2,300 people attend World Conference against A & H Bombs-Hiroshima
On the 58th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on August 6, about 2,300 peace activists from 20 countries attended the 2003 World Conference against A & H Bombs-Hiroshima at the Hiroshima gymnasium.
The assembly focused on the need to increase the struggle to stop the U.S. Bush administration's possible use of nuclear weapons and achieve the complete elimination of nuclear weapons. It also stressed the importance of further cooperation and joint actions by all governments and peoples supporting nuclear weapons abolition.
Representatives of two A-bomb survivors' organizations of Hiroshima for the first time took part in the assembly.
Messages from the following heads of state or government were read: Bangladesh, Laos, Malaysia, Sweden, Thailand, Vietnam, as well as from the former United Nations Disarmament Department director.
Anzai Ikuro, professor at Ritsumeikan University who chaired the drafting committee, explained the "Declaration" adopted by the International Meeting of the 2003 World Conference, calling for urgent action to get nuclear weapons abolished.
Anzai stressed the need to launch a new signature collection campaign toward 2005, the 60th anniversary of the atomic bombing, that will be an epochal point in the movement to make a world free of nuclear weapons and wars. Joint actions should be increased among governments concerned and peoples of the world to achieve the goal, he emphasized.
Among the main speakers was Mayor Akiba Tadatoshi of the City of Hiroshima.
Speeches were also made by representatives from the U.S.A., Sweden, French-held Polynesia, as well as A-bomb victims in the U.S.A. and South Korea.
In addition, a Hibakusha's group suing the government demanding to be recognized as Hibakusha whose illnesses were caused by radiation from the atomic bombing reported on their activities. (end)
