A Japanese court rejected on Monday the complaint filed by direct descendants of the survivors of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki in 1945, who claimed compensation from the State for hereditary genetic diseases.
The District Court of Nagasaki, the city attacked by the atomic bomb dropped by the United States on August 9, 1945, determined that the legislation does not oblige the State to grant economic compensation to “bomb survivors” (hibakusha) of second generation.
The judges consider that it was not possible to demonstrate with certainty that the exposure to radiation suffered by the parents of the plaintiffs had effects on the health of their children.
“It can only be said that the possibility of a hereditary influence due to exposure to radiation cannot be ruled out,” says the text of the judges.
The plaintiffs, during the process, maintained that it is unfair to exclude the descendants of the victims from the state compensation system and cited medical investigations that refer to the possible hereditary effects of radiation.
In this sense, they asked for 100,000 yen (695 euros) per person as compensation from the government.
This is the first court ruling in Japan on such a claim brought by descendants of atomic bomb survivors.
There is another similar case still pending in a Hiroshima court.
It is estimated that 40,000 people died in the atomic bombing of the city of Nagasaki.
The US bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki killed 400,000 people in the years after the end of World War II.
Source: TSF
