Honor-Restoring Ceremony for Leprosy Patients Held in Tokyo

Tokyo, June 22 (Jiji Press)–A ceremony was held in Tokyo on Monday to restore the honor of leprosy patients in Japan, who had suffered severe discrimination based on the government’s past forced isolation policy. Attending the event at the health ministry, which marked the 30 years since the 1996 abolition of the law that supported the policy, former patients and others laid flowers at a monument and offered a moment of silence. Health minister Kenichiro Ueno expressed his determination “not to repeat such history ever again.” “We’ll take the fact seriously that patients and their families were subjected to restrictions on human rights, as well as prejudice and discrimination, and convey our deepest sympathies to those who died amid great suffering and disappointment,” Ueno said. “We former patients and their families still live silently, hiding ourselves from prejudice and discrimination that are still swirling,” said Isao Tateyama, head of a group of plaintiffs in damages lawsuit against the government. Tateyama, 77, expressed hope that the government will strengthen its efforts toward an inclusive society again. The government designated June 22, the day when the law to compensate patients came into force in 2001, as the day to restore honor and remember victims. It has held a ceremony for the purpose each year around this time since 2009. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]