Hibakusha hand in 3m. signatures backing nuke abolition

June 18, 2017

NEW YORK- A group of hibakusha atomic bomb survivors on Friday handed in a list of 2,963,889 signatories supporting nuclear weapons abolition and paper cranes to the chair of resumed U.N. talks for a nuclear arms ban treaty. Elayne Whyte Gomez, the chair, showed surprise at the number of signatures and expressed her thanks for the group's "huge effort." She also looked back on her trip in April to Nagasaki, one of the two cities which fell victim to the 1945 U.S. atomic bombings. The visit "has touched me very deeply," she said, adding that the Nagasaki visit led to her efforts toward the treaty negotiations. Masako Wada, 73, assistant secretary-general of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, or Nihon Hidankyo, and Toshiyuki Mimaki, 75, also a Nihon Hidankyo senior official, were present among the hibakusha. The draft treaty that has been presented by Whyte "is full of compassion and reflects our long journey," Wada said. The signatories were collected through an international signature campaign called Hibakusha Appeal, which atomic bomb survivors started in April 2016. The goal for the campaign is to collect several hundred million signatories around the world by 2020. According to the campaign's website, 663 Japanese municipal chiefs, including 13 governors, support the movement. Another hibakusha Masao Tomonaga, 74, sent to attend the treaty meeting on behalf of the mayor of Nagasaki, met with Japanese ambassador to the United Nations Koro Bessho. Tomonaga told Bessho that "disappointment is spreading" over the Japanese government's failure to participate in the negotiations. Bessho expressed some sympathy but said that Japan's reliance on the U.S. nuclear umbrella is at the foundation of the two countries' security treaty, according to Tomonaga. Bessho also said it is difficult to decide to go out of the nuclear umbrella in the face of the threats of North Korea. (Jiji Press)