Subject: [cwj 153] Japanese leprosy patients sue government
From: Corporate Watch in Japanese <cwj@corpwatch.org>
Date: Thu, 24 May 2001 12:42:47 -0700
Seq: 153
More Japanese leprosy patients sue government TOKYO, May 21 (AFP) - More than 900 Japanese leprosy patients filed a lawsuit Monday seeking damages from the state for human rights abuses including forced isolation in leper colonies, sterilization and abortions. In all 923 patients sued the government at the Tokyo, Okayama and Kumamoto District Courts seeking damages of 115 million yen (935,000 dollars) per person, lawyers said. The new filing brings the total number of plaintiffs in leprosy-related rights cases to 1,702, plaintiffs' lawyer Naoko Kunimine said. On May 11 more than 100 leprosy patients won a court ruling ordering the government to pay 1.82 billion yen to the plaintiffs -- ,an average of 14.33 million yen each. The victory marked Japan's first legal judgement on such cases, and shed light on the plight of former leprosy patients who suffered systematic discrimination by the state. Kunimine said the claims against the government in the latest suit were the same as in the previous ones. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said in parliament Monday he wanted to take an "appropriate decision". "I am considering how to cope with this ruling, thinking of suffering of patients," he said. Leprosy was internationally recognised by 1960 as an illness resulting from the transmission of an extremely rare virus, which is not contagious. Effective medication had been developed by the 1940s which would have allowed the sufferers' to return to society. But the government maintained its pre-war isolation policy dating from 1907 and retained the notorious 1953 Leprosy Prevention Law, which resulted in the sterilization of sufferers and forced abortions of unborn children of sanatorium inmates. Press reports said the government intended to appeal the May 11 judgment by the deadline of Friday. "We wonder whether the government is attempting to prolong resolution once again," another lawyer Yasuhiro Asanuma said. Kunimine pointed out that as time passed the number of plaintiffs would tail off as their average age was 74. "We will not let the government appeal. The Kumamoto ruling judged the totally unnecessary isolation that was conducted for the past 90 years as the wrong policy," Asanuma said. According to a government estimate, 1,400 sterilization cases and 3,000 abortions were believed to have been carried out at isolation centres nationwide. "Because of the isolation policies, patients marked with Hansen's disease (leprosy) could not live in the society but in facilities," Asanuma said. "They suffered damage to every aspect of their lives, as the Kumatomo court ruling acknowledged." Many of the leprosy patients never returned home since their families lived in fear of fierce discrimination. The remains of more than 20,000 former patients are still reportedly kept at the facilities, waiting to be collected some day. By 1955, the government stepped up the isolation policy and moved 15,000 patients, or 91 percent of Japan's leprosy sufferers, into dozens of treatment facilities, where they reportedly suffered abuses including forced labour. The government has always denied its responsibility, insisting that the measure was based on medical knowledge available at the time. It is believed to be concerned that if the Kumamoto ruling goes unchallenged, it will open the floodgates to damages claims. "This lawsuit is just one of several ones which have been filed before," said a health ministry official who declined to be named. "We will decide whether to appeal after deliberation with other ministries," the official said, adding the government would announce its decision this week. There are still 4,400 people living at 15 treatment facilities nationwide. Leprosy is caused by a virus which attacks nerve systems, causing paralysis and deformation of body parts including hands, feet and the face. Sufferers can be fully treated with drugs as outpatients without the need to be isolated. FAIR USE NOTICE. This document contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Corporate Watch in Japanese is making this article available in our efforts to advance understanding of ecological sustainability, human rights, economic democracy and social justice issues. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. ------------------------------------- Corporate Watch in Japanese Transnational Resource and Action Center (TRAC) P.O. 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