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World Conference against A & H Bombs opens in Hiroshima

by Jumpei Fujimura, Staff Writer

An international meeting kicked off the World Conference against A & H Bombs on August 3 at the Hiroshima City Bunka Koryu Kaikan in Naka Ward. The conference, organized by the Japan Council against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs (Gensuikyo) and other entities, will feature representatives of national governments and citizens discussing the goal of realizing a world without nuclear weapons.

About 200 people from 17 nations took part in the meeting. Shoji Sawada, the director of Gensuikyo, addressed the participants and described the theory of nuclear deterrence as an “inhumane idea based on threats.” He criticized the Japanese government for relying on the U.S. nuclear umbrella and not rejecting the deterrence doctrine.

The participants also exchanged views on the inhumanity of nuclear weapons. Abacca Anjain Maddison, a former senator from the Marshall Islands and Rongelap Atoll, which were contaminated with radiation as a result of nuclear testing by the United States, said that residents there are still worried about their health and that victims of radiation around the world must learn from one another’s experiences.

A staff member at the embassy of Kazakhstan in Japan stressed that countries that have suffered as a result of radiation should exercise leadership in the nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation movement. The former Soviet Union’s largest nuclear test site was located in Kazakhstan.

The conference will close on August 5, and the Japan Council’s Hiroshima gathering will take place on August 6 at the Hiroshima Green Arena in the city center.

The Hiroshima session of the World Conference Against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs, sponsored by the Japan Congress Against A- and H-Bombs (Gensuikin) and other organizations will be held from August 4 to 6.

(Originally published on August 4, 2013)

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