July 9, 2013
Working toward the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference in 2015, the upcoming annual international conference held in the two atomic bombed cities is a crucial event to greatly increase the call for a worldwide ban on nuclear weapons, said the head of a Japanese anti-nuclear NGO.
The World Conference against A & H Bombs will be held in Hiroshima and Nagasaki cities from August 3 to 9.
The following is an Akahata interview with Yasui Masakazu, secretary general of the Japan Council against A & H Bombs (Japan Gensuikyo):
To achieve “the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons” as agreed upon at the 2010 NPT Review Conference is the major task of the current international political arena. At the 2nd preparatory committee meeting for the 2015 NPT Review Conference held in April and May in Geneva, many government representatives called for this agreement to be swiftly turned into action.
This international demand is reflected in the “Joint Statement on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons”. Calling for a total ban on nuclear weapons, this statement was signed by 16 countries at the 1st preparatory committee in May last year, by 34 countries and the Vatican at the U.N. General Assembly last fall, and by 80 countries at the latest meeting in Geneva.
U.S. President Barack Obama on June 16 proposed the reduction in stockpiles of U.S. strategic nuclear weapons to about 1,000. Behind this call lies the mounting worldwide public demand for the total abolition of nuclear weapons. However, Obama calls for the maintenance and strengthening of nuclear deterrence and stated that the use of nuclear weapons must remain an option for when deterrence fails to work.
The stance of President Obama contradicts his own earlier remark calling for a world without nuclear weapons. In order to realize such a world, it is necessary to support the move for a ban on nuclear weapons and start negotiations to achieve this.
For three years since the last NPT Review Conference in 2010, no efforts have been made by nuclear weapon states to honor the agreement. Their position to maintain nuclear deterrence capabilities is the biggest obstacle. The anti-nuclear movement needs to further strengthen the worldwide call for the abolition of nuclear weapons.
The number of signatures in the “Appeal for a Total Ban on Nuclear Weapons” campaign we launched in 2011 will soon reach three million. Photo exhibitions to put on public display nuclear weapons’ destructive power have been held in cities and towns in all prefectures in Japan. This year’s World Conference has a vital role to play in furthering such grassroots activities and helping to create a major upsurge in the global call for the abolition of nuclear weapons before the convening of the 2015 NPT Review Conference.
Show the world our determination
This year’s World Conference against A and H Bombs will also feature our determination shown at home and abroad to transform Japan into a nuclear-free nation promoting peace in order to contribute to the realization of “a world without nuclear weapons”.
When the problem of North Korean nuclear and missile development programs came up, the Abe government focused on scenarios involving a military response. Also, ignoring the reality of the situation at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant which is still far from being brought under control, the government is planning to put offline reactors back in operation and is promoting the export of Japan’s nuclear technology abroad. Peaceful efforts making use of the Japanese Constitution are now more necessary than ever before for establishing peace in East Asia, recovering from the Great East Japan Disaster and the Fukushima nuclear crisis, and making a shift in the present energy policy.
The Japanese government came under fire from the international community for Japan’s refusal to endorse the joint statement supported by 80 countries calling for the “total elimination of nuclear weapons” due to their “catastrophic humanitarian consequences”. Atomic-bombed Japan should have taken the lead in endorsing the statement.
Japan refused to be a signatory to this statement because Japan’s request for the removal of the phrase “under any circumstances” from the original “it is in the interest of the very survival of humanity that nuclear weapons are never used again, under any circumstances” was rejected. Japan in essence thus asserted to the world that it would approve the use of nuclear weapons under some circumstances.
The U.S. nuclear first strike policy allows itself to use its nuclear weapons in an emergency to supposedly defend its allies. This shows the true offensive nature of the U.S. nuclear umbrella that Japan continues to rely on.
The Abe government should take the initiative in global efforts to work for nuclear disarmament and a peaceful solution to disputes, but his party, the Liberal Democratic Party, has incorporated constitutional revision and Japan’s exercise of the right to collective self-defense into its Upper House election platform. He is pushing ahead with policies subservient to the United Sates and promoting militarism, which will put the general public in greater danger.
In the House of Councilors election and at the World Conference against A and H Bombs, let us show our determination to make the best use of the war-renouncing Article 9 of the Constitution and the Three Non-Nuclear Principles. The world is now paying close attention to what is happening in Japan.
The World Conference against A & H Bombs will be held in Hiroshima and Nagasaki cities from August 3 to 9.
The following is an Akahata interview with Yasui Masakazu, secretary general of the Japan Council against A & H Bombs (Japan Gensuikyo):
To achieve “the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons” as agreed upon at the 2010 NPT Review Conference is the major task of the current international political arena. At the 2nd preparatory committee meeting for the 2015 NPT Review Conference held in April and May in Geneva, many government representatives called for this agreement to be swiftly turned into action.
This international demand is reflected in the “Joint Statement on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons”. Calling for a total ban on nuclear weapons, this statement was signed by 16 countries at the 1st preparatory committee in May last year, by 34 countries and the Vatican at the U.N. General Assembly last fall, and by 80 countries at the latest meeting in Geneva.
U.S. President Barack Obama on June 16 proposed the reduction in stockpiles of U.S. strategic nuclear weapons to about 1,000. Behind this call lies the mounting worldwide public demand for the total abolition of nuclear weapons. However, Obama calls for the maintenance and strengthening of nuclear deterrence and stated that the use of nuclear weapons must remain an option for when deterrence fails to work.
The stance of President Obama contradicts his own earlier remark calling for a world without nuclear weapons. In order to realize such a world, it is necessary to support the move for a ban on nuclear weapons and start negotiations to achieve this.
For three years since the last NPT Review Conference in 2010, no efforts have been made by nuclear weapon states to honor the agreement. Their position to maintain nuclear deterrence capabilities is the biggest obstacle. The anti-nuclear movement needs to further strengthen the worldwide call for the abolition of nuclear weapons.
The number of signatures in the “Appeal for a Total Ban on Nuclear Weapons” campaign we launched in 2011 will soon reach three million. Photo exhibitions to put on public display nuclear weapons’ destructive power have been held in cities and towns in all prefectures in Japan. This year’s World Conference has a vital role to play in furthering such grassroots activities and helping to create a major upsurge in the global call for the abolition of nuclear weapons before the convening of the 2015 NPT Review Conference.
Show the world our determination
This year’s World Conference against A and H Bombs will also feature our determination shown at home and abroad to transform Japan into a nuclear-free nation promoting peace in order to contribute to the realization of “a world without nuclear weapons”.
When the problem of North Korean nuclear and missile development programs came up, the Abe government focused on scenarios involving a military response. Also, ignoring the reality of the situation at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant which is still far from being brought under control, the government is planning to put offline reactors back in operation and is promoting the export of Japan’s nuclear technology abroad. Peaceful efforts making use of the Japanese Constitution are now more necessary than ever before for establishing peace in East Asia, recovering from the Great East Japan Disaster and the Fukushima nuclear crisis, and making a shift in the present energy policy.
The Japanese government came under fire from the international community for Japan’s refusal to endorse the joint statement supported by 80 countries calling for the “total elimination of nuclear weapons” due to their “catastrophic humanitarian consequences”. Atomic-bombed Japan should have taken the lead in endorsing the statement.
Japan refused to be a signatory to this statement because Japan’s request for the removal of the phrase “under any circumstances” from the original “it is in the interest of the very survival of humanity that nuclear weapons are never used again, under any circumstances” was rejected. Japan in essence thus asserted to the world that it would approve the use of nuclear weapons under some circumstances.
The U.S. nuclear first strike policy allows itself to use its nuclear weapons in an emergency to supposedly defend its allies. This shows the true offensive nature of the U.S. nuclear umbrella that Japan continues to rely on.
The Abe government should take the initiative in global efforts to work for nuclear disarmament and a peaceful solution to disputes, but his party, the Liberal Democratic Party, has incorporated constitutional revision and Japan’s exercise of the right to collective self-defense into its Upper House election platform. He is pushing ahead with policies subservient to the United Sates and promoting militarism, which will put the general public in greater danger.
In the House of Councilors election and at the World Conference against A and H Bombs, let us show our determination to make the best use of the war-renouncing Article 9 of the Constitution and the Three Non-Nuclear Principles. The world is now paying close attention to what is happening in Japan.
