 Gensuikyo urges Japan to press U.S. to abandon WMD As part of actions in preparation for the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty's Review Conference in May in New York, the Japan Council against A and H Bombs (Japan Gensuikyo) on April 13 requested the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to persuade nuclear-weapons states to set out to abolish nuclear weapons. Japan Gensuikyo told the government to work to start negotiations for a total ban on nuclear weapons treaty and press the United States to fulfill the promise it made to abandon its nuclear arsenal. If nuclear-weapons states decide to eliminate nuclear weapons, it will help the international community address the proliferation issue, which the United States wants to focus on at the coming NPT Review Conference instead of the fulfillment of its promise for unequivocal undertaking to eliminate its nuclear arsenals, Japan Gensuikyo pointed out. While expressing concern about the U.S. rejection of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, a Foreign Ministry Arms Control and Disarmament Division official praised U.S. efforts for disarmament as well as elimination of nuclear warheads. Gensuikyo representatives also petitioned the Cabinet Office and the Parliamentary Network for Nuclear Disarmament. Japan Gensuikyo on the same day submitted 1.12 million signatures bearing the call for the abolition of nuclear weapons to the Diet. About two tons of signatures representing 1.23 million people have already been shipped to New York. (Akahata April 14, 2005) |