Hiroshima, Nagasaki disappointed by Japan’s decision to abstain from UN vote on creating legal framework for nuclear weapons ban
Nov. 13, 2015
by Kohei Okata and Kyosuke Mizukawa, Staff Writers
At the First Committee of the United Nations General Assembly, the Japanese government abstained from voting on a resolution calling for the creation of a legal framework to pursue a ban on nuclear weapons, as proposed by Austria and other countries. On November 3, A-bomb survivors in Hiroshima voiced anger and disappointment.
“As the nation which experienced the atomic bombings, Japan should be taking the initiative and calling on the citizens of the world to create a nuclear weapons convention. The fact that the Japanese government abstained from voting is unacceptable,” Kunihiko Sakuma said angrily. Mr. Sakuma, 71, is the chair of the Hiroshima Prefectural Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations. He also questioned why the Japan-proposed resolution calling for the elimination of nuclear arms, in which Japan encouraged world leaders to visit the A-bombed cities, failed to win the backing of the nuclear powers, including the United States. Mr. Sakuma said he is unsure what exactly the Japanese government is trying to achieve and he urged it to withdraw from the U.S. nuclear umbrella and show the world its firm determination to advance the abolition of nuclear weapons.
In light of China’s opposition to the Japan-led resolution, Toshiyuki Mimaki, 73, the vice chair of the other Hiroshima Prefectural Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (chaired by Sunao Tsuboi), said with chagrin, “I feel that the survivors’ desire that ‘no one should ever suffer as we did’ is no longer understood by anyone other than the survivors themselves. For this reason, I’d like world leaders to visit the A-bombed cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.”
The Japanese government’s decision to abstain from the vote on the resolution also caused a stir among the participants of the Pugwash Conference, an international gathering of scientists who seek the abolition of nuclear arms, which was taking place in the city of Nagasaki. Hiromichi Umebayashi, the former director of Nagasaki University’s Research Center for Nuclear Weapons Abolition, said, “Compared to the resolution submitted by Austria, the Japan-led resolution lacked substance and meaning. As the only nation in the world that has been attacked with nuclear bombs, Japan should focus on the inhumane nature of nuclear weapons and join the world in its growing desire to conclude a nuclear weapons convention.”
(Originally published on November 4, 2015)
At the First Committee of the United Nations General Assembly, the Japanese government abstained from voting on a resolution calling for the creation of a legal framework to pursue a ban on nuclear weapons, as proposed by Austria and other countries. On November 3, A-bomb survivors in Hiroshima voiced anger and disappointment.
“As the nation which experienced the atomic bombings, Japan should be taking the initiative and calling on the citizens of the world to create a nuclear weapons convention. The fact that the Japanese government abstained from voting is unacceptable,” Kunihiko Sakuma said angrily. Mr. Sakuma, 71, is the chair of the Hiroshima Prefectural Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations. He also questioned why the Japan-proposed resolution calling for the elimination of nuclear arms, in which Japan encouraged world leaders to visit the A-bombed cities, failed to win the backing of the nuclear powers, including the United States. Mr. Sakuma said he is unsure what exactly the Japanese government is trying to achieve and he urged it to withdraw from the U.S. nuclear umbrella and show the world its firm determination to advance the abolition of nuclear weapons.
In light of China’s opposition to the Japan-led resolution, Toshiyuki Mimaki, 73, the vice chair of the other Hiroshima Prefectural Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (chaired by Sunao Tsuboi), said with chagrin, “I feel that the survivors’ desire that ‘no one should ever suffer as we did’ is no longer understood by anyone other than the survivors themselves. For this reason, I’d like world leaders to visit the A-bombed cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.”
The Japanese government’s decision to abstain from the vote on the resolution also caused a stir among the participants of the Pugwash Conference, an international gathering of scientists who seek the abolition of nuclear arms, which was taking place in the city of Nagasaki. Hiromichi Umebayashi, the former director of Nagasaki University’s Research Center for Nuclear Weapons Abolition, said, “Compared to the resolution submitted by Austria, the Japan-led resolution lacked substance and meaning. As the only nation in the world that has been attacked with nuclear bombs, Japan should focus on the inhumane nature of nuclear weapons and join the world in its growing desire to conclude a nuclear weapons convention.”
(Originally published on November 4, 2015)
