May 24, 2011
The Hiroshima Council against A and H Bombs (Hiroshima Gensuikyo) and the Hiroshima Federation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organization (Hiroshima Hidankyo) on May 23 held a sit-in action in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in protest against a new form of U.S. nuclear testing reportedly conducted in November last year and in March this year.
Sit-in protesters adopted a statement urging U.S. President Barack Obama to abandon its nuclear arms development program and take a proactive initiative in abolishing nuclear weapons.
Takahashi Nobuo, Hiroshima Gensuikyo representative, said, “The nuclear weapons tests contradict Obama’s declaration that he would act to create a nuclear weapons-free world. It rubs Hibakusha the wrong way.”
Yoshioka Yukio, Hiroshima Hidankyo representative, said, “Hibakusha are still suffering from A-bomb related diseases. We will continue to send our messages of peace from Hiroshima to the rest of the world to help force an end to nuclear testing.”
* * *
The Japan Council against A and H Bombs (Japan Gensuikyo) on the same day also published a protest and sent it to U.S. President Barack Obama:
We protest against your conducting a new form of nuclear testing and urge you to make efforts in good faith to achieve a world without nuclear weapons.
The U.S. Department of Energy (the National Nuclear Security Administration) made public on May 21 that it had conducted the new form of nuclear tests twice, in November 2010 and again in March 2011.
Your Government claimed that these tests were meant to maintain the reliability and efficacy of the nuclear weapons the U.S. already has in its possession. However, any nuclear-weapons test, irrespective of whether it entails an explosion, is aimed at ensuring the use or/and continued deployment of these weapons. This act obviously runs counter to both the objective of achieving “the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons” agreed upon by the NPT Review Conference in May 2010 and the promise you yourself made in Prague in April 2009.
We strongly urge you to abandon any plans for nuclear testing and nuclear development, and immediately undertake efforts for the ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and the conclusion of a treaty totally banning nuclear weapons.
Sit-in protesters adopted a statement urging U.S. President Barack Obama to abandon its nuclear arms development program and take a proactive initiative in abolishing nuclear weapons.
Takahashi Nobuo, Hiroshima Gensuikyo representative, said, “The nuclear weapons tests contradict Obama’s declaration that he would act to create a nuclear weapons-free world. It rubs Hibakusha the wrong way.”
Yoshioka Yukio, Hiroshima Hidankyo representative, said, “Hibakusha are still suffering from A-bomb related diseases. We will continue to send our messages of peace from Hiroshima to the rest of the world to help force an end to nuclear testing.”
* * *
The Japan Council against A and H Bombs (Japan Gensuikyo) on the same day also published a protest and sent it to U.S. President Barack Obama:
We protest against your conducting a new form of nuclear testing and urge you to make efforts in good faith to achieve a world without nuclear weapons.
The U.S. Department of Energy (the National Nuclear Security Administration) made public on May 21 that it had conducted the new form of nuclear tests twice, in November 2010 and again in March 2011.
Your Government claimed that these tests were meant to maintain the reliability and efficacy of the nuclear weapons the U.S. already has in its possession. However, any nuclear-weapons test, irrespective of whether it entails an explosion, is aimed at ensuring the use or/and continued deployment of these weapons. This act obviously runs counter to both the objective of achieving “the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons” agreed upon by the NPT Review Conference in May 2010 and the promise you yourself made in Prague in April 2009.
We strongly urge you to abandon any plans for nuclear testing and nuclear development, and immediately undertake efforts for the ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and the conclusion of a treaty totally banning nuclear weapons.
