February 27, 2025
The Japan Council against A and H Bombs (Japan Gensuikyo) on February 26 announced that it submitted a statement to the Third Meeting of State Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons which will be held at the UN Headquarters in New York from March 3 to 7. Japan Gensuikyo will send a delegation to speak at the meeting.
The full text of the statement is as follows:
Statement on the occasion of the Third Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons
The Japan Council against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs (Gensuikyo)
1. First, we extend our deep appreciation to you for your endeavor to implement and universalize the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), and sincerely hope for the success in all works of the Meeting.
2. While the rules of the UN Charter on Peace are broken and awful killings, destruction and even the threat of use of nuclear weapons continue, the TPNW is turning a global ban on nuclear weapons into reality, obtaining cooperation with the nations pursuing nuclear-weapon-free zones and policies. This is giving great hope to the people in the world and generating wide support and solidarity within civil society in not yet affiliated countries, including nuclear-possessing or nuclear-dependent countries.
3. The elimination of nuclear weapons is an urgent goal that the UN General Assembly set in its first resolution, and has been time and again re-affirmed. We believe that this goal should be pursued more broadly and with greater speed. To this end, we want to raise and emphasize the following two points.
4. The first is an effort to build the widest possible common understanding of the inhumane nature of nuclear weapons in cooperation with Hibakusha and victims of nuclear testing.
5. Last December, the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the 2024 Peace Prize to Nihon Hidankyo and Hibakusha, for their contribution to achieving a world without nuclear weapons by sharing their witness testimonies of the sufferings. I heartily congratulate on it, but believe that the catastrophic consequences of A and H bombs should be more widely known to the people of the world, especially to young generations.
6. Unfortunately, under the order of the "Supreme Command" of the US forces in Japan, all reporting of the A-bomb damage was forbidden, materials collected were confiscated, and the cover-up continued many years. In the meanwhile, no support, apology, or compensation was provided for the Hibakusha. The same happened in subsequent nuclear tests in the Pacific: In 1954, the U.S. conducted hydrogen bomb tests in the Marshall Islands, which forced some 1,000 Japanese tuna fishing boats to dump their radioactively contaminated tuna. The U.S. and Japanese governments agreed to pay "consolation" money for contaminated tuna, but terminated the damage investigations, covered up its records, and refused to provide any apology, compensation, or assistance to the fishing crew, except only one boat.
7. At the heart of the message from the Hibakusha is the warning that humanity cannot coexist with nuclear weapons. Their message has a tangible form of inhumanity remaining in their memories, which led the UN General Assembly to determine "the elimination from national armaments of atomic weapons”. We want to call on both governments and civil society to encourage Hibakusha and victims of nuclear tests, and work for sharing their memories of damage and sufferings with people everywhere in the world.
8. We want to add some words on the so-called "nuclear deterrence". We believe that "nuclear deterrence" is nothing more than another name for the unlawful threat by nuclear weapons. Not only does it not deter aggression or war, it triggers and accelerates a vicious cycle of nuclear arms race, thus further endangering peace and security of the world. In order to defeat this fallacy, we believe it is important to fully reveal and disseminate the real damage caused by nuclear weapons, as well as to make the theoretical clarification of it.
9. As part of such initiatives, we are planning to call for worldwide actions of citizens for a nuclear weapon-free world to be taken on August 6 and 9 this year to mark the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings and again with a view to the 11th NPT Review Conference in 2026, including:
- Making creative and multiform actions to raise public awareness and urge the government in each country to join the TPNW and;
- Urging the governments of the Nuclear Weapon States, as well as other nuclear powers, to fulfill their declared obligation to achieve the “complete elimination of their own nuclear arsenals” and thus achieving the “peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons”;
10. And we, as movement working with Hibakusha in the only A-bombed country, we will launch again a campaign to send out overseas sets of photo panels depicting human consequences of the A-bombings as symbol of our solidarity. We call for your kind cooperation.
The full text of the statement is as follows:
Statement on the occasion of the Third Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons
The Japan Council against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs (Gensuikyo)
1. First, we extend our deep appreciation to you for your endeavor to implement and universalize the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), and sincerely hope for the success in all works of the Meeting.
2. While the rules of the UN Charter on Peace are broken and awful killings, destruction and even the threat of use of nuclear weapons continue, the TPNW is turning a global ban on nuclear weapons into reality, obtaining cooperation with the nations pursuing nuclear-weapon-free zones and policies. This is giving great hope to the people in the world and generating wide support and solidarity within civil society in not yet affiliated countries, including nuclear-possessing or nuclear-dependent countries.
3. The elimination of nuclear weapons is an urgent goal that the UN General Assembly set in its first resolution, and has been time and again re-affirmed. We believe that this goal should be pursued more broadly and with greater speed. To this end, we want to raise and emphasize the following two points.
4. The first is an effort to build the widest possible common understanding of the inhumane nature of nuclear weapons in cooperation with Hibakusha and victims of nuclear testing.
5. Last December, the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the 2024 Peace Prize to Nihon Hidankyo and Hibakusha, for their contribution to achieving a world without nuclear weapons by sharing their witness testimonies of the sufferings. I heartily congratulate on it, but believe that the catastrophic consequences of A and H bombs should be more widely known to the people of the world, especially to young generations.
6. Unfortunately, under the order of the "Supreme Command" of the US forces in Japan, all reporting of the A-bomb damage was forbidden, materials collected were confiscated, and the cover-up continued many years. In the meanwhile, no support, apology, or compensation was provided for the Hibakusha. The same happened in subsequent nuclear tests in the Pacific: In 1954, the U.S. conducted hydrogen bomb tests in the Marshall Islands, which forced some 1,000 Japanese tuna fishing boats to dump their radioactively contaminated tuna. The U.S. and Japanese governments agreed to pay "consolation" money for contaminated tuna, but terminated the damage investigations, covered up its records, and refused to provide any apology, compensation, or assistance to the fishing crew, except only one boat.
7. At the heart of the message from the Hibakusha is the warning that humanity cannot coexist with nuclear weapons. Their message has a tangible form of inhumanity remaining in their memories, which led the UN General Assembly to determine "the elimination from national armaments of atomic weapons”. We want to call on both governments and civil society to encourage Hibakusha and victims of nuclear tests, and work for sharing their memories of damage and sufferings with people everywhere in the world.
8. We want to add some words on the so-called "nuclear deterrence". We believe that "nuclear deterrence" is nothing more than another name for the unlawful threat by nuclear weapons. Not only does it not deter aggression or war, it triggers and accelerates a vicious cycle of nuclear arms race, thus further endangering peace and security of the world. In order to defeat this fallacy, we believe it is important to fully reveal and disseminate the real damage caused by nuclear weapons, as well as to make the theoretical clarification of it.
9. As part of such initiatives, we are planning to call for worldwide actions of citizens for a nuclear weapon-free world to be taken on August 6 and 9 this year to mark the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings and again with a view to the 11th NPT Review Conference in 2026, including:
- Making creative and multiform actions to raise public awareness and urge the government in each country to join the TPNW and;
- Urging the governments of the Nuclear Weapon States, as well as other nuclear powers, to fulfill their declared obligation to achieve the “complete elimination of their own nuclear arsenals” and thus achieving the “peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons”;
10. And we, as movement working with Hibakusha in the only A-bombed country, we will launch again a campaign to send out overseas sets of photo panels depicting human consequences of the A-bombings as symbol of our solidarity. We call for your kind cooperation.
