July 10, 2015
In this 70th anniversary year of the war’s end, the World Conference against A and H Bombs, scheduled to be held from August 2 to 9 in Hiroshima and Nagasaki cities, is expected to be attended by a larger than usual number of participants, including delegates of foreign governments and anti-nuke organizations. As an international discussion forum for a world free from nuclear weapons, the world conference is raising high expectations following the 2015 NPT Review Conference which ended in May.
Most news media reported that the review conference was unsuccessful as it failed to adopt a final document. More attention needs to be focused on how the discussion in the meeting led to changes in power relationships between nuclear weapons states and people in the world seeking the abolition of nuclear weapons.
This year, the idea of introducing a Nuclear Weapons Convention (NWC) received much greater support, compared to the 2010 NPT Review Conference. This was reflected in the first draft of the final document presented on May 8 by the chair of the Main Committee I.
Delegates of the Japan Council against A and H Bombs (Japan Gensuikyo) submitted to the United Nations 6.33 million signatures calling for a total ban on nuclear weapons, which help increase awareness among UN member states of the need for the ban. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in his message to this year’s review conference said that the UN received millions of such signatures from people across the world and expressed his support for the goal of total abolition.
On the other hand, nuclear weapons states, which argued that their nuclear arsenals should be maintained and that nuclear disarmament needs a “step-by-step” approach, were not convincing to the rest of the world.
The final document was not adopted mainly due to opposition from the United States, Britain, and other nuclear powers. However, the discussion over the draft final document should be evaluated as an achievement of the NWC campaign. In the upcoming annual anti-nuke World Conference in Japan, participants will eagerly discuss ways to further develop and strengthen the campaign.
Past related articles:
> 1,000 Japanese march in NYC, calling for end to nuclear arms [May 10, 2015]
> Gensuikyo representative director issues statement on result of NPT RevCon [May 24, 2015]
Most news media reported that the review conference was unsuccessful as it failed to adopt a final document. More attention needs to be focused on how the discussion in the meeting led to changes in power relationships between nuclear weapons states and people in the world seeking the abolition of nuclear weapons.
This year, the idea of introducing a Nuclear Weapons Convention (NWC) received much greater support, compared to the 2010 NPT Review Conference. This was reflected in the first draft of the final document presented on May 8 by the chair of the Main Committee I.
Delegates of the Japan Council against A and H Bombs (Japan Gensuikyo) submitted to the United Nations 6.33 million signatures calling for a total ban on nuclear weapons, which help increase awareness among UN member states of the need for the ban. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in his message to this year’s review conference said that the UN received millions of such signatures from people across the world and expressed his support for the goal of total abolition.
On the other hand, nuclear weapons states, which argued that their nuclear arsenals should be maintained and that nuclear disarmament needs a “step-by-step” approach, were not convincing to the rest of the world.
The final document was not adopted mainly due to opposition from the United States, Britain, and other nuclear powers. However, the discussion over the draft final document should be evaluated as an achievement of the NWC campaign. In the upcoming annual anti-nuke World Conference in Japan, participants will eagerly discuss ways to further develop and strengthen the campaign.
Past related articles:
> 1,000 Japanese march in NYC, calling for end to nuclear arms [May 10, 2015]
> Gensuikyo representative director issues statement on result of NPT RevCon [May 24, 2015]
