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59th Anniversary of Hiroshima Atomic Bomb, August 6, 2004
Peace Declaration
By Tadatoshi Akiba
Mayor The City of Hiroshima
"Nothing will grow for 75 years." Fifty-nine years have passed
since the August sixth when Hiroshima was so thoroughly obliterated
that many succumbed to such doom. Dozens of corpses still bearing
the agony of that day, souls torn abruptly from their loved ones
and their hopes for the future, have recently re-surfaced on
Ninoshima Island, warning us to beware the utter inhumanity of the
atomic bombing and the gruesome horror of war.
Unfortunately, the human race still lacks both a lexicon capable
of fully expressing that disaster and sufficient imagination to
fill the gap. Thus, most of us float idly in the current of the
day, clouding with self-indulgence the lens of reason through which
we should be studying the future, blithely turning our backs on the
courageous few.
As a result, the egocentric worldview of the U.S. government is
reaching extremes. Ignoring the United Nations and its foundation
of international law, the U.S. has resumed research to make nuclear
weapons smaller and more "usable." Elsewhere, the chains of
violence and retaliation know no end: reliance on
violence-amplifying terror and North Korea, among others, buying
into the worthless policy of "nuclear insurance" are salient
symbols of our times.
We must perceive and tackle this human crisis within the context
of human history. In the year leading up to the 60th anniversary,
which begins a new cycle of rhythms in the interwoven fabric that
binds humankind and nature, we must return to our point of
departure, the unprecedented A-bomb experience. In the coming year,
we must sow the seeds of new hope and cultivate a strong
future-oriented movement.
To that end, the city of Hiroshima, along with the Mayors for
Peace and our 611 member cities in 109 countries and regions,
hereby declares the period beginning today and lasting until August
9, 2005, to be a Year of Remembrance and Action for a Nuclear-Free
World. Our goal is to bring forth a beautiful "flower" for the 75th
anniversary of the atomic bombings, namely, the total elimination
of all nuclear weapons from the face of the Earth by the year 2020.
Only then will we have truly resurrected hope for life on this
"nothing will grow" planet.
The seeds we sow today will sprout in May 2005. At the Review
Conference for the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear
Weapons (NPT) to be held in New York, the Emergency Campaign to Ban
Nuclear Weapons will bring together cities, citizens, and NGOs from
around the world to work with like-minded nations toward adoption
of an action program that incorporates, as an interim goal, the
signing in 2010 of a Nuclear Weapons Convention to serve as the
framework for eliminating nuclear weapons by 2020.
Around the world, this Emergency Campaign is generating waves of
support. This past February, the European Parliament passed by
overwhelming majority a resolution specifically supporting the
Mayors for Peace campaign. At its general assembly in June, the
U.S. Conference of Mayors, representing 1183 U.S. cities, passed by
acclamation an even stronger resolution.
We anticipate that Americans, a people of conscience, will follow
the lead of their mayors and form the mainstream of support for the
Emergency Campaign as an expression of their love for humanity and
desire to discharge their duty as the lone superpower to eliminate
nuclear weapons.
We are striving to communicate the message of the hibakusha
around the world and promote the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Peace Study
Course to ensure, especially, that future generations will
understand the inhumanity of nuclear weapons and the cruelty of
war. In addition, during the coming year, we will implement a
project that will mobilize adults to read eyewitness accounts of
the atomic bombings to children everywhere.
The Japanese government, as our representative, should defend the
Peace Constitution, of which all Japanese should be proud, and work
diligently to rectify the trend toward open acceptance of war and
nuclear weapons increasingly prevalent at home and abroad. We
demand that our government act on its obligation as the only
A-bombed nation and become the world leader for nuclear weapons
abolition, generating an anti-nuclear tsunami by fully and
enthusiastically supporting the Emergency Campaign led by the
Mayors for Peace. We further demand more generous relief measures
to meet the needs of our aging hibakusha, including those
living overseas and those exposed in black rain areas.
Rekindling the memory of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, we pledge to do
everything in our power during the coming year to ensure that the
60th anniversary of the atomic bombings will see a budding of hope
for the total abolition of nuclear weapons. We humbly offer this
pledge for the peaceful repose of all atomic bomb victims.
August 6, 2004
Source: http://www.city.hiroshima.jp/shimin/heiwa/pd/pd2004e.html
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© 2003 The Acronym Institute.
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