EDITORIAL: Kin of former leprosy patients are also victims who need help

The government’s old policy of compulsory segregation for leprosy patients conferred pariah status on those with the disease.

But their families also suffered and need help as they still fight discrimination and prejudice linked to the disease.

A June 28 ruling by the Kumamoto District Court in a damages suit filed collectively by 561 offspring and siblings of former leprosy patients supported all key points of the plaintiffs’ argument. In a well-reasoned ruling, the court said the policy infringed on their constitutional right to live peacefully in society and be free to choose who they marry. The court decision served as a fresh reminder of the enormous evil of the wrongful policy.

What is particularly notable about the ruling is that it harshly criticized the government for failing to take any policy action to crack down on discrimination and prejudice against the families of people living with leprosy, now commonly called Hansen’s disease.

Showing an unusually activist stance toward supporting the families of leprosy sufferers, the court referred to specific policy measures the government should have taken.

The ruling also contains potentially controversial elements, including a reference to the responsibility of the Diet for its belated move to repeal the Leprosy Prevention Law, and views about the statute of limitations concerning the case.

The court’s arguments clearly deviate from traditional interpretations based on judicial precedents and orthodox legal theories.

Even so, the government and the Diet should take a cue from the ruling and start confronting the grim reality of what the families of former leprosy patients endured.

Leprosy is a mildly infectious disease caused by the acid-fast bacillus Mycobacterium leprae. The bacterium was identified in the late 19th century by Norwegian doctor Gerhard Armauer Hansen.

The government began to forcibly segregate leprosy patients in the early 1900s and refused to change the policy even after an effective cure for the disease was developed, keeping patients in quarantine at special facilities until the law was abrogated in 1996.

In a 2001 ruling in a class action filed by former patients, the Kumamoto District Court declared the policy unconstitutional and ordered the government to pay compensation to the victims. The government at that time accepted the decision in favor of the plaintiffs without appealing it.

The government and the Diet have since apologized to former patients and taken a series of steps to provide relief to the victims, which included enacting a new law to pay compensation. But no steps have been taken to help their families.

It is an undeniable fact that the families of former patients have been suffering from the stigma attached to the disease, which they claim have harmed their employment, education and marriage prospects.

The livelihoods of many of families were destroyed. In particular, the children of segregated parents have been seriously affected.

There have been many cases in which the families of leprosy patients were effectively ostracized from their schools, workplaces and local communities or denied marriage and job opportunities.

A good number of these victims were forced into concealing the family members with the disease or even breaking off relations with them.

Being robbed of important opportunities to enrich one's life at various stages is sometimes referred to as “jinsei higai” (life suffering).

The fact that the families of former patients still face discrimination today is reflected in the decision by most of the plaintiffs to remain anonymous.

The basic law to deal with problems concerning Hansen’s disease, which took effect in 2009, mandates the government to take measures in addition to paying compensation to former patients.

The families of former patients and their lawyers are calling for a revision to the law to stipulate that the families are also victims.

Many former patients have encouraged their reluctant families to take legal action.

Support to the families would also help heal the wounds of former patients.

From this point of view, efforts to eliminate prejudice and discrimination against leprosy patients and their families should be stepped up at schools and in local communities.

--The Asahi Shimbun, June 29