Abolish nuclear weapons now! -- Let there be no more Hiroshimas and no more Nagasakis: New signature campaign

The following is the gist of the explanation Takakusagi Hiroshi, general secretary of the Japan Council against A & H Bombs (Japan Gensuikyo)made on behalf of the Organizing Committee of the 2003 World Conference against A & H Bombs at its closing plenary in Nagasaki on August 9 to explain the proposal for a new signature campaign for nuclear weapons abolition:

The call for this new international signature campaign was proposed by the World Conference Steering Committee and has been formulated through discussions, including those at the International Meeting.

The campaign is entitled "Abolish nuclear weapons now! Let there be no more Hiroshimas and no more Nagasakis". This expresses the clear goal and strong will to influence international politics to abolish nuclear weapons toward 2005, the 60th anniversary of the atomic bombings.

The signature campaign will be instrumental in urging nuclear weapons countries to fulfill their "unequivocal undertaking" at the 2000 NPT Review Conference, paving the way for the conclusion of an international treaty to eliminate such weapons.

The signature drive is aimed at developing a movement for nuclear weapons abolition using the unlimited energy of the movement against the injustices committed by the world's last remaining superpower.

The campaign is making a start here and now, with every one of the 7,300 members of the audience in this gymnasium as an initiator.

Addressing the World Conference against A & H bombs on August 6, Mayor Akiba Tadatoshi of Hiroshima City called on all governments participating in the 2005 NPT Review Conference to eliminate nuclear weapons and put the resolution into practice, irrespective of objections that might be expressed by some powers.

Yesterday, together with overseas delegates, I visited Mayor Ito Iccho of Nagasaki City. Mayor Ito recognized the Hiroshima mayor's proposal as a common call by Hiroshima and Nagasaki and requested that the world's anti-nuclear movements respond to this call and build a movement that will be even larger than the movement against the Iraq war.

It is a great pleasure for me to report to you that Mr. Ito is one of the first signers in support of the "Abolish nuclear weapons now" appeal.

The new signature campaign will be a quick 2-year drive to approach the goal of totally banning nuclear weapons.

Every action each one of us carries out is meaningful. Let's begin to act with friends, in our places of work and our communities. Let us use the Internet and mailing lists to carry out the signature campaign throughout Japan and internationally.

In 1954, the collection of 34-million signatures in protest against the hydrogen-bomb test explosion at Bikini Atoll led to holding the First World Conference against A & H Bombs and establishing Japan Gensuikyo. The signature campaign in support of the "Appeal from Hiroshima and Nagasaki" at the call in 1985 of 12 anti-nuclear international organizations has greatly helped increase international awareness of the urgent need to get rid of nuclear weapons. Let's begin the new signature collecting campaign now in the firm belief that it will ensure that a new world without nuclear weapons and war is a realizable goal. (end)