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Meeting of CTBTO’s Group of Eminent Persons opens in Hiroshima; members to explore ways to bring about treaty’s entry into force

by Kyosuke Mizukawa, Staff Writer

A two-day meeting of the Group of Eminent Persons, a preparatory commission of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), got underway on August 24 at a hotel in Hiroshima’s Minami Ward. This is the group’s fourth meeting and its first meeting in Japan. Ten of the group’s 21 members are in attendance including William Perry, former United States Secretary of Defense, and Des Browne, former United Kingdom Secretary of State for Defence. The group will discuss ways to advance efforts toward the treaty’s entry into force and issue a Hiroshima Declaration on August 25.

In remarks at the opening of the meeting, Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui said, “While you are here in Hiroshima, I would like you to think about the horrors of nuclear weapons, which are an absolute evil, and the importance of maintaining peace, and convey a powerful message aimed at a world without nuclear weapons.”

Lassina Zerbo, Executive Secretary of the Preparatory Commission for the CTBTO, commended Japan for its leadership in the effort to bring about a world without nuclear testing and said he hoped the meeting would advance the efforts toward the entry into force of the CTBT. Referring to the risk of nuclear testing because of deteriorating relations between the U.S. and Russia, Mr. Perry said he would first like to seriously discuss what should be done to continue the current moratorium on nuclear testing.

Later, in a closed-door meeting, participants discussed an action plan to promote ratification of the treaty in three regions: the U.S., China and North Korea; India and Pakistan, and the Middle East. On August 25 participants will visit Peace Memorial Park in Naka Ward, offer flowers at the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims and tour the Peace Memorial Museum.

(Originally published on August 25, 2015)

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