About Hidankyo
From Monthly Paper "Hidankyo"-December
Hibakusha won complete victory on the Nagasaki A-bomb Matsuya Lawsuit again at the High Court.
On Nov. 7, the Fukuoka High Court handed down a ruling on the Nagasaki A-bomb Matsuya Lawsuit, ordering the Japanese Government to recognize Ms. Hideko Matsuya*s disability as an Atomic Bomb disease.
After the ruling, Ms. Matsuya said, "This victory has brought a great joy to all Hibakusha. I would like to ask Ministry of Health and Welfare for not appealing to the Supreme Court."
For three days before the time-limit for appealing the case, more than 230 Hibakusha in Tokyo area attended sit-in at the gate of the Ministry of Health and Welfare to call on not appealing the case and handed 3,500 leaflets to passersby. On the last day, Ms. Matsuya came to Tokyo to join the action and ask for meeting Ministry of Health and Welfare.
However, after the Hibakusha left there rejected to meet the Minister,the Ministry of Health and Welfare revealed to appeal the case to the Supreme Court.
The Ministry's reason for the appeal:
The ruling was unsatisfactory.
The ruling "a certain degree of probability is enough to prove the causation (of the damage)", is unacceptable.
The judgment of adopting the experts' studies to prove the causation is unacceptable.
Hidankyo held the representative meeting on November 5.
Hidankyo representative meeting was held with 100 participants from 38 prefectures in Tokyo, on Nov. 5.
First of all, Sakae Ito, Co-chairperson of Hidankyo, spoke to the participants that she would work harder until nuclear weapons all over the world are thoroughly eliminated, in spite of her age of eighty-six.
At the meeting Prof. Shoji Sawada made a talk on "Expansion of nuclear umbrella and Japan". In the talk Prof. Sawada interpreted the arrangement of the Japanese Government that Japan would join nuclear war led by the USA along the "New Guidelines for US-Japan Defence Cooperation", although the public opinion for the nuclear abolition has become world-wide. He also pointed out that the win of Matsuya case would bring to achieve the nuclear free world.
At the afternoon meeting, the participants exchanged their experiences how to ask as many people as possible to exhibit "The A-bomb and Humanity" panel set. Ms. Hideko Matsuya, the Plaintiff of Nagasaki A-bomb Matsuya Lawsuit and Mr. John Steinbach & Ms. Louise Franklin=Ramirez, peace activists in USA, attended the meeting and received a rousing welcome.
The next day 120 Hidankyo members called on the Government, political parties and members of the Diet to eliminate nuclear weapons and not appeal the Matsuya case.