Statement on the Occasion of the 10th Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
January, 2022
Japan Council against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs (Gensuikyo)
I thank you for the opportunity to speak and pay tribute to you all for having enabled this Review Conference to take place. As shown by its postponement, people, in the suffering from the coronavirus pandemic, have an earnest desire for the end of the hostilities and waste of resources for armaments and to work in cooperation for peace, security and the solution of other vital issues facing humanity. I sincerely hope that responding to the call from the people, the sovereign of the nations, this Conference will reaffirm all previous agreements on the elimination of nuclear weapons and make a threshold of their full and swift implementation.
The 2010 Review Conference agreed to "achieve the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons". It confirmed the need to "special efforts" to establish a "framework" for this objective. Concerned about the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons, it also agreed that all States should comply with international humanitarian law at all times.
Unfortunately for nearly 12 years since then these agreements have not been pursued. The military spending of the world has increased to 2 trillion yen; 13,000 nuclear weapons are still deployed or stockpiled; and the danger of threat or use of nuclear weapons is greater than at any time in history. As if to make a mockery of the 2010 agreements, the development, buildup and deployment of nuclear weapons continue in the name of "modernization”.
The overwhelming majority of states, on the other hand, are engaged in serious efforts to turn the agreements to reality. In 2017, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) was adopted in the UN Conference by a huge margin of 122 in favor and 1 against. On January 22, 2021 it entered into force. According to opinion polls in the nuclear weapon states and their allies, about 70% to 80% of people welcome the Treaty and call for their governments’ accession to it.
Leaders of nuclear-weapon states and dependent states say that the TPNW "divides the international community", or it is "ineffective” without joining of any nuclear-armed states. Yet the rejection of their entry into the TPNW is not the fault of the treaty. It was simply due to the fact these states still believe in nuclear weapons as a "guarantee of their security". More than 120,000 surviving Hibakusha are still suffering from mental and physical injuries. How come preparation for another Hiroshima or Nagasaki can be a "guarantee of safety"?
With the view to this Review Conference, we as the civil society movement determined to take part in the global effort to make the 2010 agreements into action, calling for the shift to the “peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons”, breaking away with “nuclear deterrence”. With the Hibakusha, we unfolded signature campaign across Japan to press for our own national government to sign and ratify the TPNW.
In the name of the people who signed our petition, I appeal to you: Please reaffirm all commitments agreed by the previous Review Conferences concerning the ban and/or elimination of nuclear weapons and pledge to implement them as the obligation of all States parties. The TPNW is a beacon of hope for the survival of humanity. I call on all the national governments to support the Treaty, or to set out any other action alongside as part of the "special efforts" to establish a "framework" to achieve a "world without nuclear weapons".
