(Revised on 25 Nov. 2012)

We are currently living in a state of great anxiety and insecurity. "Utsukushima, Fukushima," they used to say, playing on the word for "beautiful" (utsukushii) in Japanese. We never imagined that one day we would see the name of our prefecture written in katakana, an ominous reminder of the fact that "Fukushima" now means much more than just a geographical location. We never imagined that we would have to worry so much about the problem of radioactive contamination.

In the immediate aftermath of the nuclear plant accident, all of us - young and old, male and female - were exposed to radiation. Since then the amount has decreased, but we are still subject to external and internal radiation exposure. The ionizing effect of the invisible radiation that is emitted from the nuclear plant causes damage to our genes. At one point the shock we felt was so great that we had to discuss whether or not we should keep living here with our family members. We are still forced to make difficult decisions, such as whether to let our children play outside or not. We cannot even breathe deeply without thinking about radiation. This situation is a source of great mental stress.

Although many people are going about their lives in an environment in which they face health risks from radiation, this does not mean that they are indifferent to these risks. They have purchased pocket geiger counters to check radiation levels, and worry every day about how best to avoid external and internal exposure to radiation. The issue of how to protect children, who are more sensitive to radiation exposure, is a compelling issue, which makes us worry about the future.

There are also many people who evacuated from the places they knew and loved. Whether the evacuation was forced or voluntary, they are now living detached from the lives they used to lead. As well as an economic burden, living apart from their families and local communities has also caused psychological pain.

Both those who are still living in Fukushima and those who have left Fukushima share a feeling of attachment to their hometowns. Nevertheless, the sad fact is that there is a growing emotional divide between those who remain in Fukushima and those who have left or are leaving Fukushima.

We have lost so many things as a result of the nuclear plant accident; we do not want to lose anything more.

- We have the right to the pursuit of happiness under the Japanese constitution;

- We have the right to determine whether we evacuate or not;

- We have the right to know, which means we have the right to obtain as much information as we feel is necessary about the problem of radiation damage;

- We have the right to demand a free and equal society free from discrimination;

- We have the right to a healthy body, to feel love for nature in Fukushima, and to enjoy our lives;

- We have the right to demand full reparation for damage to our property and assets caused by radiation contamination;

- We have the right to demand that our beloved Fukushima be returned to its pre-accident state:

We want to drink the water without worrying. Bring back the Fukushima frombefore the accident, where we were able to eat rice, vegetables, fruit, fish and meat with peace of mind.

Bring back the Fukushima we used to know, where we enjoyed the smiles on the faces of our children and good relationships with our families and our neighbors, without worrying about radiation;

- If it is impossible to restore Fukushima to its pre-accident state, we have the right to demand reparations for what we have lost.

We hereby declare that we are standing up to reclaim our rights, to bring real smiles back to the faces of people in Fukushima.

November 25, 2012

We, the undersigned, endorse the Fukushima Declaration of Human Rights.

[list of signatories]


Fukushima prefecture, Fukushima City:

Kazuhide Fukada, Tomoo/Setsuko Onuki, Kanae kondo, Koichi/Junko Koike, Hazuki Ishida, Yukie Tachikawa, Yasuhiro Abe, Ayumi Saito, Kazuhiko Matsumoto, Kazuko Ishikawa, Yayoi Murakoshi, Hiroko Sato, Mineko Furiya, Chie Omine, Fumiko Hirai, Masako Kikuchi, Sachio Baba, Hiroko Watanabe, Noriko Goto, Yuko Niji, Nobuyuki/Yuko Tezuka, Tomiko Ogawa, Makiko Sato, Yoko Koseki, Fumiko Takawa, Chie Hattori, Mieko Muroi, Yuzo/Keiko Sato, Ei Tanaka, Kazuko Takahashi, Masahiko Sato, Emiko Shishido, Yukio Wada, Shizuko Suzuki, Motoko Nakamura, Takeru Arakida, Tadashi Kobayashi, Etsuko Hyakawa, Nobuyuki Shouji, Nobuko Fukase, Youko Hatanaka, Junko Nagasawa, Minoru Watanabe, Kozo Kanno, Toshisada Obata, Reiko Obata, Ritsuko Ueki, Akiko Sakuma, Sanae Satou, Hiroyasu Shioya, Hiroto Ishimoto, Aiko Ishimoto, Shouko Ishimoto, Junki Ohzeki, Yukiko Ohzeki,

Date County: Kaori Ohta, Sakurako Ohta, Mitsuo Ohta

Nihonmatsu City: Ryo/Sachiko Noji, Tomoe Edaguchi, Shunsuke Arao, Fumiko Arao

Koriyama City: Kou Shinoda, Keiko Narita, Akio HIrono, Tokuko Kurosawa

Date City: Nobuko Haga, Kazune Saito, Ikuko Watanabe, Mituhiro Tohyama

Soma City: Aya Mariko

Iwaki City: Motomi Yamanobe

Sukagawa City: Kanji Nabemoto

Namie Town: Mituhiro Tohyama


Miyagi Prefecture: Shigeto Obata, Akihiko Morita, Junichu Aoyagi, Mikiko Sato

Yamagata Prefecture: Asuka Hozumi

Niigata Prefecture: Naosuke Nakamura, Ayako Nkajima

Ibaragi Prefecture: Akira Abe, Teruaki Arakawa, Shin Jo, Tetsuji Ito

Tochigi Prefecture: Moritaka Handa

Saitama Prefecture: Ayumu Kuroda, Michiko Saitoh

Chiba Prefecture: Masamune Shimo, Kouji Shibata, Atsuko Muro, Naomi Tokura, Masafumi Nagamura

Tokyo Prefecture: Keiko Ogawa, Tomoko Koide, Mitsuko Kurashina, Jun Hori, Masumi Iino, Yuji Sunaga, Taiki Ohkouchi, Masaki Nomura, Noritake Matsumoto, Kazuha Yano, Hideaki Higashi, Izumi Saitoh, Masayoshi Takeuchi, Mie Koizumi, Takehi Hiramoto, Rintaro Umenai, Yoshi Yamazaki, Asuka Hoshino, Masaaki Kojima, Kazuko Kurata, Yoshiko Ueno, Keiji Matsuyama, Hiroyuki Abe (Mayor of Tama City of Tokyo), Kiyomi Usui, Seiji Nkamura, Hideaki Sato, Yuzo Kokubo

Kanagawa Prefecture: Taro Hirano, Ryoshu Mochizuki, Teruo Hattori, Tooru Ohkane, Tsukasa Murakumo,  Mayumi Gunji, Haruhiko Azuma, Toshiyuki Kurosawa, Yuko Ohmori, Yuh Hosoya, Michiko Kokubu

Gumma Prefecture: Naoto Kitamura

Yamanashi Prefecture: Eiko Shohbi

Shizuoka Prefecture: Kuniyuki Hayashi, Mariko Azechi, Shigeru Aiso, Hiroko Higasihayama, Hiroyuki Sakamoto

Aichi Prefecture: Etsuo Miura

Gifu Prefecture: Masato Komori, Mika Hayashi, Hiromi Minoura, Eiki Sato

Toyama Prefecture: Ei Hayashi

Shiga Prefecture: Hideko Kataoka

Kyoto Prefecture: Ryo Yoshida, Kosho Nezu, Kazue Kitajima, Eri matsumoto, Kazunori Kuwabara, Komei Hosokawa, Chihiro Ibaraki, Keiichi Tanaka, Kaori Kishi

Osaka Prefecture: Hidemune/Hiroko Mitamura, Teruo Mishima, Noriko Sakurai, Mayumi Fukuda, Chika Sonobe, Noriko Matsumoto, Takahiro Nishimura, Yasuko Senda、Mikio Hamada

Hyogo Prefecture: Teruko Sakaguchi, Junichi Hibino, Joji Kusaka, Yusuke Komiya, Koshiro Ogawa, Hiroshige Mizuno, Atsuhiro Ochiai

Wakayama Prefecture: Masami Nishizawa, Tatsuya Usui, Izumi Nishide, Hiroko Fukuda, Hirono Miura

Shimane Prefecture: Shinichi Irii

Yamaguchi Prefecture: Fumi Kowada

Kagawa Prefecture: Maki Matsuura, Miyuki Sakaiya, Akiko Akiyama, Chinami Matsumi

Fukuoka Prefecture: Eiko Takayanagi, Yasuyuki Ikeda, Seiko Ikeda, Koichi Toshima, Yoshimitu Yamaura, Mie Tanaka, Yoshimi Ohmori

Kumamoto Prefecture: Tetsuya Nomura

Germany: Miyuki Tsuji, Hisayo Nagashima

France: Kurumi Sugita


[Translator's note: This is the translation of the original Japanese version as of November 25, 2012. Names in Roman may not be correct, as the original signatures are given in Chinese characters without reading.]

Translated by Kyo Kageura, Professor of University of Tokyo

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<< Related links >>
UN special Rapporteur Anand Grover's report (advance unedited version) on mission to Japan from 15-23 November 2012 is now availavle online.

Title: Report of the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, Anand Grover, Mission to Japan
 
Summary:

The Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, Anand Grover, visited Japan from 15 to 26 November 2012. During the visit he ascertained, in a spirit of dialogue and cooperation, the country‘s endeavour to implement the right to health, and in particular considered issues related to realization of the right to health within the context of the nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant on 11 March 2011, the events leading to it and emergency response, recovery and mitigation.In this report, the Special Rapporteur commends Japan on steps taken to monitor the health of the affected population, designate evacuation zones, monitor radiation levels and decontaminate the affected areas, as well as on its commitment to realizing the right to physical and mental health. However, in order to fully realize the right, the Special Rapporteur encourages the Government to address a number of serious challenges and consider particular areas for improvements in the nuclear emergency response system; the scope and extent of the basic and detailed health management surveys; dose limits of radiation; access to accurate information on radiation and its health effects; transparency and accountability of the nuclear industry and regulatory authority; and participation of affected communities in decision-making processes. With a view to facilitating that endeavour, the Special Rapporteur provides a number of recommendations to the Government of Japan.

A-HRC-23-41-Add3_en.pdf

UN Special Rapporteur Anand Grover on Fukushima: A Stunning Report Brushed Aside by the Japanese Government - See more at: http://www.japanfocus.org/events/view/184#sthash.wnVPQGVm.dpuf

Nuclear Janitors: Contract Workers at the Fukushima Reactors and Beyond] - See more at: http://www.japanfocus.org/events/view/184#sthash.wnVPQGVm.dpuf

Fukushima: UN Special Rapporteur condemned the evacuation ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxSRChl5MF4

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Why “Fukushima Declaration of Human Rights” was born?

   February 25, 2012, I had landed the Fukushima station. It was cold and dull lead color clouds had been spreading over the sky. Some of the people wearing masks had been seen here and there at the street. I had joined the tea party held by mothers having small children and students. I had been listening to the difficult living conditions in Fukushima city.

   The next day, I had been hearing series of stories from a lady who have been evacuated to Osaka from Fukushima city and the people of Fukushima city residents. They all had been struggled and worried about radiation contaminated problems for health and radioactivity decontamination problem.

   While I had been listening to the words and opinions of the people of Fukushima, I considered the need for "Declaration of Human Rights", so I suggested it. The “Declaration of Human Rights” might be considered as pretentious and overblown rhetoric. However, I thought the situation was so serious that it must be brought out the "human rights" stipulated in the Constitution, while the chains of the serious stories had been told from the people of Fukushima.

   After the radioactivity diffusion by nuclear accident, the government had issued the new standards of radiation exposure which is far in excess of the former standards before the accident. Then the Japanese government had engaged in a safety campaign. However, it had spurred the confusion of what was safe or not because many people did not trust and rely on their standards.

   The government had argued that the probable damages and risk by the radioactive exposure had been rather low, quoting scripture of "scientist" and "doctor". They had cited that the risk has been less than the cancer risk by smoking or the same level at least. It looked like the analysis based on "science". However the opinions by some authoritative  "scientists" and "doctors" had lost credibility instantly. It has been commonly accepted scientific theory of that passive smoking and child smoking are adversely affective to the body and health. When we compare it with the safe propaganda we had noticed there is a lie in it. Such unreliable "scientific" claim expected to be diminished but realty is different. “Do not worry. Stress by thinking of the radiation damages will affect one’s health.” This kind of claim or promotion had been expanding its power instead. Moreover they dared to say that the worrying is a hazard for health.

The "scientific" claims seem to be based on the credibility (truthfulness and correctness of the content), but in fact it was doubtful. For example, try thinking about the legitimacy and the safety regarding the speed limit in the road. There are people who drive the car in the 60 km per hour claim safe driving, while the road speed limit is of 40 km by the traffic law. However it is illegal without having amendment of the law. (According to “Decipher of the safe propaganda of radioactivity after the 3.11 disaster" by Kyo Kageura, professor of Tokyo University). Concept of the "safe" seems to be scientific, but it is not in fact.

"If everyone cross at a red light on the road, it is safe." This kind of claim seems to be popular in the filed of discussion about radioactivity. Why this is happening so far? Professor Kyo Kageura mentioned that the credibility (it should have been based on scientific foundation) has changed into the faith for the authorities who claim safe in a subtle way (by “The circumstance regarding the trust and the allocation of the talk”).

My theory of thinking is the following. The “faith” depicted by Professor Kageura subsequently requires loyalty to safe propaganda, then it makes people conform with safety even if the people are worried about disposing radioactivity environment and having a doubt on the safety. This pressure will be increased when some people want to economical recovery first. After the nuclear disaster, it seems to be changing into the faith for the authorities such as the government of Japan and the administration of Fukushima Prefecture. The government seems to make people get in line with and gives enormous pressure on people who will not cooperate, then excludes people from the community, make people silent by utilizing subtle and quiet means.

Fukushima Declaration of Human Rights is a strategic declaration for the people who oppose such pressure and reject the loyalty for the authorities, and it is in the line of historical the Declaration of Human Rights in universe. Anyway, the radiation damages caused by the nuclear accident are "human rights" issues. Fukushima Declaration of Human Rights depicts and highlights this and it was my intention to draft the declaration.

By Yoshitaro Nomura, a lawyer  of  Tokyo

(source: http://home.v05.itscom.net/ans-law/nomuralaw/English.html)