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2022 April 13 - 19 TOP3 [PEACE]

Hibakusha/antinuke peace groups protest against US subcritical nuclear tests

The U.S. Biden administration conducted subcritical nuclear tests in June and September last year, Akahata learned on April 13.

This provoked a storm of protest from the atomic bomb survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (Hibakusha) and antinuke peace organizations.

Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo) Representative Director Tanaka Terumi stated that since the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) came into force, Nihon Hidankyo has increased its efforts to call on nuclear-weapons states to participate in the treaty. He said, “We strongly protest against the U.S. modernization policy which seeks to develop miniaturized nuclear weapons. Regardless of the size, these weapons pose an existential threats to humanity and thus must not be used.”

Sakuma Kunihiko, who heads the Hiroshima Federation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Hiroshima Hidankyo), said that it is unacceptable for the Biden administration further develop nuclear arms.

The Japan Council against A and H Bombs (Japan Gensuikyo) on April 13 sent the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo a protest letter addressed to President Biden.

Gensuikyo’s letter pointed out that the entry into force of the TPNW illegalizes activities such as testing, possessing, using, and threatening to use nuclear weapons. The letter stressed that the Biden administration’s act of carrying out subcritical tests goes against the world trend calling for the abolition of nuclear arms and offers a challenge to anti-nuclear movements throughout the world.

Gensuikyo in its letter strongly demanded that the U.S. government sincerely implement Article 6 of the NPT along with agreements reached at NPT Review Conferences in order to fulfill its commitment to achieve a “world without nuclear weapons”. It also called on the U.S. to support and join the TPNW.