July 11, 2022

Akahata editorial (excerpts)

The 2022 World Conference against A and H Bombs will be held in-person in the A-bombed cities of Hiroshima (August 4-6) and Nagasaki (August 9) for the first time since the pandemic began. Following the International Meeting (August 4-5) and the Hiroshima Day rally (August 6) in Hiroshima, the Nagasaki Day rally (August 9) will take place in Nagasaki. These events will also be live streamed in order to encourage the participation of people from inside and outside Japan.

This year’s World Conference will open under a tense situation caused by Russian President Putin’s nuclear threat amid the ongoing aggression in Ukraine. The first meeting of State Parties to the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) which was held in June in Vienna carried a positive and powerful message toward the realization of a world without nuclear weapons.

The need now is for the 2022 World Conference to communicate to the world its strong determination not to allow the use or the threat of use of nuclear weapons.

In this year’s World Conference, representatives of antinuke organizations in the U.S., Europe, and Asia will attend. In addition, Ukrainian and Russian peace activists will participate online.

The 2022 antinuke World Conference will overlap the NPT Review Conference (August 1-26) held at the UN Headquarters in NYC. The World Conference Organizing Committee has requested the UN and countries that play a major role in the TPNW meeting and the NPT Review Conference to send their representatives to the World Conference.

According to the World Conference Organizing Committee, among invited government representatives, some said that they may attend the antinuke meeting via the Internet from NYC during the NPT Review Conference. It is ardently hoped that the antinuke World Conference will be successful as an event having a great impact on the NPT Review Conference.

The June TPNW meeting expressed its appreciation for and importance of the activities of atomic-bomb survivors (Hibakusha) and Japanese antinuke activists. It is necessary to make the 2022 World Conference an opportunity to increase public opinion calling for the Japanese government’s participation in the TPNW and strengthen efforts to help to further the growing global movement calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons.

Past related article:
> Shii welcomes success of 1st TPNW conference [June 25, 2022]