Members of NGO Network for Nuclear Weapons Abolition visit foreign embassies in Japan to call for ratification of TPNW
Mar. 17, 2020
(by Yo Kono, Staff Writer)
On March 16, A-bomb survivors from the Japan NGO Network for Nuclear Weapons Abolition launched an effort to visit foreign diplomatic missions in Japan, located in Tokyo, to call for ratification of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). The organization consists of NGO groups such as the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo). On the first day, the network’s members visited the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia and the Embassy of Mongolia.
At the Indonesian Embassy, seven members of the NGO, including Toshiko Tanaka, 81, who experienced the atomic bombing in Hiroshima and lives in Higashi Ward, and Terumi Tanaka, 87, co-chair of Nihon Hidankyo who experienced the atomic bombing in Nagasaki and lives in Niiza, Saitama Prefecture, handed an official written request to Tri Purnajaya, Chargé d'Affaires ad interim of the Indonesian Embassy. “I don’t want anybody else to have the same horrific experience I did,” said Ms. Tanaka.
The Indonesian government has finished procedures for signing the TPNW, but the work of gaining approval and ratifying the treaty in the country’s parliament remains. Mr. Purnajaya said, “It’s an important treaty. I’ll make sure to deliver the message to the minister for foreign affairs.” The TPNW will enter into force once 50 nations have ratified it. As of now, 35 nations have ratified the treaty.
(Originally published on March 17, 2020)
On March 16, A-bomb survivors from the Japan NGO Network for Nuclear Weapons Abolition launched an effort to visit foreign diplomatic missions in Japan, located in Tokyo, to call for ratification of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). The organization consists of NGO groups such as the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo). On the first day, the network’s members visited the Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia and the Embassy of Mongolia.
At the Indonesian Embassy, seven members of the NGO, including Toshiko Tanaka, 81, who experienced the atomic bombing in Hiroshima and lives in Higashi Ward, and Terumi Tanaka, 87, co-chair of Nihon Hidankyo who experienced the atomic bombing in Nagasaki and lives in Niiza, Saitama Prefecture, handed an official written request to Tri Purnajaya, Chargé d'Affaires ad interim of the Indonesian Embassy. “I don’t want anybody else to have the same horrific experience I did,” said Ms. Tanaka.
The Indonesian government has finished procedures for signing the TPNW, but the work of gaining approval and ratifying the treaty in the country’s parliament remains. Mr. Purnajaya said, “It’s an important treaty. I’ll make sure to deliver the message to the minister for foreign affairs.” The TPNW will enter into force once 50 nations have ratified it. As of now, 35 nations have ratified the treaty.
(Originally published on March 17, 2020)
