 Hibakusha to start major anti-nuclear activities On October 19 and 20 in Tokyo, the Japan Confederation of A & H Bombs Sufferers Organizations (Japan Hidankyo) held a conference of prefectural representatives and decided to launch a major anti-nuclear weapons drive toward 2005, the 60th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This one-year drive of A-bomb survivors (Hibakusha) includes activities against an adverse revision of Article 9 of the Constitution and in preparation for the NPT Review Conference scheduled for May 2005. Japan Hidankyo also decided to strengthen its effort to support Hibakusha's lawsuits demanding that the government recognize their diseases as caused by the A-bombs. A statement adopted at the conference called for all Hibakusha to participate in the major drive as the government is attempting again to force its citizens to endure war damages. On October 21, Hidankyo representatives made representations to political parties and the Health, Labor, and Welfare Ministry, requesting to change the present system of certifying Hibakusha with A-bomb related diseases. At the Foreign Ministry, they demanded that Japan submit a resolution for the abolition of nuclear weapons to the U.N. General Assembly. Japanese Communist Party House of Councilors member Ogata Yasuo received the Hidankyo representatives and promised to make efforts to realize their requests. (end) |