Hibakusha Submit 8.3 M. Signatures Backing Nuke Abolition to U.N.

October 11, 2018

New York- A Japanese hibakusha group submitted a list of some 8.3 million signatures to the United Nations on Wednesday in an appeal for the abolition of nuclear weapons.

The list was handed from Sueichi Kido, 78, secretary-general of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, to U.N. General Assembly First Committee chairman Ion Jinga and U.N. High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu.

During their meeting at the U.N. headquarters in New York, Kido expressed hope that the abolition of nuclear weapons will be achieved "as soon as possible, or at least while we are alive."

Jinga said he was impressed by hibakusha activities including the sharing of their tragic experience.

The international signature campaign was launched in April 2016 mainly by hibakusha, or survivors of the 1945 atomic bombings of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, with the goal of collecting hundreds of millions of signatures by 2020.

The number of signatures on the list increased to 8,300,403 as of the end of last month from about 5.15 million a year earlier.

The campaign is now planned to be strengthened to reach people outside Japan. Jiji Press