International conference in Kazakhstan appeals for a nuclear weapons convention
Sep. 3, 2012
by Sakiko Masuda, Staff Writer dispatched from Astana, Kazakhstan
On August 29, an international conference entitled “From a Nuclear Test Ban to a Nuclear Weapons-Free World” was held in the city of Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan. The Lower House of the Kazakh Parliament, the Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament (PNND), and other entities organized the conference with the participation of about 170 parliamentarians, experts in the nuclear disarmament field from 51 countries, and international organizations to discuss issues involving nuclear arms. The conference adopted an appeal calling for a start to negotiations on a nuclear weapons convention.
In his address, President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan said, “We should join hands to create a world without nuclear weapons.” Delegations from various nations expressed views on the need for the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) to take effect without delay and expand the number of nuclear-weapon-free zones.
Karipbek Kuyukov, 44, a Kazakh artist, was born without arms in a village located about 100 kilometers from the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site, the largest such test site maintained by the former Soviet Union. Mr. Kuyukov argued, “I should be the last person to suffer from nuclear damage.”
Hiroyuki Moriyama is a member of Japan’s Lower House from the Osaka No. 16 constituency as well as a member of PNND Japan. After stressing that the tragedies of Hiroshima and Nagasaki must not be repeated, Mr. Moriyama pointed out that North Korea’s nuclear development program is an obstacle to the denuclearization of Northeast Asia. “We must solve this issue to establish a nuclear-weapon-free zone,” he urged.
The statement adopted at the conclusion of the conference also calls for a halt to nuclear arms production and the early establishment of nuclear-weapon-free zones in the Middle East and in Northeast Asia, among other appeals.
August 29 is the day when the former Soviet Union conducted its first nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk test site in 1949. Kazakhstan declared the site closed on the same day in 1991. In 2009, the U.N. General Assembly adopted a U.N. resolution designating August 29 as “International Day against Nuclear Tests.”
(Originally published on August 30, 2012)
On August 29, an international conference entitled “From a Nuclear Test Ban to a Nuclear Weapons-Free World” was held in the city of Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan. The Lower House of the Kazakh Parliament, the Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament (PNND), and other entities organized the conference with the participation of about 170 parliamentarians, experts in the nuclear disarmament field from 51 countries, and international organizations to discuss issues involving nuclear arms. The conference adopted an appeal calling for a start to negotiations on a nuclear weapons convention.
In his address, President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan said, “We should join hands to create a world without nuclear weapons.” Delegations from various nations expressed views on the need for the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) to take effect without delay and expand the number of nuclear-weapon-free zones.
Karipbek Kuyukov, 44, a Kazakh artist, was born without arms in a village located about 100 kilometers from the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site, the largest such test site maintained by the former Soviet Union. Mr. Kuyukov argued, “I should be the last person to suffer from nuclear damage.”
Hiroyuki Moriyama is a member of Japan’s Lower House from the Osaka No. 16 constituency as well as a member of PNND Japan. After stressing that the tragedies of Hiroshima and Nagasaki must not be repeated, Mr. Moriyama pointed out that North Korea’s nuclear development program is an obstacle to the denuclearization of Northeast Asia. “We must solve this issue to establish a nuclear-weapon-free zone,” he urged.
The statement adopted at the conclusion of the conference also calls for a halt to nuclear arms production and the early establishment of nuclear-weapon-free zones in the Middle East and in Northeast Asia, among other appeals.
August 29 is the day when the former Soviet Union conducted its first nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk test site in 1949. Kazakhstan declared the site closed on the same day in 1991. In 2009, the U.N. General Assembly adopted a U.N. resolution designating August 29 as “International Day against Nuclear Tests.”
(Originally published on August 30, 2012)
