Interview with Beatrice Fihn, executive director of ICAN, on next steps in nuclear abolition campaign
Jan. 16, 2018
by Yumi Kanazaki, Staff Writer
During her visit to Hiroshima, Beatrice Fihn, 35, the executive director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), granted an exclusive interview with the Chugoku Shimbun on January 15. While the Japanese government has refused to sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, the leader of this non-governmental organization (NGO) expressed her hopes that the people of Hiroshima will pursue efforts to press the government to change its position.
This is your first trip abroad since ICAN received the Nobel Peace Prize. What are your thoughts on your visit to a place that experienced a nuclear attack?
As I listened to the survivors’ experiences and spoke with others, I felt that Hiroshima and Nagasaki have managed to turn their horrific experiences into messages of hope. At the same time, I also felt a strong contradiction between what the people in these cities want and what the Japanese government is doing.
What are your hopes for the citizens of Hiroshima and the Hiroshima City government in dealing with the national government, which has said that it will serve as a bridge between the nuclear-armed states and the non-nuclear weapon states?
It has become obvious to the international community that Japan is not a leader on the issue of nuclear disarmament. The people of Hiroshima should tell the government and politicians very clearly that serving as a bridge is insufficient and that Japan should sign the treaty.
The people of Hiroshima can help in sharing the memories of the atomic bombing around the world, but it is important that this be done with the aim of getting governments to change their policies so that this tragedy will not be repeated. I heard that the A-bomb testimony presented to the Dutch Parliament made a difference and that nation took part in the negotiations to establish the treaty even though it is still under the so-called nuclear umbrella. In response to calls from citizens, some members of parliament listened to the survivors’ stories and urged the government to join the negotiations.
You are planning to meet with some lawmakers of the Japanese Diet on January 16. What is the purpose of this meeting?
I think citizens organizing themselves into lobbying groups and calling on the government and politicians to change specific policies is as important for democracy as voting. This is a democratic process to press the government to disclose information and to hold the government accountable. Advancing this process will present options other than the one maintained by the government that it is impossible to join the treaty.
Now that the nuclear weapons ban treaty has been adopted and ICAN has won the Nobel Peace Prize, what is your long-term goal for your organization?
Once the treaty was adopted, I knew we would then have to begin our efforts to get all nations to sign and ratify the treaty so it can enter into force. Moving forward, we will work harder to accomplish this aim and the fund we have established with the award for the Nobel Prize will be used for this purpose. We will make use of this fund for such activities as lobbying and studying the problems that are holding nations back from signing the treaty.
(Originally published on January 16, 2018)
During her visit to Hiroshima, Beatrice Fihn, 35, the executive director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), granted an exclusive interview with the Chugoku Shimbun on January 15. While the Japanese government has refused to sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, the leader of this non-governmental organization (NGO) expressed her hopes that the people of Hiroshima will pursue efforts to press the government to change its position.
This is your first trip abroad since ICAN received the Nobel Peace Prize. What are your thoughts on your visit to a place that experienced a nuclear attack?
As I listened to the survivors’ experiences and spoke with others, I felt that Hiroshima and Nagasaki have managed to turn their horrific experiences into messages of hope. At the same time, I also felt a strong contradiction between what the people in these cities want and what the Japanese government is doing.
What are your hopes for the citizens of Hiroshima and the Hiroshima City government in dealing with the national government, which has said that it will serve as a bridge between the nuclear-armed states and the non-nuclear weapon states?
It has become obvious to the international community that Japan is not a leader on the issue of nuclear disarmament. The people of Hiroshima should tell the government and politicians very clearly that serving as a bridge is insufficient and that Japan should sign the treaty.
The people of Hiroshima can help in sharing the memories of the atomic bombing around the world, but it is important that this be done with the aim of getting governments to change their policies so that this tragedy will not be repeated. I heard that the A-bomb testimony presented to the Dutch Parliament made a difference and that nation took part in the negotiations to establish the treaty even though it is still under the so-called nuclear umbrella. In response to calls from citizens, some members of parliament listened to the survivors’ stories and urged the government to join the negotiations.
You are planning to meet with some lawmakers of the Japanese Diet on January 16. What is the purpose of this meeting?
I think citizens organizing themselves into lobbying groups and calling on the government and politicians to change specific policies is as important for democracy as voting. This is a democratic process to press the government to disclose information and to hold the government accountable. Advancing this process will present options other than the one maintained by the government that it is impossible to join the treaty.
Now that the nuclear weapons ban treaty has been adopted and ICAN has won the Nobel Peace Prize, what is your long-term goal for your organization?
Once the treaty was adopted, I knew we would then have to begin our efforts to get all nations to sign and ratify the treaty so it can enter into force. Moving forward, we will work harder to accomplish this aim and the fund we have established with the award for the Nobel Prize will be used for this purpose. We will make use of this fund for such activities as lobbying and studying the problems that are holding nations back from signing the treaty.
(Originally published on January 16, 2018)
