*英語版はページ下部にあります”Please scroll to the bottom of the page for the English version”

ーーー水俣病が熊本で公式確認されてから６５年、新潟で公表されてから５６年が経ちました
　１９５６年５月１日、熊本県水俣市において水俣病の発生が公式に確認されました。
　１９６５年６月１２日、新潟県の阿賀野川流域において、第二の水俣病である新潟水俣病が公表されました。
水俣病被害者たちの長い長いたたかいの末に、２００４年，水俣病関西訴訟最高裁判決によって、加害企業チッソ、国、熊本県が熊本の水俣病の発生・拡大について法的な責任を負うことが確定しました。新潟水俣病については昭和電工の責任は確定していますが、国の責任は係争中です。
 
ーーーいまも多くの水俣病被害者が補償・救済を受けられず苦しんでいます
　それでも、加害者である国・熊本県、チッソ、昭和電工は、水俣病被害者に対する抜本的な施策を行うことはありませんでした。
　国が進めてきた水俣病認定制度は、取り残された水俣病被害者の救済にはまったく機能しませんでした。
　そもそも、加害者の一員である国が被害者かそうでないかを選別する不公平さに限界を感じた水俣病被害者たちは、２００５年，公正な第三者である司法（裁判所）に正当な補償を求めて裁判を起こしました（ノーモア・ミナマタ第１次訴訟）。あわせて、他の水俣病被害者団体も立ち上がり正当な補償を求めました。
　このたたかいによって、裁判では被害者に対する補償を勝ち取ることができ、また、２０１０年に施行された「水俣病被害者救済特別措置法」によって、約５６，０００人が水俣病被害者として救済されました。
　このことにより、これまで考えられてきた以上に水俣病の被害が広がっていたことが明らかになりました。国が決めたいわゆる被害地域の外にたくさんの水俣病被害者がいたことが分かりました。また、国が決めたいわゆる被害年代（国は、熊本は昭和４４年以降、新潟は昭和４１年以降は水俣病は発生しないと言っています）の外にたくさんの水俣病被害者がいたことも分かりました。
 
ーーー「救済法」をつくりながら被害者を切り捨てた国
　しかし、国がわずか２年半で特措法の救済の受け付け窓口を締め切ってしまったため、多くの被害者が今なお救済の枠外に放置されています。
また、特措法では杜撰で乱暴な検診が行われ、非該当となってしまう例が少なくありませんでした。熊本では、水俣病の症状を確認するために、申請者の検診をするのですが、わずか１分足らずの検診で痛覚の検査で乱暴に針を刺され出血したという事例がありました。
　さらに、国が考えるいわゆる被害地域に居住歴がない申請者の場合は、検診さえも受けられずに非該当となってしまう例も多数ありました。
　せっかくの救済法だったのですが、多くの水俣病被害者が切り捨てられる結果となってしまいました。
 
ーーーいまも全国で約１８００人が裁判で争っています
　特措法に申請できなかった方、特措法で非該当とされた方が正当な補償を求めて、裁判を起こしました。
　加害企業チッソ、国、熊本県に対して補償を求め熊本地方裁判所（１４３４名）、東京地方裁判所（８６名）、大阪地方裁判所（１３０名）において訴訟を提起し、現在審理が係属中です。新潟水俣病についても水俣病被害者が加害企業昭和電工と国に対して補償を求め新潟地方裁判所（約１５３名）において訴訟の審理中です（２０２１年８月末現在）。
 
ーーー国は直ちに解決のために力を尽くせ！
　水俣病問題には、被害者が人間らしく生きるための政策の充実、環境復元、地域のもやい直し（絆の再生）等の数多くの課題が残されています。
　しかし、これらの課題に取り組むための前提として、先決問題として、すべての被害者に対して正当な補償がなされる必要があります。解決を裁判所だけに委ねるのではなく、国が責任を持って、認定制度の見直し、新たな救済制度の策定などを行うべきです。

　水俣病は終わっていません。現在進行形の公害事件です。これ以上被害者を放置することは人道上はもちろん、法的にも許されません。
　２０２１年，日本でも映画「 MINAMATA 」が公開されます。
　この機会に世界中の皆さんに水俣病の現実を知っていただき、解決の後押しをしていただきたく呼びかけます。
 
▼ 映画 MINAMATA の協力を得て動画も公開しています。

https://youtu.be/cqDld6agc1A
 

▼熊本水俣病と新潟水俣病の被害者の声も聴いてください。

https://youtu.be/4qAx2dB60-E

▼ノーモア・ミナマタ第２次訴訟弁護団 HP をご覧ください。
 
http://www.no-more-minamata.jp

*English version is below 

---It has been 65 years since Minamata disease was officially confirmed in Kumamoto and 56 years since it was made public in Niigata.
 
　On May 1, 1956, the outbreak of Minamata disease was officially confirmed in Minamata City, Kumamoto Prefecture.
 
　On June 12, 1965, Niigata Minamata Disease, the second Minamata disease, was made public, having been found in the Agano River basin in Niigata Prefecture.
 
　In 2004, after a prolonged struggle by the victims of Minamata disease, the Supreme Court of Japan ruled that Chisso Corporation, as well as the Japanese government and Kumamoto Prefecture, the perpetrators of Minamata disease, were legally responsible for the outbreak and spread of Minamata disease in Kumamoto.      As for Niigata Minamata disease, Showa Denko has been found responsible, but the responsibility of the government is still under litigation.
 
---Many victims of Minamata disease are still suffering due to the lack of relief and compensation
 
　Despite this, the government, Kumamoto Prefecture, Chisso, and Showa Denko, the perpetrators of Minamata disease, have not taken any drastic measures for the sake of the victims.
　The Minamata disease certification system instituted by the government has failed to offer relief for Minamata disease victims who have been left behind.
 
　In 2005, the victims of Minamata disease, who felt that the government, which was one of the perpetrators of the disaster, had behaved unfairly in the way it determined who was a victim and who was not, filed a lawsuit (The First No More Minamata Lawsuit) demanding just compensation from an impartial third party: the justice system (the courts). At the same time, other Minamata disease victims groups also stood up and demanded just compensation. The “Act on Special Measures for Minamata Disease Victims,” enacted in 2010, brought relief to 56,000 victims of Minamata disease.
 
　As a result, it became clear that the damage caused by Minamata disease was more widespread than had been previously thought. It was found that there were many Minamata disease victims beyond the so-called affected areas determined by the government. (The government has stated that no new cases of Minamata disease occurred in Kumamoto after 1969 and in Niigata after 1966.)
 
--The Japanese government created a “relief law,” but cut off many victims
 
　However, since the government closed the window for applying for government relief under the Special Measures Law after only two and a half years of the law passing, many victims have been abandoned, cut off from the support system established for relief.
 
　Moreover, the medical examinations carried out under the special measures law were conducted in a haphazard and violent manner, which caused incidents in which some people were left ineligible to apply for relief. One case in Kumamoto saw an applicant stabbed violently with a needle and bled for a pain test during an examination that lasted less than a minute.
 
　There were many cases as well in which applicants who did not have a residential history of living in the so-called "affected areas"—as determined by the government—were deemed ineligible for receiving relief, without even undertaking a medical examination.
 
　Although the government passed a law to provide relief, it resulted in many Minamata disease victims being left out and ignored.
 
---Even now, about 1,800 people are fighting in the courts around Japan.
 
　Those who were not able to apply for the law for special measures or those who had been deemed ineligible filed a lawsuit for just compensation.
 
　The lawsuits were filed at the Kumamoto District Court (1,434 people), the Tokyo District Court (86 people), and the Osaka District Court (130 people) seeking compensation from the perpetrators of the disease: Chisso,, the Japanese government, and Kumamoto Prefecture. In the case of Niigata Minamata Disease, the victims of Minamata Disease have filed a lawsuit in the Niigata District Court (approximately 153 people) seeking compensation from Showa Denko K.K. and the government. (Still ongoing as of the end of August, 2021.)
 
---The government must immediately exert all its power to resolve this issue!
 
　There are still many issues to be addressed regarding Minamata disease, such the fulfillment of policies for the victims to live as human beings, the restoration of the environment of the affected areas, and the reestablishment of community ties, among many others.
 
　However, as a prerequisite for tackling these issues, it is first necessary to provide just compensation to the victims. The government should take responsibility for the effort such as the reconstruction of the Minamata disease certification system and establishment of the new compensation system. This issue will never be resolved only by the judicial judgement.
 
　Minamata disease is not over yet. It is an ongoing case of environment-related harm to public health. It is not only inhumane but also legally unacceptable to leave the victims unattended any longer.
 
　The movie Minamata will see its nationwide release in Japan in 2021.
 
　We would like to take this opportunity to call for everyone in the world to know the reality of Minamata disease and to give support to bring this matter to the appropriate resolution.
 
▼With the cooperation of the producers of the movie Minamata, we have also released a video with our message. :

https://youtu.be/cqDld6agc1A
 
▼Please listen to the voices of the victims of Kumamoto Minamata disease and Niigata Minamata disease. :

https://youtu.be/-GpgGGzJ9jk

▼The website of the legal team involved in The Second No More Minamata Lawsuit:
 
http://www.no-more-minamata.jp