Japan antinuclear group to send wishes of 4.26 million people to NPT review conference
Mar. 16, 2015
by Jumpei Fujimura, Staff Writer
On March 10, the Japan Council against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs (Gensuikyo) held a meeting in Tokyo and announced that it will send petitions it has collected to New York, where the review conference for the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) will open on April 27. The organization has been collecting petitions since 2011 which express support for starting negotiations on a nuclear weapons convention. First, 4.26 million signatures will be sent to New York by sea mail.
Masakazu Yasui, secretary general of Gensuikyo, said, “Japan should get out from under the nuclear umbrella and become committed to peace diplomacy based on Article 9 of the Constitution. Let’s raise our voices.” He announced that the organization has collected 5.41 million signatures and is aiming to collect a total of 9.9 million by May 22, when the review conference will close.
The petitions will be submitted to the conference after they are piled high in front of United Nations headquarters on the day before the conference opens. Gensuikyo will send a delegation of about 1,000 people to the review conference. Yuko Nakamura, 82, the deputy secretary general of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo), said, “The petitions will make a spectacular sight. I am looking forward to working with you in New York.”
(Originally published on March 11, 2015)
On March 10, the Japan Council against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs (Gensuikyo) held a meeting in Tokyo and announced that it will send petitions it has collected to New York, where the review conference for the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) will open on April 27. The organization has been collecting petitions since 2011 which express support for starting negotiations on a nuclear weapons convention. First, 4.26 million signatures will be sent to New York by sea mail.
Masakazu Yasui, secretary general of Gensuikyo, said, “Japan should get out from under the nuclear umbrella and become committed to peace diplomacy based on Article 9 of the Constitution. Let’s raise our voices.” He announced that the organization has collected 5.41 million signatures and is aiming to collect a total of 9.9 million by May 22, when the review conference will close.
The petitions will be submitted to the conference after they are piled high in front of United Nations headquarters on the day before the conference opens. Gensuikyo will send a delegation of about 1,000 people to the review conference. Yuko Nakamura, 82, the deputy secretary general of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo), said, “The petitions will make a spectacular sight. I am looking forward to working with you in New York.”
(Originally published on March 11, 2015)
