The government admitted Tuesday that it failed to acknowledge in a variety of state booklets and videotapes that it was responsible for the forced isolation of Hansen's disease patients in the past.

The contents of the booklets and videotapes in question were revealed in a government response to questions from Renko Kitagawa, a House of Representatives member of the Social Democratic Party.

The booklets and the videotapes were prepared by the Cabinet Office and published in cooperation with the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry and the Justice Ministry's Civil Liberties Bureau.

According to the government response, the materials fail to mention violations of the human rights of the patients under the 1953 Leprosy Prevention Law, which was repealed in 1996.

Under the law, patients of the disease otherwise known as leprosy were forced into sanitariums. Some were also forcibly sterilized or made to have abortions.

The materials only state that the patients "suffered greatly because of social discrimination and misunderstanding," and seek to justify past policy by quoting "experts" who said the isolation was inevitable at the time.

As for the reason for not stating the facts in the booklets and videos, the health ministry said the materials were published to explain the medical and historical aspects of the disease in Japan, and not for the purpose of admitting state responsibility.

The National Association of Hansen's Disease Patients at Sanitariums termed the state's conduct outrageous.

A member of the association said the government's claim had been clearly rejected by a court last year. The member said the government was "blinding itself to the facts and trying to save face."

In May 2001, the Kumamoto District Court ordered the state to pay 1.8 billion yen in compensation to former Hansen's disease patients who were confined in sanitariums.

It also advised the government in December to reach a compensation settlement with former patients with the infection who were not forced into sanitariums.

The government accepted the recommendation in January.