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Hiroshima Peace Declaration, August 6, 2006
Radiation, heat, blast and their synergetic effects
created a hell on Earth. Sixty-one years later, the number of
nations enamored of evil and enslaved by nuclear weapons is
increasing. The human family stands at a crossroads. Will all
nations be enslaved? Or will all nations be liberated? This choice
poses another question. Is it acceptable for cities, and especially
the innocent children who live in them, to be targeted by nuclear
weapons?
The answer is crystal clear, and the past sixty-one years have
shown us the path to liberation.
From a hell in which no one could have blamed them for choosing
death, the hibakusha set forth toward life and the future.
Living with injuries and illnesses eating away at body and mind,
they have spoken persistently about their experiences. Refusing to
bow before discrimination, slander, and scorn, they have warned
continuously that "no one else should ever suffer as we did." Their
voices, picked up by people of conscience the world over, are
becoming a powerful mass chorus.
The keynote is, "The only role for nuclear weapons is to be
abolished." And yet, the world's political leaders continue to
ignore these voices. The International Court of Justice advisory
opinion handed down ten years ago, born of the creative action of
global civil society, should have been a highly effective tool for
enlightening and guiding them toward the truth.
The Court found that "...the threat or use of nuclear weapons
would generally be contrary to the rules of international law," and
went on to declare, "There exists an obligation to pursue in good
faith and bring to a conclusion negotiations leading to nuclear
disarmament in all its aspects under strict and effective
international control."
If the nuclear-weapon states had taken the lead and sought in good
faith to fulfill this obligation, nuclear weapons would have been
abolished already. Unfortunately, during the past ten years, most
nations and most people have failed to confront this obligation
head-on. Regretting that we have not done more, the City of
Hiroshima, along with Mayors for Peace, whose member cities have
increased to 1,403, is launching Phase II of our 2020 Vision
Campaign. This phase includes the Good Faith Challenge,
a campaign to promote the good-faith negotiations for nuclear
disarmament called for in the ICJ advisory opinion, and a Cities
Are Not Targets project demanding that nuclear-weapon states
stop targeting cities for nuclear attack.
Nuclear weapons are illegal, immoral weapons designed to
obliterate cities. Our goals are to reveal the delusions behind
"nuclear deterrence theory" and the "nuclear umbrella," which hold
cities hostage, and to protect, from a legal and moral standpoint,
our citizens' right to life.
Taking the lead in this effort is the US Conference of Mayors,
representing 1,139 American cities. At its national meeting this
past June, the USCM adopted a resolution demanding that all
nuclear-weapon states, including the United States, immediately
cease all targeting of cities with nuclear weapons.
Cities and citizens of the world have a duty to release the lost
sheep from the spell and liberate the world from nuclear weapons.
The time has come for all of us to awaken and arise with a will
that can penetrate rock and a passion that burns like fire.
I call on the Japanese government to advocate for the
hibakusha and all citizens by conducting a global campaign
that will forcefully insist that the nuclear-weapon states
"negotiate in good faith for nuclear disarmament." To that end, I
demand that the government respect the Peace Constitution of which
we should be proud. I further request more generous,
people-oriented assistance appropriate to the actual situations of
the aging hibakusha, including those living overseas and
those exposed in "black rain areas."
To console the many victims whose names remain unknown, this year
for the first time we added the words, "Many Unknown" to the ledger
of victims' names placed in the cenotaph. We humbly pray for the
peaceful repose of the souls of all atomic bomb victims and a
future of peace and harmony for the human family.
August 6, 2006
Tadatoshi Akiba
Mayor
The City of Hiroshima
Source: City of Hiroshima website, http://www.city.hiroshima.jp/shimin/heiwa/pd/pd2006e.html.
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© 2006 The Acronym Institute.
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