August 10, 2022

Akahata editorial (excerpts)

The Nagasaki Day Rally completed the 2022 World Conference against A and H Bombs on August 9 in Nagasaki City by adopting the "Nagasaki Appeal" calling for more efforts in Japan to strengthen the resolve of antinuke movements. The Conference started on August 4 with the shoutout, "No more Hiroshimas, No more Nagasakis!" and sent a message to all over Japan and the world of the need for urgent action to abolish nuclear weapons.

The Hiroshima Day Rally held on August 6 in Hiroshima City adopted the "Hiroshima Declaration" which appeals to the world that "nuclear weapons are an absolute evil" designed exclusively to end the world as we know it and that the threat or use of these weapons should never ever be allowed. The Declaration expresses a strong determination to achieve "a nuclear weapon-free, peaceful, and just world".

The Conference sent a powerful message from the A-bombed cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to the ongoing NPT Review Conference (Aug.-Aug.26) in NYC. The Hiroshima Declaration strongly criticizes the five nuclear-weapon states - the U.S., Russia, the U.K., France, and China - for not only turning their backs on their obligations to implement nuclear disarmament in compliance with Article 6 of the NPT and to fulfill their commitment to work to establish "a world without nuclear weapons" but instead are promoting “modernization” of their nuclear arsenals and the strengthening of their policy to use nuclear weapons. The Declaration demands that the five states end their "insincere attitudes" and implement their obligations and the related agreements in good faith.

Ukrainian and Russian peace activists who participated in the Conference stressed the need to increase international public opinion against Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The Conference strengthened international citizens' solidarity in opposition to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in violation of the UN Charter.

Past related articles:
> Hiroshima Day Rally calls on N-weapon states to fulfill obligations for N-disarmament [August 7, 2022]
> 2022 antinuke World Con International Meeting calls for immediate abolition of nuclear weapons [ August 5 & 6, 2022]