From International Meeting discussions

Participants in the International Meeting of the 2002 World Conference against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs discussed the present situation relating to nuclear weapons and tasks for a stronger anti-nuclear weapons movement, based on the main theme, "Working together for a peaceful and promising world without nuclear weapons -- let us develop international solidarity and cooperation."

To fight back adverse current

Joseph Gerson of the American Friends Service Committee pointed out the danger of the Bush Administrationﾕs policy of counter-terrorism war, preemptive strikes, and use of nuclear weapons against non-nuclear states. He reported that the campaign to collect 10 million signatures demanding the government withdraw the policy of first use of nuclear weapons and abandon developing, testing and producing nuclear war heads is growing.

Wu Kesheng of the Chinese Peopleﾕs Association for Peace and Disarmament stated, "The view that a brand new concept of security should be established and abandon the outdated concept of security based on reinforcing military alliances and armaments should be abandoned is gaining strength."

Praful Bidwai of the Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace, India, said that after India and Pakistan had become nuclear states, their conflicts escalated. "India and Pakistan will not gain security through nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons don't give security; they generate insecurity. This is true of South Asia--with a vengeance. The only way in which my part of the world will become free of the danger of a nuclear Armageddon is through its complete denuclearisation."

Takakusagi Hiroshi, general secretary of the Japan Council against A and H Bombs (Gensuikyo), stressed, "The self-centered unilateralism of the nuclear super-power deforms the international structure based on the UN Charter. Its nuclear policy is eliciting vigilance and criticism from the peoples of the world, including from the overwhelming majority of Governments."

"We need to redouble our efforts to build grassroots voices against the use of military force, and particularly we must oppose the nation that nuclear weapons can be used as means of countering ﾔterrorism and proliferation.ﾕ At the same time, I want to suggest that we continue to press the UN and its member states to build wider and ever stronger support for agreement on a total ban of nuclear weapons, and to then set about implementing the ban," he said.

Bo Anh Tuan, vice-president of the Vietnam Peace Committee, said the need for cooperation between peace movements and governments in the world in urging nuclear-weapons states to not use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear-weapons states and to begin immediately negotiations for eliminating nuclear weapons.

United States criticized for hegemonic policy

In the session on peaceful solutions to international conflicts, the U.S. Bush Administration was criticized for its hegemonic policy of using the pretext of "countering terrorism."

Rita Lasar, whose brother died in the World Trade Center on September 11, said that President Bush regards himself as the ruler of the world. She asked the participants in the conference to appeal to the U.S. people to seek an alternative way.

Corazon Fabros, secretary general of the Nuclear-Free Philippines Coalition, condemned the Arroyo government for unconstitutionally approving of the U.S. military presence on the pretext of the "war on terrorism."

Kim Seung Kuk from South Korea, who is co-chair of the Association for National Reconciliation and Independent Reunification, pointed to the danger of Japanﾕs planned contingency legislation, and called for making Asia a nuclear-free peace zone without U.S. forces.

Anzai Ikuro, director of the Kyoto Museum for World Peace at Ritsumeikan University, recalled the extreme nationalism he felt when he visited the U.S. after September 11, called for the lifting up voices in protest against the warmongering Bush Administration and the Japanese governmentﾕs unconstitutional policy following it.

Solidarity with hibakusha

At the time of the bombing of Hiroshima, Tando Miyoko was 13-year-old. She was diagnosed as having hepatitis C nine years ago, but she wasnﾕt covered by government health care benefits. On July 9, 2002, she joined many other A-bomb survivors and filed a demand that the government recognize them as Hibakusha with diseases caused by the atomic bombing. "I wanted the government to recognize that I have developed hepatitis due to a decline in immunity," she related.

Mukai Shunji was 15 at the time of atomic bombing which killed his parents. He and his five brothers and sisters were encouraged by the government to immigrate to Brazil, and moved there in 1955. Hibakusha living in Brazil are not covered by the Hibakusha Aid Law. He filed a lawsuit against the Japanese government and Hiroshima Prefecture, saying, "We want the Japanese government to extend to us the same care as that made available to the Hibakusha living in Japan. We want to be entitled to medical care without fear of medical costs. We earnestly hope that the government will allow us to receive medical treatment in the place we live, not just in Japan."

Choi Il Chul, former president of the Korean Atomic Bomb Casualty Association, said, "Many Koreans fled their homeland under Japanﾕs harsh colonial rule. And we fell victim to the atomic bombing simply because we came to live in Hiroshima or Nagasaki in a quest to start a new life."

Calling for the Hibakusha Aid Law to be applied to overseas Hibakusha, they filed lawsuits with the Osaka and Nagasaki district courts. Both courts upheld their demand. But the Japanese government has refused to accept the court rulings and appealed to a higher court. Choi Il Chul stressed that "Japan is responsible for the Korean survivorsﾕ sufferings and has the duty to repair their damage."

Hida Shutaro was working in the Hiroshima Army Hospital as a military doctor and suffered the atomic bombing. He now works for the National Counsel Office for A-Bomb Sufferers of the Japan Confederation of Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs Sufferers Organizations. Hid spoke about the exposure to low level radiation, saying, "Survivors who were beyond 2 km from the hypocenter or those who entered the city after the bombing were all victims of the exposure to low level radiation, and that it was wrong not to recognize them as radiation victims on the ground that they were exposed to very small amounts of radiation."

Delegates from the Marshal Islands, Fiji, Russia and Kazakhstan reported damages caused by nuclear testings, to which other participants expressed solidarity and support. (end)