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Japan Council against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs launches petition drive for nuclear weapons convention

by Yumi Kanazaki, Staff Writer

On February 15, the Japan Council against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs launched a nationwide petition drive to call on world governments to work for the realization of a nuclear weapons convention. In Hiroshima, the Hiroshima Council against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs and other entities held a meeting to promote nuclear abolition efforts, where a message from U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was read out.

About 90 people, from such bodies as peace organizations and A-bomb sufferers' organizations, attended the meeting in downtown Hiroshima. Shoji Sawada, director of the Japan Council against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs, opened the meeting by saying, “The start of negotiations on a nuclear weapons convention could advance the world toward the abolition of nuclear weapons in a significant way. Let us work together to achieve this aim.” The message from U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was then read out. In his message, Mr. Ban said that his experience of attending the Peace Memorial Ceremony held in Hiroshima on August 6, 2010 strengthened his conviction that every effort should be made to realize a world without nuclear weapons.

The deadline for the petition drive has not been set. For the time being, the Japan Council against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs is collecting signatures in order to submit them to the U.N. General Assembly when it meets this October.

(Originally published on February 16, 2011)

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