Court Rejects Claim over 2nd-Generation Hibakusha Relief

Hiroshima, Feb. 7 (Jiji Press)--Hiroshima District Court on Tuesday dismissed a damages claim filed against the Japanese government over the lack of support for children of atomic bomb survivors.

The court rejected the lawsuit by 28 so-called second-generation hibakusha, who demanded 100,000 yen per person in damages.

Those children of atomic bomb survivors are excluded from the scope of people eligible for relief for survivors, in what they claim to be a violation of Article 14 of the Constitution, which guarantees people's equality under the law.

The plaintiffs argued that many second-generation hibakusha have suffered mental harm due to worries about their health, as the possibility of genetic effects from atomic bomb radiation on survivors' children could not be denied.

"Although the possibility of genetic effects has not been denied clearly, it is not a common belief nor a dominant view," presiding Judge Masato Morizane said in the ruling.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]