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A-bomb survivors react to Hiroshima mayor’s message at U.N. working group on nuclear disarmament

by Kyosuke Mizukawa, Staff Writer

At the meeting of the U.N. working group on nuclear disarmament, which opened on May 2 in Geneva, Switzerland, Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Mitsui called on world leaders to visit the A-bombed cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and to start negotiations for creating a nuclear weapons convention. While some Hiroshima A-bomb survivors praised the mayor’s message, others expressed dissatisfaction.

In his address, Mr. Matsui referred to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who visited the Peace Memorial Park in Naka Ward in April, and said, “Mr. Kerry commented on the museum’s exhibits as a reminder of the depth of obligation that every person in a position of responsibility carries to create and pursue a world without nuclear weapons.”

Toshiyuki Mimaki, 74, the vice chair of the Hiroshima Prefectural Confederation of A-bomb Sufferers Organizations (Hidankyo, chaired by Sunao Tsuboi) praised the mayor’s address and expressed hope that Mr. Kerry’s remarks will spread widely in the world, and that world leaders in addition to U.S. President Barack Obama will visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He then emphasized the importance of both nuclear states and non-nuclear states agreeing that nuclear weapons are an absolute evil and that progress must be made in their discussions to abolish nuclear arms.

Kazuo Okoshi, 76, secretary general of the other Hiroshima Prefectural Confederation of A-bomb Sufferers Organizations (which is chaired by Kunihiko Sakuma), pointed out that the mayor’s message didn’t include the word “inhumanity” when talking about nuclear arms and said, “I feel that his message is missing something when it comes to an appeal made by the mayor of Hiroshima.” He added that, in order to push for the start of negotiations for a nuclear weapons convention, Mr. Matsui should have been more frank in describing the devastating effects of the atomic bomb.

(Originally published on May 3, 2016)

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