other experiments.
They argued that it cannot be denied that children of hibakusha have been under such genetic influences, and they should be eligible to receive benefits under the law.
The central government, which provides a free annual health checkup for children of hibakusha, argued that the results obtained in animal experiments cannot be applied to humans.
The government also said there are no studies that confirm atomic bomb radiation can affect the children of people directly exposed to it. The defendant asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit based on a lack of scientific grounds.
The court sided with the government.
A similar lawsuit has been filed at the Hiroshima District Court.
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