Hiroshima survivors call for nuclear weapons ban treaty

Survivors of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima asked the Japanese authorities to join the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). With a group of survivors, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida met at a memorial ceremony on the occasion of the 78th anniversary of the bombing, writes Kyodo.

The publication recalled that at the G7 summit in Hiroshima in May, the leaders of the countries adopted a joint document on nuclear disarmament “Hiroshima Vision”, in which the NPT is called the “cornerstone” of nonproliferation and the “foundation” of disarmament.

Survivors of the bombing had mixed reactions to the document, Kyodo points out, citing the results of its survey. Thus, some of the respondents pointed to the absence of any mention of the TPNW, which entered into force in 2021.

“At a meeting with representatives of atomic bomb survivor groups after the ceremony, Kishida responded to their calls for Japan to join the ban treaty, saying only that he would work to get nuclear-weapon countries involved,” the article says.

At the ceremony, the mayor of the city, Kazumi Matsui, read out the text of the Hiroshima Peace Declaration, which, in particular, calls for immediate adherence to the NPT and “at least to observe the meeting of the signatories of the treaty.”

“Leaders around the world must face the reality that the nuclear threats now being voiced by some politicians expose the recklessness of the theory of nuclear deterrence,” Matsui said, adding that they must take concrete steps immediately.

The US Air Force dropped “Baby” and “Fat Man” atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in western Japan on August 6 and 9, 1945, at the end of World War II. The atomic bombings of two Japanese cities, in which a total of 214,000 people lost their lives, were the only cases of combat use of nuclear weapons in history.