- For a World without War and Nuclear Weapons -

"No more Hibakushas!" We, the Hibakusha, have had to carry this call into the 21st century.

It was the 6th and the 9th of August in 1945. Two atomic bombs dropped by the U.S. instantly turned Hiroshima and Nagasaki into cities of death. Those who barely survived but unable to save their loved ones who were burned alive, later fell one after another, devoured by radiation. It was a disaster that no one had believed could happen in a human world. Those of us who survived the "atomic hell" continue to this day to be tortured in our bodies and minds. How long will the radiation damage of the atomic bombs be passed down from generation to generation?

The atomic bomb does not allow people either to die, or to live in dignity as human beings. It is a weapon of absolute evil, aimed solely at annihilation. The only way for the Hibakusha to live on as humans is to totally reject atomic bombs.

Over the last half century, the Hibakusha have overcome their pain, told the realities of the damage of the atomic bombing and conveyed their call "No More Hibakushas!" to the world. Their call has mobilized public opinion and movements in favor of the "elimination of nuclear weapons". Their message has spread around the world and become a major current in political affairs. Since Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the use of nuclear weapons in war has been prevented. It is actually public opinion and the anti-nuclear movement throughout the world that have worked as deterrents to nuclear war.

Abolish Nuclear Weapons Now!

The world carried over some 30,000 nuclear weapons into the 21st century. The U.S. and other nuclear-weapon states still cling to these weapons and maintain the "nuclear deterrence" policy. The U.S. does not exclude the first nuclear strike option.

The dropping of the atomic bombs by the U.S. constitutes a serious crime against the human community. The tragedy of nuclear war must not be repeated. The U.S. must recognize that it committed a crime against humanity in violation of international law and apologize. We believe this should be the very first step towards the elimination of nuclear weapons, the way for the U.S. to assume its responsibility for the 21st century.

All nuclear-weapon states without exception, in the process of development, manufacturing and testing of their nuclear weapons, have been causing environmental destruction, creating innumerable Hibakusha all over the world and exposing all human beings to the "nuclear terror". This is also an act equally criminal as the dropping of the atomic bombs and these states must be held responsible for it.

Many of these Hibakusha have been left to subsist in extremely poor conditions and with unbearable pain. They badly and urgently need relief and compensation.

The U.S. should immediately put an end to its nuclear deterrence policy and embark on the elimination of nuclear weapons. It should take the lead and call on other nuclear states to join in the effort to abolish nuclear arsenals. This is the only way for the U.S. to atone for its crime of the atomic bombing.

The government of Japan has never held the U.S. responsible for having dropped the bombs. On the contrary, it has aligned itself with the U.S. in its attempt to put off the achievement of nuclear abolition to an indefinite future. We cannot accept the fact that the Japanese government cooperates with the U.S. in the implementation of its nuclear policy and supports the "nuclear umbrella". This actually makes Japan a nuclear-armed country. Japan, once victim of atomic bombing, is becoming a nuclear perpetrator. We cannot close our eyes to this perilous situation.

We demand that Japan get out from under the nuclear umbrella. We demand that Japan cancel the secret nuclear agreement with the U.S. and observe and establish the Three Non-Nuclear Principles as law. This is also the way for Japan to make good use of its Constitution and contribute to world peace, in a manner worthy of the A-bombed country, and as a "non-nuclear country".

The cry of the Hibakusha, "Down with nuclear weapons" has grown into a strong public opinion. It has driven the nuclear weapon states into isolation and, as the 20th century was drawing to its end, forced them to agree on the "unequivocal undertaking of achieving the total elimination of their nuclear arsenals". In order to make them honor their "undertaking", we demand that they commence without delay international negotiations leading to the abolition of nuclear weapons.

Provide State Compensation for the A-bomb Damage!

The Japanese government has adopted a policy that takes for granted that the people should accept and endure the damage incurred in wars. It even tries to impose the acceptance of A-bomb damage on the victims. Against such a policy, we set forth the "Atomic Bomb Victims Demand (1984)" and have called for the "elimination of nuclear weapons" and "State compensation for the A-bomb damage" so that there will be "No More Hibakusha". The call of the Hibakusha gained support from the Japanese people and the movement for peace and the demand for State compensation have spread widely. This in turn has significantly improved the State measures for the Hibakusha.

However, in the "Law on the Relief of Atomic Bomb Sufferers" instituted in 1994 pressed for with powerful popular support, the government rejected the provision of State compensation to the sufferers, even to the dead who were the greatest victims.

The A-bomb damage was caused by the war launched and prolonged by the Japanese Government. It is therefore natural that the State compensate for that damage. Those who died, the greatest victims, can rest in peace as the "Cornerstones for Peace" only when nuclear weapons disappear from the earth.

The Japanese Constitution, born out of the reflection on the past world war, shows the nation's resolve to prevent the recurrence of the scourge of war by an act of the government. The policy imposing the acceptance of war damage on the people tramples upon the people's aspirations for peace embodied in the Constitution.

The recognition of responsibility for the war by the State and the delivery of compensation for the A-bomb damage will lead to an institution which does not allow the imposed acceptance of nuclear war damage and the establishment of the "right to refuse nuclear war". We believe that this right will form the foundation for guaranteeing the "right to live in peace" in the nuclear era and open the way for a compensation system for any war damage, including the damage suffered by the peoples in Asia.

We want to open the "Door to Peace" before our lives end, to a Japan where the constitutional ideals prevail and a 21st century without war or nuclear weapons.

The Door should lead to a Japanese Government that will acknowledge its responsibility for war, provide State compensation for the A-bomb damage and establish the country as a nation rejecting nuclear weapons and war. And it should lead to a U.S. that will apologize for dropping the atomic bombs and embark on the abolition of nuclear weapons.
We, the Hibakusha, will continue to strive to live, tell, call and fight until we open the Door.

June 5, 2001
Japan Confederation of A-and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo)