71 years ago, nuclear bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing and injuring more than 100.000 persons. Nowadays, there are approximately 15:000 nuclear bombs worldwide. Survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Hibakusha, still stand up to ask for the end of the nuclear race and the creation of a safer world. For this 71st anniversary, Hiroshima and nagasaki mayors joined the worldwide anti-nuclear movement to appeal governments and the international community to react and fight the nuclear threat.
2016-08-09 – The average age of the hibakusha has exceeded 80. Our time to hear their experiences face to face grows short. Looking toward the future, we will need our youth to help convey the words and feelings of the hibakusha. Mayors for Peace, now with over7,000 city members worldwide, will work regionally, through more than 20 lead cities, and globally, led by Hiroshima and Nagasaki, to promote youth exchange. We will help young people cultivate a shared determination to stand together and initiate concrete action for the abolition of nuclear weapons.
Matsui Kazumi – Mayor of the City of Hiroshima – August 6, 2016 – Read the full Hiroshima statement here.
I appeal the leaders of states which possess nuclear weapons and other countries, and to the people of the world: please come and visit Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Find out for yourselves what happened to human beings beneath the mushroom cloud. Knowing the facts becomes the starting point for thinking about a future free of nuclear weapons.
Tomihisa Taue – Mayor of the City of Nagasaki – August 9, 2016 – Read the full Nagasaki Statement here.
A few years ago, Ban Ki-Moon, UN Secretary General also expressed himself, encouraging everyone to take action:
“I am pleased to greet all those gathered in Hiroshima, nagasaki, Tokyo to launch a new campaign calling for the start of negociations for a convention banning nuclear weapons. The history of multilateral disarmament shows the importance of citizens raising their voices to demand action by governments…. I hope people everywhere will sign your petition, thereby adding their voice to rising chorus calling for the start of negotiations. One day, we will rid the world of nuclear weapons. And when we do, it will be because if people like you.”
Read the full Ban Ki-Moon statement here.
You can also take action against nuclear weapons! Please, support the Appeal of the Hibakusha for the elimination of Nuclear Weapons. Sign and send back this petitio to kj3t-tnk@asahi-net.or.jp (or by postal way to: AFSC, 2161 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, Ma. 02140 USA).