A-bomb survivors launch global signature drive for nuclear abolition
Apr. 4, 2016
by Michiko Tanaka, Staff Writer
A-bomb survivors in Japan and overseas, who have helped spearhead the antinuclear movement, will soon launch a global signature drive to urge the governments of the world to realize a nuclear weapons convention. The Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo), which will mark its 60th anniversary this August, is launching this campaign because the members of the group feel a sense of crisis over current conditions involving nuclear abolition, where no clear path to this goal can be seen, as they hope nuclear arms can be eliminated during their lifetime. Their efforts seek to rouse public opinion for a legal framework to advance nuclear disarmament.
Nine people will head up the promotion for the campaign including Sunao Tsuboi, 90, chairperson of Hidankyo and a resident of Nishi Ward, Hiroshima, and others from the United States and South Korea. Additional A-bomb survivors of Hiroshima designated as promoters include Takashi Morita, 92, chairman of the Peace Association of Brazilian A-bomb Survivors, and Thurlow Setsuko, 84, who has been active in sharing her account of the bombing in Canada and internationally.
The appeal to collect signatures mentions the devastating consequences to the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as a result of the atomic bombings, along with the physical and mental suffering that the survivors have continued to bear, and calls nuclear arms “an absolute evil.” With the average age of the A-bomb survivors having reached 80, they are determined to appeal for nuclear disarmament as long as they live so that the generations to follow will not have to experience the same “hell on earth.”
The signatures gathered in the campaign will then be delivered to the United Nations. Terumi Tanaka, 83, the secretary general of Hidankyo and one of the promoters for this effort, said, “A-bomb survivors can’t wait any longer. We would like to sway public opinion, including among the people of nuclear nations, and the course of international politics.”
The promoters will hold a joint press conference in Tokyo on March 23.
(Originally published on March 19, 2016)
A-bomb survivors in Japan and overseas, who have helped spearhead the antinuclear movement, will soon launch a global signature drive to urge the governments of the world to realize a nuclear weapons convention. The Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo), which will mark its 60th anniversary this August, is launching this campaign because the members of the group feel a sense of crisis over current conditions involving nuclear abolition, where no clear path to this goal can be seen, as they hope nuclear arms can be eliminated during their lifetime. Their efforts seek to rouse public opinion for a legal framework to advance nuclear disarmament.
Nine people will head up the promotion for the campaign including Sunao Tsuboi, 90, chairperson of Hidankyo and a resident of Nishi Ward, Hiroshima, and others from the United States and South Korea. Additional A-bomb survivors of Hiroshima designated as promoters include Takashi Morita, 92, chairman of the Peace Association of Brazilian A-bomb Survivors, and Thurlow Setsuko, 84, who has been active in sharing her account of the bombing in Canada and internationally.
The appeal to collect signatures mentions the devastating consequences to the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as a result of the atomic bombings, along with the physical and mental suffering that the survivors have continued to bear, and calls nuclear arms “an absolute evil.” With the average age of the A-bomb survivors having reached 80, they are determined to appeal for nuclear disarmament as long as they live so that the generations to follow will not have to experience the same “hell on earth.”
The signatures gathered in the campaign will then be delivered to the United Nations. Terumi Tanaka, 83, the secretary general of Hidankyo and one of the promoters for this effort, said, “A-bomb survivors can’t wait any longer. We would like to sway public opinion, including among the people of nuclear nations, and the course of international politics.”
The promoters will hold a joint press conference in Tokyo on March 23.
(Originally published on March 19, 2016)
