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A-bomb survivors lead march in New York to appeal for nuclear abolition

by Michiko Tanaka, Staff Writer

NEW YORK--“No More Hiroshimas! No More Nagasakis!” On April 26, the voices of Hiroshima A-bomb survivors calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons echoed across New York. The United States, a nuclear super power, is the only nation that has waged a nuclear attack. Some 7500 people, including peace activists, took part in a march organized by various non-governmental organizations (NGOs). At the venue of the Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT), which will continue for four weeks at United Nations headquarters, peace activists and A-bomb survivors urged NPT members to abolish all nuclear weapons as early as possible, their ardent and long-standing wish. Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui also joined the march.

At the opening ceremony for the demonstration, held at a park in the city center, Yuko Nakamura, 83, the deputy secretary general of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo), talked about her experience of the atomic bombing. She was exposed to the atomic bomb in Nishi Ward, Hiroshima, while at a factory where she had been mobilized to work as a second-year student of First Hiroshima Prefectural Girls’ High School (now Minami High School). She said that most of the mobilized students from lower grades, who were working in locations near the hypocenter, were killed in the A-bomb blast. “Those students wanted to live, though they were prepared to sacrifice themselves for the sake of their country,” she said. “I’d like all of you to know that nuclear weapons kill people so cruelly.”

After the opening ceremony, the participants took up banners and marched approximately three kilometers through Manhattan. Elena Marmo, 21, a local university student who took part in the demonstration, said firmly, “The survivors’ experiences brought home to me just how inhumane nuclear weapons really are. We, the younger generations, have to show more concern over these terrible weapons.”

A welcoming ceremony was held at a square near United Nations headquarters. Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui, the president of Mayors for Peace, presented a list of 1,097,059 signatures from people who support the start of negotiations for a nuclear weapons convention to Taous Feroukhi, chair of the NPT Review Conference. Mr. Matsui said, “Concluding an agreement like this is the most effective way to eliminate nuclear weapons.” Angela Kane, the U.N. High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, expressed concern over the fact that the average age of A-bomb survivors will reach 80 this year, saying, “We have to take up their torch to realize a world free of nuclear weapons.”

(Originally published on April 28, 2015)

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