April 30, 2013
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2013 April 24 - May 7 [ANTI-N-ARMS]
Japan Gensuikyo submits 2.76 million signatures for nuclear-free world |
At the headquarters, the second session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2015 Review Conference of Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty was held from April 22 through May 3. The delegation urged the representatives of member countries of the preparatory committee to accelerate negotiations for an international treaty banning nuclear weapons.
Taka Hiroshi, the delegation’s head, handed a list of the signatures to Cornel Feruta, the chair of the preparatory committee, and Angela Kane, the UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs. Taka said that a total of 1,968 local government leaders and assembly chairpersons signed the no-nuke petition, which amounts to about 60% of all municipalities in Japan.
Feruta stressed the importance of learning from the experiences of Hibakusha and listening to the voices from the A-bombed country. Kane said that she was strongly impressed when visiting Hiroshima and Nagasaki last year to attend the World Conference against A & H Bombs.
On the same day, nongovernmental organizations, including Japan Gensuikyo, took an action there in protest against the Japanese government’s refusal to endorse a joint statement emphasizing the inhumanity of nuclear weapons, which was proposed at the preparatory committee meeting.
They staged a demonstration parade, putting up a banner and singing Japan’s protest songs such as “Never forgive atomic bombings” and “Blue Sky.”
A young Japanese participant said, “I feel reassured that many foreigners took part in the demonstration in solidarity. The behavior of the Japanese administration is not worthy of the only A-bombed country in the world.”
Related past article:
> Japan Gensuikyo goes to Geneva with signatures for nuclear-free world [April 19, 2013]
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