Japan Press Weekly

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2017 June 14 - 20 [PEACE]

Over 2.9 million ‘Hibakusha’ Appeal signatures submitted to UN

Two A-bomb survivors on June 16 at the UN Headquarters submitted 2,963,889 Hibakusha appeal signatures to Elayne Whyte, the President of the UN Conference on a nuclear weapons ban treaty, and Nakamitsu Izumi, the UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs.

The two Hibakusha, Wada Masako and Mimaki Toshiyuki, are members of a Japanese delegation participating in the conference on a legally-binding instrument banning nuclear weapons.

The Hibakusha-initiated signatures were collected by anti-nuke organizations, including the Japan Council against A and H Bombs (Japan Gensuikyo) and the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo).

Receiving the nearly three million signatures, President of the Conference Whyte put her hand to her chest and said that this affects her emotionally.

Wada said, “President Whyte produced an excellent Draft Convention. It clearly empathizes with the expectations of Hibakusha who have been suffering hardships for many years.”

She praised diplomats from many countries for their dedicated discussions on the nuclear weapons ban treaty along with the president’s leadership, and said, “I will collect more Hibakusha signatures for the UN General Assembly in autumn.”

Another Hibakusha, Mimaki said with tears, “President Whyte took the initiative and produced the excellent Draft Convention. I appreciate that the Draft Convention uses the term ‘Hibakusha.’”

At the first session of the conference in March, President Whyte expressed her hope that a large number of signatures will be submitted to the UN in June.

She was surprised at receiving such a huge number of signatures, and said that the signatures are really important and highly impressive.

Past related article:
> Over 560,000 Hibakusha Appeal signatures submitted to UN [October 8, 2016]