HRN has submitted a video statement to the Human Rights Council protesting the start of the Japanese government’s plan to release radioactively contaminated waste water from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean.
The statement is given by Mitsuko Sonoda, an evacuee from Fukushima, and it highlights how the decision to release the water underplays the risks and viable alternatives and violates the rights of local residents and neighboring peoples. We call on the government take steps to end the suffering of the victims of the Fukushima disaster and to reverse its decision to release the contaminated water into the Pacific Ocean.
Oral Statement on Japan’s Decision to Dispose of Radioactively Contaminated Water from Fukushima’s Daiichi Nuclear Power Station into the Pacific Ocean
Human Rights Now appreciates the ongoing concern of the Special Rapporteur on toxics and human rights about the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
Many countries and experts are against the Japanese government’s decision to release radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean for the next 30 years. The majority of Fukushima authorities object. This month, hundreds of citizens filed a lawsuit to stop it as a violation of UNCLOS and the London Convention.
The government neglects the risk of tritium and other nuclides including strontium-90 in the water and ignores viable alternative methods. They should respect the 11 UPR recommendations about this issue and joint communications by the special rapporteurs.
The decision violates the rights of residents, whose livelihoods and health are threatened, and the rights of Japan’s neighboring populations.
I am one of the thousands of victims of the Fukushima nuclear disaster. Many are still suffering without government support. We urge that they stop forcing victims to suffer even more and reverse its decision to dump contaminated water into the fragile ecosystem of the Pacific Ocean.
Thank you.