Gensuikyo secretary general discusses main issues that will be discussed in 2009 World Conference against A & H Bombs

Japan Press Weekly

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Gensuikyo secretary general discusses main issues that will be discussed in 2009 World Conference against A & H Bombs

In an interview with Akahata, Japan Council against A & H Bombs (Japan Gensuikyo) Secretary General Taka Hiroshi explained the important role of the upcoming 2009 World Conference against A & H Bombs (August 3-9, Hiroshima and Nagasaki) as follows:

As we prepare for the 55th World Conference against A & H Bombs, we are witnessing a major increase in international opinion. Calls for nuclear weapons to be abolished are being heard everywhere around the world. Not only peace movements and governments that declare themselves nuclear-free, but also leaders of nuclear superpowers have begun to call for the total elimination of nuclear weapons. One recent example was the G-8 Summit, which set out the total elimination of nuclear weapons as an objective.

In order to make progress in the actual process, it is more important than ever to increase public awareness and the role of grassroots movements. With the NPT Review Conference scheduled for May 2010 in New York, we hope that this year's World Conference against A & H Bombs will help give rise to global actions in this direction.

U.S. has made critical review of its action

The change I have mentioned is due to the fact that the nuclear powers' insistence on preserving their privileges while demanding non-proliferation under the NPT has become unacceptable internationally. They have come under increasing criticism and at the same time have been unable to control nuclear proliferation. That is why the five major nuclear powers at the 2000 NPT Review Conference agreed to totally eliminate nuclear weapons. That was the "unequivocal undertaking" to "eliminate their nuclear arsenals."

Although the U.S. Bush administration refused to accept this agreement, President Obama has called for "a world without nuclear weapons".

President Obama expressed his will to keep the past agreement by promising to achieve a drastic reduction in the nuclear arsenals possessed by Russia and the U.S. and a conclusion of the CTBT and the Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty.

The elimination of nuclear weapons, however, cannot be achieved just by such partial measures. It is necessary that the treaty which calls for the total elimination of nuclear weapons and which is applied impartially to all nations should be concluded and come into effect.

After the World Conference through to the NPT Review Conference, including the U.N. General Assembly to be held this autumn, Gensuikyo will make efforts to increase this demand.

Japanese government is unconvincing

President Obama's statement of "pursuing peace and safety under a world without nuclear weapons" caught my attention.

In contrast, "maintaining the peace with nuclear weapons" is the theory used to justify the need for a "nuclear umbrella".

The Japanese government in its general response agreed to cooperate with President Obama on his proposal to reduce nuclear weapons. On the other hand, the Japanese government asked the U.S. to continue to provide Japan with its "nuclear umbrella" by citing North Korea's nuclear development and uncertainness of Chinese nuclear policy.

The Japanese government attitude is hypocritical because it calls on other countries to give up possessing nuclear weapons while depending on "the U.S. nuclear umbrella".

For both North Korea and Japan, to achieve a nuclear weapons free world is far safer than to depend on nuclear weapons as a deterrent force.

At the upcoming World Conference, Japan Gensuikyo will put emphasis on the secret nuclear agreement issue and clearly reject the "nuclear umbrella" rationale.

Japan Gensuikyo will make efforts to develop a campaign to get Japan to declare itself nuclear free just as many local governments in Japan have done.

We will make history

The NPT Review Conference is important for pushing ahead with the movement towards the total elimination of nuclear weapons.

In order to represent the will of the world's people, a recent general meeting of "Abolition 2000", an anti-nuclear international network, adopted Japan Gensuikyo's proposal to hold a "Day of International Action for a World Free of Nuclear Weapons" demonstration on May 2, the day before the opening of the 2010 Review Conference and to submit signatures collected by member organizations to the Review Conference.

Peace movements in many countries are participating in the international signature campaign calling for "a world without nuclear weapons". The U.S. peace movement has produced a U.S. version of the petition in response to the inauguration of the Obama administration. Japan Gensuikyo is determined to redouble its efforts.

The World Conference is a forum where everyone, including delegates from the U.N. and various governments, members of various peace movements, and many young people who are newcomers to the World Conference can take part in discussions on an equal footing.

Throughout the country, people in their teens and twenties, including university students and junior high school students, are preparing for the World Conference. Japan Gensuikyo hopes that such young people will learn from the conference and become the core of future activists.

If the international people's movements can get nuclear weapons abolished by their united effort, it will without doubt go down in history as a major turning point for humanity.

Japan Gensuikyo calls for broad participation in the World Conference from around the country.

- Akahata, July 17, 2009