A-bomb survivors to launch global signature drive for nuclear abolition next month
Apr. 12, 2016
by Michiko Tanaka, Staff Writer
On March 23, the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo) officially announced that A-bomb survivors in Japan and abroad will launch a global signature drive in April to call for the realization of a nuclear weapons convention to ban and eliminate all nuclear arms. With the aim of achieving such a treaty by August 2020, the A-bomb survivors will submit the signatures they gather to the U.N. General Assembly each year to convey the wishes of the hundreds of millions of people who seek the abolition of all nuclear weapons.
The campaign was proposed by four board members of the association and five leading figures of the antinuclear movements in South Korea and Brazil. In response to their invitations to peace organizations in Japan and abroad to take part in this effort, about 20 Japanese organizations have already agreed to participate. In addition, Nobel Peace laureates will be asked to join the campaign. This is the first time that Nihon Hidankyo is spearheading a global signature drive.
In their appeal, the A-bomb survivors describe the devastation of the atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as well as the damaging effects to their physical and mental health, calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons to be realized during their lifetime. At a press conference held in Tokyo on March 23, Mikiso Iwasa, 87, the chairperson of Nihon Hidankyo, and Terumi Tanaka, 83, the secretary general, who both proposed the campaign, said they hope that people all over the world, including in the nuclear weapon states, will understand the passionate desire of the A-bomb survivors to abolish nuclear weapons and that they will press their political leaders to work toward that goal.
(Originally published on March 24, 2016)
On March 23, the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo) officially announced that A-bomb survivors in Japan and abroad will launch a global signature drive in April to call for the realization of a nuclear weapons convention to ban and eliminate all nuclear arms. With the aim of achieving such a treaty by August 2020, the A-bomb survivors will submit the signatures they gather to the U.N. General Assembly each year to convey the wishes of the hundreds of millions of people who seek the abolition of all nuclear weapons.
The campaign was proposed by four board members of the association and five leading figures of the antinuclear movements in South Korea and Brazil. In response to their invitations to peace organizations in Japan and abroad to take part in this effort, about 20 Japanese organizations have already agreed to participate. In addition, Nobel Peace laureates will be asked to join the campaign. This is the first time that Nihon Hidankyo is spearheading a global signature drive.
In their appeal, the A-bomb survivors describe the devastation of the atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as well as the damaging effects to their physical and mental health, calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons to be realized during their lifetime. At a press conference held in Tokyo on March 23, Mikiso Iwasa, 87, the chairperson of Nihon Hidankyo, and Terumi Tanaka, 83, the secretary general, who both proposed the campaign, said they hope that people all over the world, including in the nuclear weapon states, will understand the passionate desire of the A-bomb survivors to abolish nuclear weapons and that they will press their political leaders to work toward that goal.
(Originally published on March 24, 2016)
