Japan Press Weekly

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2016 November 9 - 15 [PEACE]

‘Mayors for Peace’ network resolves to cooperate with Hibakusha-led signature drive

Japanese member cities of the Mayors for Peace on November 7 and 8 held the 6th general assembly in Chiba Prefecture and adopted a statement expressing their endorsement of and cooperation with the international signature-collection campaign in support of the Hibakusha’s appeal for the elimination of nuclear weapons.

The Mayors for Peace is an antinuke network of over 5,500 cities in the world. In Japan, 94.4% of all municipalities have joined this group.

The assembly also adopted a petition calling on Prime Minister Abe Shinzo to work to realize a Nuclear Weapons Convention.

In the petition, the Mayors for Peace, on which Hiroshima Mayor Matsui Kazumi serves as president, conveyed its aim of achieving the abolition of nuclear weapons by 2020 in collaboration with concerned citizens and NGOs across the globe. The petition welcomed the UN resolution to launch negotiations for a nuclear-ban treaty in 2017 which was adopted in late October by the UN General Assembly First Committee with the support of 123 member countries. The petition states that this is the first step in establishing a world without nuclear weapons, the Hibakusha’s earnest wish.

Meanwhile, the petition criticized Japan’s objection to the resolution for going against the Hibakusha’s demand. It urges that the Japanese government as the only A-bombed country demonstrate their leadership stronger than ever and devote every effort to create the stage for a constructive discussion on a NWC by all UN member countries.

Past related articles:
> Hibakusha protest against Japanese government’s objection to UN resolution on NWC talks [October 29, 2016]
> Over 560,000 Hibakusha Appeal signatures submitted to UN [October 8, 2016]
> Anti-nuke World Conference in Nagasaki calls on world to join Hibakusha-led signature drive [August 10, 2016]