Japan Press Weekly

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2017 December 13 - 19 [PEACE]

Local assemblies urge central government to sign N-ban treaty

The Nagasaki City Assembly on December 14 at its plenary meeting unanimously adopted a statement demanding that the Abe government sign and ratify the UN treaty banning nuclear weapons.

The written request points out that the UN treaty in its preamble refers to Hibakusha and that the treaty not only prohibits the development, testing, and production of nuclear weapons by signatories but also forbids the threat of use of such weapons, recognizing the treaty as epoch-making. The document also notes that the Nagasaki City mayor and the city assembly head signed their names to the Hibakusha-led petition for the abolition of nuclear weapons.

In the statement, the city assembly urged that as the government of the only A-bombed country, the Abe government must sign and ratify the UN covenant without delay.

The statement was sent to Prime Minister Abe, the Foreign Minister, and heads of the both Houses of the Diet.

Similar written requests have been approved by the Iwate Prefectural Assembly and 21 of the 33 local assemblies in Iwate.

The written request which the Tanohata Village Assembly passed early this month demands that the Japanese government make active efforts to encourage all countries in the world, including nuclear weapons states, to work without delay for the elimination of nuclear weapons.

In Hokkaido’s Asahikawa City, the city assembly on December 14 adopted a statement by a majority vote demanding the endorsement and ratification of the UN treaty by the Japanese government.

Past related articles:
> Nobel Peace Prize Award ceremony major milestone toward achieving world without nuclear weapons [December 12, 2017]
> Japan should urge N-powers to join UN N-ban treaty: JCP Inoue [December 6, 2017]