Veterans For Peace Signs on to Open Letter to People of Japan

August 02, 2018

Four years ago, in order to promote peace and abolishing nuclear weapons, a coalition of peace organizations and individuals in the Metropolitan New York area, started the annual "August 5" (August 6 in Japan) event which is one of the most peaceful and unique events on Hiroshima Day.  This year the coalition will gather on August 3rd and deliver a letter to the office of the Consulate General of Japan in New York.

Members of Veterans For Peace will join the coalition to deliver the letter in New York, (See Flyer).

Veterans For Peace has endorsed the below letter:

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE PEOPLE OF JAPAN FROM CONCERNED PEACE ORGANIZATIONS AND CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES

—In observance of the 73rd Anniversary of the Atomic Bombings of Japan—

We, the undersigned, represent a coalition of concerned peace organiza¬tions and citizens of the United States who are advocating for the importance of abolishing nuclear weapons globally, toward a more peaceful world. We are gathering here, in front of the office of the Consulate General of Japan in New York, with a bouquet of flowers to express our sincere regrets and apologies for the deaths of those killed by our nation's atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, a war crime and crime against humanity, although our government has never apologized. We wish to extend our deep condo¬lences and apology to those atomic bomb survivors (Hibakusha) who have endured great mental and physical hardships for over seven decades as a result of the horrific bombings.

As the average age of Hibakusha has now reached 82 years old, we strongly appeal to Japan to play a leadership role in signing, ratifying and pro¬moting the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which was adopted by the United Nations on July 7, 2017 with overwhelming support from 122 member states. As of the end of July 2018, 59 states have signed and 12 states have ratified the Treaty. The Treaty clearly states the prohibition of developing, testing, producing, manu¬facturing, transferring, possessing, stockpiling, using or threatening to use nuclear weapons.

We are very concerned about reports from civil society groups that some nuclear-weapon states, including the United States, have been economically and politically pressuring other states not to sign the Treaty. We strongly hope that Japan shows the strength to resist such pressure from its allies of nuclear-weapon states. We also urge Japan to play a leading role among countries that have not yet signed the Treaty by completing its domestic legislative process without delay in order to sign and ratify the Treaty.

We promise to keep raising our voices to press our own government not to engage in pressuring other states from not signing the Treaty. We will also call for the signing and ratifying of the Treaty, and urge our government to begin removing all existing nuclear weapons from operational status and destroy them in accordance with the Treaty.

This April, there was a historic summit in the Demilitarized Zone on the Korean Peninsula, where two Korean leaders agreed to work towards the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and to formally end the Korean War. We strongly hope that Japan supports the current peace and nuclear disarmament process on the Korean Peninsula by entering direct dialogue with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and proposes establishing a North-East Asia Nuclear Weapon Free Zone with leaders of the Korean Peninsula in order to make the region free from all kinds of nuclear threats.

On July 17, 2018, the 30-year US-Japan Nuclear Energy Cooperation Agreement matured and was automatically extended for an unspecified period of time, because neither the U.S. nor Japan notified the other country six months prior to its termination. We are deeply worried about this Agreement and its impact on the secu¬rity of the North-East Asian region and the rest of the world. The pact allows Japan to reprocess spent nuclear fuel to extract plutonium.

In addition, we are deeply troubled by the security implications of Japan's stockpile of nearly 47 tons of separated plutonium in conjunction with the start-up of Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant, which will have an estimated capacity to separate up to an additional 8 tons of plutonium annually. Such a large stockpile of separated plutonium is a proliferation threat, enough to make thousands of plutonium-cored atomic bombs, as well as vulnerable to nuclear terrorism and could become a grave environmental disaster if another nuclear accident happens.

The reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel requires excessive costs. It also has se¬rious environmental concerns and safety risks to workers and local citizens, as we have seen at the Hanford Nuclear Site in the U.S. which has sadly become one of the most radiologically contaminated locations in the world. Japan should commit to stopping the increase of the stockpile and set clear goals for significant reduction.

Victimized by the use of atomic bombs, Japan has also been a victim of the world's worst nuclear power plant accident since Chernobyl: suffering from massive radiation leaks that have spread well into the Pacific Ocean; the evacuation of more than 150,000 people, many of whom haven't yet been able to return home; and a rise in thyroid cancer among children, among some of the known adverse effects. The use of nuclear technology, whether military or civilian, comes with enormous risks and incalculable conse¬quences. Effective global nuclear disarmament will not be possible as long as we allow the commercial use of plutonium and highly enriched uranium.

Finally, your constitution has an inspiring introduction clause which rec¬ognizes that "all peoples of the world have the right to live in peace, free from fear and want." Japan has learned the benefits of a strong culture of peace, while the U.S. increasingly moves toward the economy of war. Article 9 of your peace constitution is more powerful and honorable than the possession of nuclear weapons. It is more persuasive than the policy of nuclear deterrence or a reliance on a "nuclear umbrella."

Thus, our coalition calls on Japan to preserve its peace constitution, dis¬card its military reliance on the U.S. nuclear umbrella, and show its strong desire to promote a safer and humane world without nuclear weapons by joining the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

NO MORE HIROSHIMA
NO MORE NAGASAKI
NO MORE WAR
NO MORE HIBAKUSHA

NEVER AGAIN!

August 3, 2018

Endorsed by:
Veterans for Peace- Chapter 34 (NYC)
Dorothy Day Catholic Worker
Granny Peace Brigade, NYC
Heiwa Peace and Reconciliation Foundation of New York
Hibakusha Stories/ Youth Arts New York
New York City War Resisters League
Nuclear Age Peace Foundation
Pax Christi Metro New York
Peace Action New York
The Ribbon International
Manhattan Project for a Nuclear-Free World

Contact info:
Veterans For Peace-Chapter 34 (NYC), P.O. Box 8150, New York, NY 10116-8150

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