Some excerpts from the English language website of the Plaintiffs of the Kyoto lawsuit against TEPCO and the Japanese Government over the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster:
• Over 12,000 Fukushima victims have filed 30 cases in different regions against the government and TEPCO.
• Six courts have so far judged that the plaintiffs have the right to evacuate and admitted the right to compensation.
• In the Kyoto regional court the judgement was made in March 2018. But the government and TEPCO have appealed. They don’t accept their responsibility for the Fukushima nuclear disaster. Preparations are now being made for the Osaka high court.
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Kyoto:
175 plaintiffs from 58 households who evacuated to Kyoto filed a suit in the Kyoto District Court against the Japanese government and TEPCO for damages.
The first appeal: 33 household/ 91 plaintiffs on the 17th September 2013
The second appeal :20 household/ 53 plaintiffs on the 7th March 2014
The third appeal: 11 household/ 31 plaintiffs on the 7th July 2015.
The purpose of this court case:
- To ensure strict observance of the national law in Japan which gives the maximum allowable radioactive dose for the public of 1mSv/year. The defendant should admit that citizens have the right to evacuate from the contaminated areas where the official dose limit is exceeded.
- To clarify the government and TEPCO’s responsibility for the Fukushima nuclear accident.
- The government and TEPCO should give compensation for damaging the victims’ stable lives through the nuclear disaster.
- The government and TEPCO should provide permanent measures for all nuclear victims, especially children, including: medical security, radioactive dose check-ups, housing support and employment measures.
The judgement in Kyoto was that the Government and TEPCO have responsibility for the nuclear accident. The right to evacuate for plaintiffs who have self-evacuated were accepted.
“Dear supporters,
On the 15th of March 2018, the first decision of the Kyoto trial was delivered in beautiful spring sunshine.
Many people of the world are concerned with the judgement in our case. The decision made the Government and TEPCO’s responsibility clear. However, three families’ claims were rejected. Therefore, we have won partially. Memories of our efforts over five years came to us and it brought tears to our eyes.
Our right to evacuate was accepted, but for only two years. But the judge showed that the assessment of losses was particular to each plaintiff. The areas where we were accepted to evacuate from expanded to include Aizu, Chiba, Ibaraki and Tochigi. However, we do not accept that the amount of compensation for damages meets our losses.”
Continues here, including testimonies from individual plaintiffs:
http://fukushimakyoto.namaste.jp/shien_kyoto/eng/index.html
REMEMBER FUKUSHIMA 