The Hiroshima High Court turned down second-generation hibakusha's appeal for state compensation on Friday, upholding a ruling by the Hiroshima District Court.
In the lawsuit, the 27 children of survivors of the 1945 U.S. atomic bombing of the city have demanded that the government pay each plaintiff ¥100,000 ($653) in damages under the atomic bomb survivors support law, claiming it was undeniable that they were genetically affected by the radiation from the bomb.
Excluding second-generation hibakusha from the scope of the legally defined assistance violates Article 14 of the Constitution, which guarantees equality under the law, they maintained.
However, "the bomb's genetic influence has been neither proved nor commonly acknowledged," said Presiding Judge Kenji Takamiya. "Hibakusha and second-generation hibakusha should be taken as having significant differences medically and scientifically."
The exclusion by the government "does not constitute unjust discrimination," Takamiya continued. "It's the legislative body that has sole discretion to decide whether to provide legal assistance to them."
The Nagasaki High Court already rejected a similar appeal by local hibakusha's children in February, in support of a lower court ruling. The plaintiffs have brought the case to the Supreme Court.
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