A-bomb survivors appeal for nuclear abolition at NGO session of NPT Review Conference
May 13, 2015
by Michiko Tanaka, Staff Writer
NEW YORK--“Now is the time to show us the path for eliminating all nuclear weapons from the planet!” On May 1, atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki shared their experiences at a session for non-governmental organizations (NGOs), an official event of the Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT), now taking place at United Nations headquarters in New York. Survivors urged the representatives of all NPT member nations to work toward abolishing nuclear weapons. With this year marking the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the voices of the aging survivors were tinged with indignation and impatience.
The NPT Review Conference is held every five years, currently with 190 member countries, to reflect the voices of civil society in negotiations for disarmament. Setsuko Thurlow, 83, a resident of Toronto, Canada, took the stage as the first of 20 speakers. Speaking in English, she said, “I do feel a sense of hopefulness and excitement because the understanding that nuclear weapons are inhumane is spreading throughout the world.”
A native of Hiroshima’s Minami Ward, Ms. Thurlow was 13 when she was exposed to the atomic bomb in Futaba-no-Sato (now part of Higashi Ward). She began her peace activities in the United States, where she studied, and has tirelessly recounted her A-bomb experience after resettling in Canada. She said that the global movement to ban nuclear weapons based on their inhumanity has grown stronger. However, the stance of the Japanese government, which continues to cling to the U.S. nuclear umbrella and has not pledged to advance efforts to outlaw nuclear arms, seems to impede momentum for disarmament. “This kind of contradictory behavior of words and actions by the only A-bombed nation has deepened distrust in the minds of the Japanese people,” she said dismissively.
Terumi Tanaka, 83, the secretary general of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo), recounted his experience of the atomic bombing in Nagasaki. He was 13 at the time and stumbled through the devastated hypocenter area in search of relatives. Mentioning the last moments of five people who died in agony, Mr. Tanaka said, “None of their deaths was an ordinary human death. The souls of atomic bomb survivors have continued to cry out ‘Never Repeat the Evil.’” In remembrance of those who died, he called for the start of negotiations on a legally binding framework to achieve the abolition of nuclear weapons. “There is no reason nuclear weapons can’t be abolished through human wisdom when it is human beings that created these weapons,” he said.
During the proceedings, Dell Higgie, the New Zealand Ambassador for Disarmament, called on political leaders to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki and listen to the survivors’ testimonies first-hand. “These testimonies are the main pillar supporting discussions on the inhumanity of nuclear weapons,” she said. “I feel gratitude to all the A-bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki for using their strength to travel to the Review Conference. Through this conference, we will do our utmost to move a step forward to the abolition of nuclear weapons.”
(Originally published on May 3, 2015)
NEW YORK--“Now is the time to show us the path for eliminating all nuclear weapons from the planet!” On May 1, atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki shared their experiences at a session for non-governmental organizations (NGOs), an official event of the Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT), now taking place at United Nations headquarters in New York. Survivors urged the representatives of all NPT member nations to work toward abolishing nuclear weapons. With this year marking the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the voices of the aging survivors were tinged with indignation and impatience.
The NPT Review Conference is held every five years, currently with 190 member countries, to reflect the voices of civil society in negotiations for disarmament. Setsuko Thurlow, 83, a resident of Toronto, Canada, took the stage as the first of 20 speakers. Speaking in English, she said, “I do feel a sense of hopefulness and excitement because the understanding that nuclear weapons are inhumane is spreading throughout the world.”
A native of Hiroshima’s Minami Ward, Ms. Thurlow was 13 when she was exposed to the atomic bomb in Futaba-no-Sato (now part of Higashi Ward). She began her peace activities in the United States, where she studied, and has tirelessly recounted her A-bomb experience after resettling in Canada. She said that the global movement to ban nuclear weapons based on their inhumanity has grown stronger. However, the stance of the Japanese government, which continues to cling to the U.S. nuclear umbrella and has not pledged to advance efforts to outlaw nuclear arms, seems to impede momentum for disarmament. “This kind of contradictory behavior of words and actions by the only A-bombed nation has deepened distrust in the minds of the Japanese people,” she said dismissively.
Terumi Tanaka, 83, the secretary general of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo), recounted his experience of the atomic bombing in Nagasaki. He was 13 at the time and stumbled through the devastated hypocenter area in search of relatives. Mentioning the last moments of five people who died in agony, Mr. Tanaka said, “None of their deaths was an ordinary human death. The souls of atomic bomb survivors have continued to cry out ‘Never Repeat the Evil.’” In remembrance of those who died, he called for the start of negotiations on a legally binding framework to achieve the abolition of nuclear weapons. “There is no reason nuclear weapons can’t be abolished through human wisdom when it is human beings that created these weapons,” he said.
During the proceedings, Dell Higgie, the New Zealand Ambassador for Disarmament, called on political leaders to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki and listen to the survivors’ testimonies first-hand. “These testimonies are the main pillar supporting discussions on the inhumanity of nuclear weapons,” she said. “I feel gratitude to all the A-bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki for using their strength to travel to the Review Conference. Through this conference, we will do our utmost to move a step forward to the abolition of nuclear weapons.”
(Originally published on May 3, 2015)
