For the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons
Message to the people of the US
The following is the message that Hibakusha delegation deliver to the US citizens in Washington DC, Boston and New York.
Prof. Satoru Konishi, Assistant Secretary General of Hidankyo, Mr. Hirotami Yamada, Secretary General of Nagasaki A-bomb sufferers Association, and Ms. Masuko Kitajima, member of Tokyo Federation of A-bomb Sufferers Organizations, visit the US from December 3 to 12.
Message to the People of the United States
December 2001
Japan Confederation of A-and H-Bomb Sufferers’ Organizations (NihonHidankyo)
On behalf of the 300,000 Japanese Hibakusha, the survivors of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9, 1945, we extend our warmest greetings of solidarity to the people of the United States, who are working against terrorism and war.
First of all, we cordially express our deep condolence to the victims of the atrocious acts of terrorism on September 11 and our heartfelt sympathy to those who have lost their loved ones. (Please see our statements on the terrorist attacks, issued on September 28 and October 15 .)
We experienced the atrocity of the A-bomb hell, the greatest massacre in scale in human history. We have seen a number of A-bomb victims die in agony and pain. Many testimonies of the Hibakusha, including the one by Hida Shuntaro in Hiroshima’s Shadow, have told us of the tragic suffering caused by the atomic bombings. And the agony was to last until their death with a possibility of being inherited to their children and grandchildren.
The horrific nature of nuclear weapons has been discussed in many aspects, especially during the last decade. Unfortunately, however, people are not yet well informed about the reality of such weapons. As you are well aware, nuclear weapons cause a large number of victims through the entire process of their production -- from uranium mining to development, manufacturing, testing and use, and throw these victims into unendurable suffering. We can take the only example of the use of nuclear weapons in war in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. No words can adequately describe the horror of these weapons that tortured and killed tens of thousands of people by throwing them into infernos in an instant. That is why we say nuclear weapons are the weapons of the devil. They cannot coexist with humans. Humans will never be freed from the menace of annihilation as long as nuclear weapons exist in the world, and we must abolish them from the face of this planet as soon as possible.
Having barely survived the hell-like situation, we the Hibakusha have drawn a lesson that nuclear weapons must be abolished. Our belief stands in stark contrast with the idea of retaliation, and we should say, it is a testament of the entire human race. Out of the atomic hell and the extreme suffering we have gone through, we have come to detest the bomb and condemn the act of bombing. But we have never thought that retaliation would be an answer.
We the Hibakusha call on the government of the United States of America to acknowledge the A-Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as criminal acts and apologize for the crime, and translate the apology into action by making good on the “unequivocal undertaking” to accomplish the elimination of nuclear weapons from its arsenal without delay.
It was the 15-year long war of aggression by the Japanese government that laid the basis for inviting the atomic bombing. We continue to urge the Japanese government to take its due responsibility of apologizing and compensating for the grave suffering and damage it caused to the people of its own and of other countries.
The Hiroshima and Nagasaki was not the end of nuclear weapons program for the US government. It has kept developing new weapons ever since at the cost of exposing people, including many of its own, to radiation. In initiating and pursuing the nuclear arms race, the US government has hidden the facts and left these victims unattended and suffering in agony. In the meantime, the government of Japan made no effort of informing the world of the real situation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Instead, it has compelled the Hibakusha to endure the A-Bomb suffering and continued to support US nuclear policies, claiming that the US nuclear umbrella is necessary for its security.
The cause of today’s outrageous situation, where nuclear weapons threaten the annihilation of the entire human race in a moment, largely rests on the irresponsibility of the Japanese government, as well as those of the 5 nuclear weapons states.
We have called for the prevention of nuclear war and the abolition of nuclear weapons for nearly half a century. It is mortifying that our government keeps ignoring our call and instead finds its interest in taking such pro-nuclear policies. We cannot help but feel a sense of powerlessness of not having able to change such attitudes of our government.
After the International Court of Justice issued an advisory opinion saying, “the threat or use of nuclear weapons would generally be contrary to the rules of international law”, the public opinion in support of the abolition of nuclear weapons has rapidly gained force. The Review Conference on the Non-Proliferation Treaty in May last year accomplished a laudable achievement by drawing an undertaking from the nuclear powers to accomplish the elimination of their nuclear weapons. It was a victory of the world public opinion that had been created by governments of non-nuclear weapons states and non-governmental organizations.
Slowing the world was finally turning itself toward the abolition of nuclear weapons. Then the terrorist attacks on September 11 caught us off guard followed by the war of “retaliation.” It mortifies us when we fear that the current for the abolition might be reversed. In fact, right after President George W. Bush declared “war”, US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was reported to have advised President Bush the use of tactical nuclear weapons, and Bush himself asserted that the US will keep open the options of using all forces available.
This brings us back to the days of Hiroshima and Nagasaki 56 years ago where babies, elders and women were all mercilessly torn into pieces, squashed or burned alive. And our minds can see the horror being repeated on the land of Afghanistan under the shadow of a mushroom cloud.
As we stated in our statements on September 22 and October 15, we have been deeply concerned over a possibility of the retaliatory militarily response to the terrorism resulting in an indefinitely vicious cycle of violence. We fear that our concerns might become a reality. The use of sophisticated weapons like cluster bombs by US military forces has significantly lowered the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons.
We must act now to inform the world of the horror that nuclear weapons will bring, and accelerate the process of nuclear disarmament leading to the their total abolition. We must build a world in the early part of this century without nuclear weapons and war. If you only share the desire of the Hibakusha, our dream of creating a nuclear weapon-free 21st century will come true. In fact, we are steadily coming closer to reach that goal.
It is a duty of those who lived the 20th century under the curse of nuclear weapons to pass on a world freed from the threat of nuclear weapons or war to our children who will live in a new century. And the peoples of Japan and the United States, above all, bear the greatest responsibility. It is we who can change our own governments’ policies. Let us walk hand in hand. Our future is in our hands.