Photo/Illutration Lawyers for the plaintiffs after the Kumamoto District Court dismisses the case on March 22 (Kengo Hiyoshi)

KUMAMOTO--The district court here March 22 rejected claims for compensation by 144 unrecognized sufferers of Minamata disease who asserted they were unfairly denied relief under a 2009 special measures law.

Most of the plaintiffs reside in Kumamoto and Kagoshima prefectures. Their lawsuit before the Kumamoto District Court was against the central government, the Kumamoto prefectural government and Chisso Corp., which discharged toxic waste into Minamata Bay.

The court dismissed the claims of all the plaintiffs and basically echoed the central government’s argument at every turn.

In its decision, the court referred to sensory problems that are one of the main symptoms of Minamata disease.

The court said “it had no choice but to rely on subjective opinions put forward by the victims,” adding that it had to evaluate the case “from multiple perspectives.”

For example, it cited the view that the further a plaintiff lived from the source of contamination, the less likely it was that the person developed serious symptoms through their consumption of fish and shellfish.

Turning to how long it takes for symptoms of the disease to develop, the court ruled that it was “generally within 10 years.”

However, the court accepted that 25 of the plaintiffs have Minamata disease but deemed them ineligible for relief from the state due to the expiry of a 20-year statute of limitations to file for damages.

It is rare for a court to apply the statue of limitations to a Minamata case.

The lead lawyer for the plaintiffs, reacting to this latest setback, bitterly criticized the court, saying: “This is a very regrettable verdict. It does not face up to the damage caused by the disease.”

The lawyer said the simple fact that the court recognized 25 plaintiffs as having Minamata disease “shows that there was a mistake in the relief provided by the special measures law.”

The legal team vowed to continue to demand that the central government review its position, accusing officialdom of taking a narrow view of the scope of damage to be remedied.

Similar lawsuits have been filed in district courts in Osaka, Niigata and Tokyo.

The ruling contrasted with a judgment by a different court in a similar case that ordered payments to the plaintiffs after acknowledging them all as victims.

In that instance, the Osaka District Court last September recognized all 128 plaintiffs as having Minamata disease. It ordered the payment of 2.75 million yen ($18,160) in compensation to each of the plaintiffs.

The Kumamoto court has dealt with the largest number of plaintiffs to date, 1,400 overall. Its decision in this latest case was the focus of much attention.

Minamata disease was caused by methylmercury being released into the sea. Residents along the Shiranui sea coast in Kumamoto and Kagoshima prefectures who ate contaminated fish contracted the disease.

In 1956, the disease was officially confirmed, but Chisso did not stop discharging industrial waste until 1968, when the authorities realized they had a massive case of pollution on their hands.

Around 3,000 patients are certified under the Pollution-Related Health Damage Compensation Law, meaning they are eligible for medical and other benefits.

But the number of people seeking damages continues to grow due to the government’s strict certification criteria.

In 1995, the government reached a “political settlement” under which it paid a lump sum of 2.6 million yen and other benefits to approximately 10,000 victims who had not been certified as patients.

In addition, the 2009 special measures law provided for a lump-sum payment of 2.1 million yen and a medical handbook with free medical expenses. Around 55,000 people were eligible, but 9,600 were omitted.

The special measures law was strongly criticized for drawing a distorted line between eligible and ineligible areas of residence, even though they are adjacent to each other on the same Shiranui sea coast.

About 70 percent of the 144 plaintiffs in the Kumamoto lawsuit are residents from “ineligible” areas.

Related News