Let’s arouse public opinion for nuclear abolition toward 2015: WC against A & H Bombs in Nagasaki

2013 July 31 - August 13 TOP3 [ANTI-N-ARMS]

Let’s arouse public opinion for nuclear abolition toward 2015: WC against A & H Bombs in Nagasaki

August 10, 2013

Marking the 68th anniversary of the atomic bombing on Nagasaki, the closing plenary session of the 2013 World Conference against A & H Bombs took place in Nagasaki City with more than 7,000 people participating.

The participants from home and abroad determined to create overwhelming public opinion worldwide seeking the abolition of nuclear weapons toward 2015, the 70th year of the atomic bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the next Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference to be held in that year in New York.

In a session titled “To New York, 2015”, young activists took the rostrum one after another. Okazaki Kanako, the general secretary of the youth group of the Japan Federation of Prefectural and Municipal Workers’ Unions (Jichiroren), said, “Together with many peace-loving citizens, I will work hard to convey to the UN Headquarters A-bomb survivors’ wishes to realize a nuclear-free world within their lifetimes.” Jessica Herz, an activist of the Ban All Nukes generation (BANg), a European youth network for nuclear disarmament, called on the audience to join hands with Hibakushas, governments, and people of all ages, with the aim of the total ban on nuclear weapons.

American film director Oliver Stone had an exchange on the platform with a second-generation Hibakusha and a university student, both coming from Nagasaki. Stone stressed the importance of passing historical facts on to younger generations, no matter how cruel and inhumane they may be.

Yasui Masakazu, the secretary general of the Japan Council against A & H Bombs (Japan Gensuikyo), put forward an action program. He called for promoting the international signature campaign, “Appeal for a Total Ban on Nuclear Weapons”, on a new note with the next NPT Review Conference 20 months away.

Earlier on the same day, a peace memorial service was held by the city government at Nagasaki Peace Park located near ground zero. Those present offered one minute’s silent prayer for victims at 11:02, the exact time the A-bomb was dropped on the city.

In a Peace Declaration, Nagasaki City Mayor Taue Tomihisa severely criticized the Japanese administration for refusing to sign the joint statement on the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons at the second preparatory committee meeting for the 2015 NPT Review Conference held in Geneva in April.

Japanese Communist Party parliamentarians attended the ceremony. Representing the party, Secretariat Head Ichida Tadayoshi offered flowers in commemoration.