 Letter to all governments of the world 2004 World Conference Against A & H Bombs - Nagasaki On August 9, the 59th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, the 2004 World Conference against A & H Bombs-Nagasaki adopted a letter calling on governments throughout the world to act to help achieve the elimination of nuclear weapons. The text of the letter is as follows: Concerned about the danger of war and the use and proliferation of nuclear weapons, we, the participants in the 2004 World Conference against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs held in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, are determined to strengthen our international solidarity and action to make a decisive turn for the abolition of nuclear weapons in the coming 60th year of the A-bomb tragedy. The World Conference against A and H Bombs, which is honored by the half century history since its first meeting in 1955, has worked to prevent nuclear weapons from actually being used and has spread the voice for the ﾒelimination of nuclear weaponsﾓ. However, nuclear weapons still exist and are threatening the survival of the human race. We, therefore, send you this letter from the A-bombed city Nagasaki, hoping that all the governments, including Japan, the only A-bombed country, make a courageous decision and set about actions to accomplish the elimination of nuclear weapons. The atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima on Aug. 6 and Nagasaki on Aug. 9 1945, destroyed the cities in an instant and killed hundreds of thousands of people. Those who escaped the immediate death were wounded in both body and mind, and many were left in agony. The tragedies must not be repeated. It is a vital task for international politics to prevent the use of nuclear weapons and to swiftly abolish them. It is a duty of the nuclear weapons states to fulfill the ﾒunequivocal undertakingﾓ to abolish nuclear arsenals, to which they themselves have pledged, towards May next year, when the next NPT Review Conference takes place in May in New York. The voices demanding the implementation of the ﾒundertakingﾓ are heightening worldwide. To follow a policy of preemptive use of nuclear weapons in contravention of the publicﾕs voice and even move forward nuclear weapons development cannot but threaten world peace. We demand that all nuclear weapons states, both declared and undeclared, abandon their policy of threatening the use of or actually using nuclear weapons, and that they put an end to the research, development and testing of new nuclear weapons. We further demand that they set about implementing the ﾒunequivocal undertakingﾓ to abolish their nuclear arsenals towards the NPT Review Conference next year. We also call on all governments to make efforts for the start of negotiations on an international treaty for the elimination of nuclear weapons, and to vote in favor of resolutions to abolish these weapons at the U.N. General Assembly session this autumn. We also urge all the governments that rely their ﾒsecurityﾓ on ﾒnuclear deterrenceﾓ provided by a nuclear weapons state to abandon the current policy and take actions, such as ridding their territories of nuclear weapons. The voices and actions of the people desiring peace and abolition of nuclear weapons are spreading all over the world, transcending national boundaries, differences of nationality, social systems or religions. The 2004 World Conference against A & H Bombs is calling for a redoubled effort on international signature campaigns, with the common goal of ﾒAbolition of nuclear weapons, nowﾓ. We also welcome the initiatives of the World Conference of Mayors for Peace, led by the mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We look forward to the solidarity and cooperation to be developed between the governments sharing the desire for the abolition of nuclear weapons and local government leaders and civil society organizations, jointly creating a grand current for the abolition of nuclear weapons. We have consistently promoted grass-roots movements hand in hand with the Hibakusha, upholding the tasks of preventing nuclear war, eliminating nuclear weapons and supporting the Hibakusha in solidarity with them. We sincerely request that the government of all countries listen to our voices and make an earnest effort to abolish all nuclear weapons. (end) |