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2013 April 24 - May 7 [ANTI-N-ARMS]
A-bombed cities protest against gov’t refusal to endorse statement stressing inhumanity of nuclear weapons |
The statement was submitted by South Africa to the preparatory committee for the 2015 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty review conference in Geneva. It states that the total abolition of nuclear weapons is the only way to ensure that nuclear weapons will never be used under any circumstances. More than 70 nations expressed their support for the statement.
The Japanese government on April 24 expressed its disagreement with the statement on the ground that the wording that “nuclear weapons will never be used under any circumstances” conflicts with the nation’s security policy.
Commenting on Japan’s refusal, Hiroshima City Mayor Matsui Kazumi, who was participating in the meeting, said that it is totally unacceptable. Nagasaki Mayor Taue Tomihisa, who also attended the meeting, condemned the refusal for “trampling on the A-bombed cities’ efforts to create a nuclear-free world” and as “giving up an opportunity to emphasize the inhumanity of nuclear weapons as the A-bombed nation.”
Later on the same day, a delegation of the Japan Council against A & H Bombs (Japan Gensuikyo) in Geneva together with other nations’ NGOs took to the streets in a protest demonstration.
The Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bombs’ Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo) on April 25 released a protest statement. It points out that as the only A-bombed nation, Japan’s stance toward nuclear disarmament will come under the critical scrutiny of the world. Hidankyo also states, “Hibakusha demand that the Japanese government take the initiative in global efforts to realize the abolition of nuclear weapons.”
The National Confederation of Trade Unions (Zenroren) also issued a protest statement.
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