A/HRC/24/NGO/X

United Nations

General AssemblyDistr.: Generaldate
English only

Human Rights Council
Twenty-fourth session
Agenda item 3Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including theright to development

Written statement* submitted by Human Rights Now, a nongovernmental organization in special consultative status*
The Secretary-General has received the following written statement which is circulated inaccordance with Economic and Social Council resolution 1996/31.
[22 August 2013]*GE.13-This written statement is issued, unedited, in the language(s) received from the submitting
non-governmental organization(s).

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Civil Society calls for immediate action to protect the rights
to health and life of people affected by the nuclear accident inFukushima, Japan.
1.

Background
More than two years have passed since the nuclear accident at the Fukushima Dai-ichi
Nuclear Power Station, North East Japan on March 11, 2011. The accident released a huge amountof radioactive material—initial government estimates were 168 times of that released by the atomic
bomb in Hiroshima—but the magnitude of the contamination is far beyond the initial estimation.
This poses serious risks to the health of the local population. The government response has been
insufficient to protect people’s rights to life, health and reproductive health, especially for thosemost vulnerable to radiation, such as infants, children and pregnant women.1
2.

People living in contaminated areas
Many people in Fukushima still live in highly contaminated areas, as the government limited
the evacuation zones based on a 20 millisieverts per year(mSv/year) exposure standard, which is 20times greater than the international standard set by ICRP. There are huge areas with large
populations that are not included within the evacuation zone, including large cities such as
Fukushima and Koriyama city.
Without sufficient financial support for evacuation from the government, many people whocannot afford to relocate have no choice but to remain in contaminated areas. Relying on the20mSv/year exposure standard, the government cancelled the evacuation zone in Date City; TEPCO
company ceased to provide compensation for evacuees from Date City; and many residents wereforced to return to the contaminated area.
3.

Rights to health of the affected people
The Japanese authorities have taken few measures to protect people’s right to health incontaminated areas.
The administration of free periodic and comprehensive health checks for symptoms related toradiation have not been established for affected people. People living outside evacuation zones havestill not been provided with any health check related to radiation except thyroid examinations forchildren.
The prefectural government conducts thyroid examinations only for school students under theage of 18, and it will take 3 years to finish “preliminary examinations” for all children inFukushima. The Government has limited follow-up tests to once every two years for children whohave thyroid nodules less than 5 mm or cysts less than 20mm.
A recent health survey concluded that 18 affected children were diagnosed with thyroid cancer,
and another 25 children are under investigation with serious concerns about their chances forthyroid cancer.2
Despite this, the government provides no proper guidance regarding the risks associated withradiation exposure. Instead, it has reiterated its position that there is “no evidence of physical harm
122Human Rights Now is an international human rights NGO based in Tokyo, Japan < http://hrn.or.jp/eng/>
Fukushima Heath Management Survey, August 20, 2013.

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under 100mSv/year” and the national government even published a school textbook containing thisassertion. Working under such an assumption, all policy is formulated without citizen participation.
4.

Lack of Implementation of the Law
In June 2012, the Act on Protection and Support for the Victims of Nuclear Power Plant
Accidents was enacted. The law prescribes that the government take measures to support selfevacuation, provide long-term medical care and medical checkups, and ensure access to information
as well as proper risk communication. However, none of these measures have been implementedyet. There is no special program of assistance for self-evacuation yet, and the scope of the affected
persons receiving government support has not yet been decided.
Prior to the accident, the Japanese government had various standards set for acceptableradiation dosages, including a 1 mSv/year standard and prohibitions against citizens entering areas
with more than 5 mSv/year in radiation. The Government’s actions following the disaster disregard
these standards.
5.

Recommendations of Special Rapporteur GroverIn November 2012, the UN Special Rapporteur on health, Anand Grover visited Japan inorder to investigate the implementation of the right to health after the nuclear disaster in Japan.
Upon undertaking the investigation in Japan, the Special rapporteur submitted a report andrecommendations to the 23rd Human Rights Council in May 2013.3
SR Grover expressed grave concern over the right to health of affected people, andrecommended the Japanese government to take comprehensive measure to protect civilian from
nuclear health hazard.
SR Grover stated that there is no low-threshold limit for excess radiation risk to cancers basedon epidemiological studies, and radiation dose limits shall have the least impact upon the right tohealth of people, taking into account the greater vulnerability of such groups as pregnant womenand children. Based on this, SR Grover made concrete recommendations such as to “Formulate anational plan on evacuation zones and dose limits of radiation by using current scientific evidence,
based on human rights rather than on a risk-benefit analysis, and reduce the radiation dose to lessthan 1mSv/year;”
Human Rights Now, a Tokyo based international human rights NGO, together with civilsociety groups in Japan4 as well as international experts5 welcomes the SR Grover’s
recommendations. It further urges the Japanese government to seriously review ongoing policy andensure people’s right to live in a safe environment with radiation exposures less than 1mSv/year.
6.

The government’s unwillingness to implement the SR recommendations.
The Japanese Government’s response to Special Rapporteur Grover’s recommendations,however, demonstrated a general unwillingness to fulfill its human rights obligations; instead, theGovernment utilized a cost-benefit approach and relied on claims that many of the3

A/HRC/23/41/Add.3
In Japan, More than 100 Civil Society Groups and thousands of Individual joined the petition to support the Grover’srecommendations.
5“Statement by IPPNW Board of Directors on the ongoing nuclear disaster in Japan and the report of the UN Special Rapporteur on
the right to health to the UN Human Rights Council” http://peaceandhealthblog.com/2013/06/05/fukushima-disaster/43

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recommendations were unscientific.6
In particular, the government strongly rejected the recommendation related to “radiation doselevels of less than 1mSv/year” noting that “Based on the data from Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it isbelieved that the effects on health from radiation exposure are less significant than the effects fromother causes or nonexistent as long as the exposure is at the level of 100mSv or less.” 7
However, this assertion does not reflect recent studies which show the health risks of lowlevels of radiation on affected people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The government also cited thefindings of international bodies incorrectly and misleadingly in order to negate the health risks due
to low levels of radiation.
Such behavior of the Japanese government demonstrates its unwillingness to take allnecessary measures to protect affected people from health hazards unless the population lives
within an area with radiation levels exceeding 20mSv/year.
In order to fulfill its obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social andCultural Rights (ICESCR), the Government of Japan should reconsider its use of reference levels,
expand its testing procedures, consider establishing national radiation and cancer registries and takegreater efforts to provide for accountability and transparency in its response to the disaster.
7. In the two years since the Fukushima disaster, the government’s actions have been insufficientand lag far behind policy carried out after Chernobyl.
The accident at Fukushima is still in many ways ongoing. Individuals are still uneasy about
what impacts the accident will have on their health and the health of those they love.
Grave concerns remain about the ability of TEPCO and the Government to contain radiationand to store radioactive topsoil throughout the affected area.
On August 21 2013, Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority declared a fresh leak ofcontaminated water from the plant a level 3 "serious incident," the gravest warning issued since theoriginal meltdown. The international community must continue to monitor the accident as
continued radiation leaks could have global effects.
HRN urges the Japanese government to immediately implement the SR Grover’srecommendations, in particular the following:	  ・Establish regularly updated emergency response plans that clearly demarcate thecommand structures and specify evacuation zones, evacuation centres;	  	  	  ・Release disaster-related information to the public as soon as a nuclear accident occurs;
・Formulate a national plan on evacuation zones and dose limits of radiation by using
current scientific evidence, based on human rights rather than on a risk-benefit analysis,
and reduce the radiation dose to less than 1mSv/year;
・Provide, in schoolbooks and materials, accurate information about the risk of radiation
exposure and the increased vulnerability of children to radiation exposure;	 
・Incorporate validated independent data, including that from affected communities, tomonitor radiation levels;
・Provide funding for relocation, housing, employment, education and other essential
support needed by those who chose to evacuate, stay or return to any area where radiation
674

See A/HRC/23/41/Add.5/Rev.1 p. 8, response to the 78(a), p14~15, General Remark
See A/HRC/23/41/Add.5/Rev.1 p. 16, Contents 9.

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exceeds 1mSv/year;
・Continue monitoring the impact of radiation on the health of affected persons throughholistic and comprehensive screening for a considerable length of time and makeappropriate treatment available to those in need;・The health management survey should be provided to persons residing in all affectedareas with radiation exposure higher than 1mSv/year;
・Avoid limiting the health check-up for children to thyroid checks and extend check-ups
for all possible health effects, including urine and blood tests;	 
・Monitor the health effects of radiation on nuclear plant workers and provide necessarytreatment.
HRN also requests the Human Rights Council to continuously monitor the situation of rights
to health, food and other fundamental human rights of the affected people of the nuclear disaster inJapan and implementation status of the SR Grover’s recommendations.

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