HIROSHIMA ISSUES A HEARTY WELCOME TO THE CONFIRMATION OF THE NUCLEAR BAN TREATY COMING INTO EFFECT
On October 24, it was confirmed that the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons would enter into force on January 22 2021, ninety days after the 50th country Honduras submitted its ratification of the treaty.
Hiroshima Alliance for Nuclear Weapons Abolition (HANWA) welcomes the event from the bottom of our heart.
For 75 years since the US atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the citizens have continued their appeal to the world for the abolition of nuclear weapons. These cities experienced the most inhumane atrocities of indiscriminate attack, in which those forced to come from the Korean Peninsula and POWs of the Allied Forces also lost their lives.
The Treaty, concerned about the inhumane consequences caused by using such weapons, makes nuclear weapons illegal and prohibits signatory countries from developing, testing, manufacturing, stockpiling, transferring, and using and threatening to use nuclear weapons. It also requires the damage caused to victims and the environment, as a result of testing, or use of nuclear weapons, to be remedied and given assistance and compensation. The Treaty thus attempts to eliminate all the risks that remain as long as nuclear weapons exist.
Sharing the hibakusha’s wish that the same experience shall never be repeated, we have worked to ban nuclear weapons legally in cooperation with many countries, as well as the United Nations, the International Red Cross, the Red Crescent, and NGOs such as ICAN. The fact that the Treaty is now ready to be effective is historically significant because it is the result of these activities and it marks a point at which we can make a new start.
The current state of affairs surrounding nuclear arsenals is in danger of leading to nuclear war. America and Russia have made several nuclear disarmament agreements null and void and are developing smaller tactical nuclear warheads, enabling them to be used in actual warfare. This must be blocked and stopped globally.
The Japanese Government, under the American nuclear umbrella, has not signed the Treaty asserting that it weakens Japan’s security.
However, depending upon the nuclear umbrella presupposes that nuclear weapons may be used. Using just one of these weapons could lead to chain-reaction detonation of nuclear warheads. It is feared, by the same token, that nuclear warfare might cause global climate change which endangers the very existence of humans, as well as all living things. This year, the coronavirus pandemic has claimed the lives of more than one million people (as of Oct. 27). Strengthening military power does not save people’s lives.
About seventy percent of Japanese people agree that the government should join the Treaty.
We demand that the Japanese Government sign and ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons as soon as possible.
We, the people of Hiroshima, are filled with hope and announce our heartfelt welcome of the epoch-making Treaty.
We hereby express that we will focus our efforts toward the achievement of the abolition of nuclear weapons.
Hiroshima Alliance for Nuclear Weapons Abolition (HANWA)
October 25, 2020
