Hiroshima Mayor speaks at Preparatory Committee for NPT Review Conference, calls nuclear arms “epitome of weapons against humanity”
May 1, 2013
by Michiko Tanaka, Staff Writer
GENEVA--In his capacity as president of Mayors for Peace, Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui delivered a speech on April 24 at the Second Preparatory Committee for the 2015 Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference, now being held in Geneva, Switzerland. Addressing representatives from national governments around the world, Mr. Matsui called for a new movement towards a nuclear-weapons-free world, stating, “Nuclear weapons are the epitome of weapons against humanity” and “The very existence of this kind of weapon should not be legal.”
At the beginning of his speech, Mr. Matsui read an extract from the A-bomb account of a woman who was 20 years old at the time of the atomic bombing. The mayor had also included this account in the Peace Declaration that he delivered during the Peace Memorial Ceremony last August 6. In Geneva, he called on the participants to share the conviction of the A-bomb survivors that “No one else should ever suffer such a grave tragedy.”
Mr. Matsui mentioned his deep appreciation for the fact that “the inhumanity of nuclear weapons has been rightfully highlighted, and the move to outlaw nuclear weapons has been accelerating.” He also pointed out the limitations of the security arrangements which depend on nuclear deterrence, saying, “This system attempts to preserve peace through the threat of indiscriminate mass killings,” and this system “is destined to be unstable.”
His message to world leaders was, “Let us join hands, as members of the same human family, and bring to life a new movement towards a nuclear-weapons-free world!”
Other speakers included Tomihisa Taue, vice president of Mayors for Peace and mayor of Nagasaki, and Toshiki Fujimori, 69, the assistant secretary general of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-bomb Sufferers Organizations and a resident of Chino, Nagano Prefecture, who was exposed to the atomic bombing in Hiroshima.
(Originally published on April 25, 2013)
GENEVA--In his capacity as president of Mayors for Peace, Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui delivered a speech on April 24 at the Second Preparatory Committee for the 2015 Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference, now being held in Geneva, Switzerland. Addressing representatives from national governments around the world, Mr. Matsui called for a new movement towards a nuclear-weapons-free world, stating, “Nuclear weapons are the epitome of weapons against humanity” and “The very existence of this kind of weapon should not be legal.”
At the beginning of his speech, Mr. Matsui read an extract from the A-bomb account of a woman who was 20 years old at the time of the atomic bombing. The mayor had also included this account in the Peace Declaration that he delivered during the Peace Memorial Ceremony last August 6. In Geneva, he called on the participants to share the conviction of the A-bomb survivors that “No one else should ever suffer such a grave tragedy.”
Mr. Matsui mentioned his deep appreciation for the fact that “the inhumanity of nuclear weapons has been rightfully highlighted, and the move to outlaw nuclear weapons has been accelerating.” He also pointed out the limitations of the security arrangements which depend on nuclear deterrence, saying, “This system attempts to preserve peace through the threat of indiscriminate mass killings,” and this system “is destined to be unstable.”
His message to world leaders was, “Let us join hands, as members of the same human family, and bring to life a new movement towards a nuclear-weapons-free world!”
Other speakers included Tomihisa Taue, vice president of Mayors for Peace and mayor of Nagasaki, and Toshiki Fujimori, 69, the assistant secretary general of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-bomb Sufferers Organizations and a resident of Chino, Nagano Prefecture, who was exposed to the atomic bombing in Hiroshima.
(Originally published on April 25, 2013)
