December 16, 2019

Akahata editorial (excerpts)

The United Nations General Assembly on December 12 adopted a resolution calling on UN member nations to ratify the UN treaty prohibiting nuclear weapons with 123 nations voting in favor, 41 against and 16 abstentions. The two-thirds majority of all UN nations this year again supported the antinuke resolution.

The UN in July 2017 adopted the nuclear weapons ban treaty. Despite nuclear weapons states’ attempt to pressure other countries to not endorse the treaty, it was ratified by 34 countries and signed by 80. With the ratifications of 16 more countries, the treaty will reach the required threshold for coming into force. In the UNGA meeting, many countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America expressed their support for the UN N-ban treaty. Ghana, for example, said that the UN accord has vitalized the discussions for nuclear disarmament. It is clear that the N-ban treaty is accelerating the international trend for a nuclear-free world.

The year 2020 will mark 75 years since the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In addition, a sister event of the World Conference against A- and H-bombs is scheduled to be held in New York City on the sideline of the NPT Review Conference. The Hibakusha-led international signature-collection campaign for the elimination of nuclear weapons which gathered more than 10 million signatures so far, sets its deadline for 2020. In this key year, antinuke peace movements will need to make a big leap forward.

Regarding international efforts for the abolition of nuclear weapons, Japan has an important role to play as the only A-bombed country in the world. Last month, the Pope visited Hiroshima and Nagasaki and sent out a message calling for a world without nuclear weapons, which attracted worldwide attention. However, the Abe government keeps depending on the U.S. nuclear umbrella and refuses to sign the UN treaty banning nuclear weapons. In the latest UNGA session, Japan expressed its opposition to the resolution calling for the ratification of the antinuke UN treaty in line with the opinions of nuclear weapons states. Furthermore, Japan proposed a resolution which is far less ambitious to realize a world free from nuclear weapons and received criticism from non-nuclear nations. It is necessary to replace the Abe government hostile to the UN nuclear weapons ban treaty with a government that is willing to sign and ratify the treaty, which is an international responsibility of Japan’s peace movements.

Past related articles:
> Hibakusha welcome Pope’s speech on nuclear-free world [November 25, 2019]
> Antinuke International Meeting calls for making year 2020 turning point toward abolition of nuclear weapons [August 4-6, 2019]
> This year’s anti-nuke World Conference prelude to year 2020: Gensuikyo secretary general [July 9, 2019]