The bomb has been banned!

 

Statement: On the Occasion of the 50th Ratification of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons

Yasui Masakazu, Secretary General
Japan Council against A and H Bombs (Gensuikyo)

October 25, 2020 

1. Today, the 50th instrument of ratification of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) was deposited. The Treaty will enter into force 90 days later, i.e., on January 22, 2021. The entry-into-force of the Treaty will render nuclear weapons illegal, establishing a norm in the international community to prohibit their use and all other activities involving nuclear weapons. The TPNW marked a critical step towards achieving the elimination of nuclear weapons. It is a significant accomplishment of the joint efforts of the Hibakusha, peace movements across the world and like-minded governments.  

2. The adoption and entry-into-force of the TPNW demonstrates the fact that main players of international politics are not a handful of superpowers but the governments and grass-roots civil society of majority of nations of the world. Nuclear-armed and nuclear-dependent states refuse to give up the fallacy of nuclear weapons as an ultimate guarantor of their national security. But the entry-into-force of the TPNW will illuminate the total illegitimacy of their logic. We call on all the anti-nuclear peace movements and civil society organizations in the nuclear-armed and nuclear-umbrella states to strengthen activities to urge their own governments to join the Treaty.

Building on the entry-into-force of the TPNW, we as the movement of the A-bombed country, are determined to do our utmost to develop international public opinion demanding the total elimination of nuclear weapons.  

3. The government of Japan, the only country to have suffered the atomic bombing, ought to stand in the forefront of the worldwide efforts to achieve the elimination of nuclear weapons. While calling itself a “bridge-builder” between nuclear weapon states and non-nuclear weapon states, Japan has actually continued to rely on U.S. nuclear weapons, which has disappointed the Hibakusha and people around the world. We urge the Japanese government to sign and ratify the TPNW without delay.

We hereby express our determination to do everything in our power to develop a national movement across the spectrum of opinions and positions, based on one demand of having Japan join the TPNW.