Convention on Protection of Human Rights closes in Hiroshima with call for full relief to Fukushima victims
Oct. 9, 2013
by Gosuke Nagahisa, Staff Writer
The 56th Convention on Protection of Human Rights closed at the International Conference Center Hiroshima on October 4. Four resolutions were adopted at the convention, one of which calls on the national government to provide full relief measures to the victims of the accident at the Fukushima No. 1 (Daiichi) nuclear power plant.
About 1,200 lawyers from across Japan attended this gathering sponsored by the Japan Federation of Bar Associations. Reports were offered on the three symposiums that took place the day before concerning the themes of radiation exposure, revision of the Japanese Constitution, and inequality in society. The four resolutions were then approved by a majority of the participants.
The resolution which involves Japan’s nuclear power plants states that relief measures for A-bomb survivors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki took 12 years to institute following the atomic bombings. In light of this fact, the resolution calls on the central government to promptly guarantee that the victims of the Fukushima disaster are able to receive more frequent checkups, free of charge, to monitor the effects of their internal exposure to radiation, and to establish a system for studying the long-term effects of radiation exposure on human health. It also demands that the nation’s entire fleet of nuclear power plants be closed.
The resolution concerning the revision of Article 96 of the Constitution, which stipulates the procedures that must be undertaken to amend the Constitution, lays out objections for relaxing the requirements to effect constitutional amendments. This, the lawyers argue, would open the door for the government in power to make arbitrary changes to the Constitution and would undermine the foundation of constitutionalism. The other two resolutions express opposition to creating a national defense force and a pledge to take action to prevent the gulf between rich and poor from growing wider.
(Originally published on October 5, 2013)
The 56th Convention on Protection of Human Rights closed at the International Conference Center Hiroshima on October 4. Four resolutions were adopted at the convention, one of which calls on the national government to provide full relief measures to the victims of the accident at the Fukushima No. 1 (Daiichi) nuclear power plant.
About 1,200 lawyers from across Japan attended this gathering sponsored by the Japan Federation of Bar Associations. Reports were offered on the three symposiums that took place the day before concerning the themes of radiation exposure, revision of the Japanese Constitution, and inequality in society. The four resolutions were then approved by a majority of the participants.
The resolution which involves Japan’s nuclear power plants states that relief measures for A-bomb survivors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki took 12 years to institute following the atomic bombings. In light of this fact, the resolution calls on the central government to promptly guarantee that the victims of the Fukushima disaster are able to receive more frequent checkups, free of charge, to monitor the effects of their internal exposure to radiation, and to establish a system for studying the long-term effects of radiation exposure on human health. It also demands that the nation’s entire fleet of nuclear power plants be closed.
The resolution concerning the revision of Article 96 of the Constitution, which stipulates the procedures that must be undertaken to amend the Constitution, lays out objections for relaxing the requirements to effect constitutional amendments. This, the lawyers argue, would open the door for the government in power to make arbitrary changes to the Constitution and would undermine the foundation of constitutionalism. The other two resolutions express opposition to creating a national defense force and a pledge to take action to prevent the gulf between rich and poor from growing wider.
(Originally published on October 5, 2013)
