Japan Press Weekly

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2017 March 29 - April 4 [PEACE]

Hibakusha protest against Japan’s boycott of UN talks on N-ban treaty

Hibakusha have raised voices in protest against the Abe government’s decision not to join the UN conference to negotiate an international treaty to impose a legal ban on nuclear weapons.

At a press conference held on March 28 in the Hiroshima City office building, Mimaki Toshiyuki, an A-bomb survivor aged 75, said, “The Japanese government should take the initiative in negotiating such a treaty. The government is fawning on the U.S. too much.”

Yoshioka Yukio, vice chair of the Hiroshima Federation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Hiroshima Hidankyo), criticized the speech delivered by a Japanese government representative at the UN conference on the previous day. “That statement fails to represent the views and demands of Hibakusha,” said Yoshioka.

On the opening day of the UN conference, Japan’s disarmament ambassador Takamizawa Nobushige gave a speech, announcing that Japan will not take part in the negotiations over a Nuclear Weapons Convention (NWC). He claimed that the inclusion of nuclear weapons states is essential for nuclear disarmament.

Foreign Minister Kishida Fumio on March 28 told reporters that NWC talks without involving nuclear weapons states would widen the gulf between nuclear haves and have-nots.

International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) Executive Director Beatrice Fihn said in New York that as the only A-bombed nation in the world, Japan has the moral responsibility to lead in the efforts for the abolition of nuclear arms. Fihn added that she expects Tokyo’s delegate to join in the international talks to amplify the voices of Hibakusha.