Abolish Nuclear Weapons NowI
A Call for Participation in and Support for
the 2004 World Conference against Atomic & Hydrogen Bombs
We will hold the 2004 World Conference against A & H Bombs on
August 2-9 in the A-bombed cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the
59th since the first nuclear attack in history. We are now trying
to further press ahead with the global current toward a world free
of nuclear weapons by combining our long-time effort to arouse world
opinion in favor of nuclear weapons abolition with the world-shaking
anti-Iraq war actions, the movements against the dispatch of the
Self-Defense Forces to Iraq, and the opposition to an adverse revision
of the Japanese Constitution. To this end, we sincerely call on
all Japanese and overseas friends to take part in and support the
2004 World Conference.
Our conviction has been getting firmer that the driving force
for world progress lies in public opinion and movements of people
throughout the world based on reason, not in the enormous military
power of big powers. The Iraq war was waged under the pretext of
fighting "terrorism" and preventing the "proliferation of weapons
of mass destruction", but this justification has been revealed to
be fallacious. Severe criticism is growing of the US Bush administration's
lawless "preemptive attack" policy that contravenes the UN Charter
and tramples down the wish of peoples of the world for peace.
While the Bush administration has fought the war and has been
repeatedly threatening to use nuclear weapons by stating that it
does not rule out any options, the world has witnessed a new increase
in opposition to the use or development of nuclear weapons and the
reinforcement of the nuclear weapons monopoly, as well as a wider
spread of voices in favor of the total abolition of such weapons.
Pressed by the growing public opinion and the movements throughout
the world, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference
in 2000 unanimously agreed on the unequivocal undertaking to accomplish
the elimination of nuclear weapons. In last year's UN General Assembly,
we saw the adoption, with overwhelming support, of resolutions calling
for this promise to be fulfilled without delay or backpedaling.
The World Conference of Mayors for Peace through Inter-city Solidarity,
with the Hiroshima mayor as president and the Nagasaki mayor as
vice-president, has called for a worldwide action to put pressure
on the coming NPT Review Conference (May 2005) to make a start of
negotiations for the abolition of nuclear weapons. The "Abolish
Nuclear Weapons Now" campaign, launched by the 2003 World Conference
against A & H Bombs, has enjoyed broad support in and outside of
Japan. A successful 2004 World Conference, followed by an even bigger
wave of actions in Japan and the rest of the world toward the 60th
anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, will
make it possible for us to pave the way for a new world without
nuclear weapons.
Japan's Movement against A & H Bombs, joined by Hibakusha, has
made a call for "No more Hiroshimas and Nagasakis" heard throughout
in the world. However, the Japanese government has not fulfilled
its responsibilities as the government of the A-bombed country with
the war-renouncing Article 9 of the Constitution; it has begun dispatching
the Self-Defense Forces abroad in support of the US preemptive attack
strategy and is rushing to adversely revise the Constitution. We
are resolved to do our utmost to stop these outrages leading to
reversing of the course of history, and to meet the expectations
of the world for the Japanese anti-nuclear and peace movement.
With grassroots movements as a basic driving force, the World
Conference against A & H Bombs has developed cooperation with representatives
of national and local governments of different countries that are
active in the efforts to achieve the abolition of nuclear weapons.
The 2004 World Conference will be a venue for peoples of the world,
from national governments and NGOs, to further strengthen their
global solidarity beyond boundaries.
We call on all our friends in Japan and the rest of the world
to begin now preparing to participate in the 2004 World Conference
and carry out various actions to step up the "Abolish Nuclear Weapons
Now" signature drive and other grassroots campaigns, organize A-bomb
exhibitions and petition campaigns on Hiroshima Day (Aug. 6) and
Nagasaki Day (Aug. 9), and support and take part in the National
Peace March against A & H Bombs that will start from various places
throughout Japan to converge in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
We once again call on you to further develop actions and campaigns
all over the world, and support and take part in the 2004 World
Conference against A & H Bombs with your achievements and hopes.
February 18, 2004
Organizing Committee of the World Conference against A and H Bombs
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