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United Nations Conference to Negotiate a Nuclear-Weapons Ban Treaty
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On December 23 last year, the United Nations General Assembly adopted by a majority vote a resolution to hold a conferences in March and June/July to negotiate a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their elimination.
The legal prohibition of nuclear weapons could become an important turning point in creating a nuclear weapon-free world, and there are expectations that this would become the first step towards realizing the fervent wishes of the hibakusha.
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Request for all United Nations member states to participate
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President Matsui (Mayor of Hiroshima) of Mayors for Peace issued an open letter immediately after the resolution was passed, calling for all states, including nuclear weapons states and those under the nuclear umbrella, to proactively participate in the negotiating conference, and to earnestly address the establishment of a nuclear weapons ban treaty.
He also asked that Mayors for Peace member cities to broadly publicize his message.
OPEN LETTER FROM MAYORS FOR PEACE (excerpt)
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In so voting, the global majority finally acted on the fervent wish of the atomic bomb survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (hibakusha), that no one else should ever suffer as they have.
Mayors for Peace, a nonpartisan organization representing one billion people, wholeheartedly welcomes this landmark vote and calls on all states to participate constructively and in good faith in the 2017 negotiations.
Today, more than 15,000 nuclear weapons, most an order of magnitude more powerful than the bombs that devastated Hiroshima and Nagasaki, over 90% of them held by the United States and Russia, continue to pose an intolerable threat to cities and humanity.
With nuclear-armed countries edging ever closer to direct military confrontation in conflict zones around the world, former U.S. Defense Secretary William Perry has warned:
"The probability of a nuclear calamity is higher today, I believe, than it was during the cold war."
In this increasingly volatile environment, the illusion of international security still depends on the threatened use of nuclear weapons as prescribed by the doctrine of "nuclear deterrence"－a notion based on mutual distrust and the unspeakable horror the term implies.
But nuclear deterrence offers no effective solution to the global security challenges we face.
Nuclear weapons are useless both in preventing and responding to terrorism.
Their very existence brings new risks of use each day.
In this time of global upheaval and uncertainty, we are witnessing a growing trend towards exclusivity and conservatism, in terms of both economics and diplomacy.
Precisely for this reason, all states must redouble their efforts to transcend differences and overcome obstacles through persistent dialogue and cooperation, which are key to creating common values.
This applies especially to the nuclear disarmament process.
While most of the nuclear-armed states and states under their "nuclear umbrellas" voted against the resolution, the serious sense of crisis shared by the majority of the international community must not be neglected.
Participation by the nuclear-armed states in these negotiations can provide a venue for confidence-building and constructive engagement that can contribute to de-escalation of international tensions.
We expect the nuclear-armed states and their allies to take innovative approaches and demonstrate decisive leadership in this regard.
When government representatives gather at the United Nations in New York, from 27–31 March and 15 June to 7 July 2017, we call on them to engage in cooperative dialogue, to overcome their political and ideological differences, and to bring us closer to achieving a world without nuclear weapons.
(December 24, 2016)
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Aiming for 10,000 member cities by 2020
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Mayor T.M. Franklin Cownie of Des Moines, Iowa, a Lead City of Mayors for Peace, addressed the US Conference of Mayors (USCM) in January of this year, calling for US cities to work together (excerpt):
"How can we elevate and leverage the USCM's principled consistent position on nuclear disarmament to bring the United States to the negotiating table and redirect military spending to meet human needs?"
"I invite you join me and 7,204 other members of Mayors for Peace in 162 countries, and help us reach our goal of 10,000 members by 2020. I
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encourage you to act in your city to raise public awareness of the humanitarian impacts and financial costs of nuclear weapons, the growing dangers of wars among nuclear-armed states, and the urgent need for good faith U.S. participation in negotiating the global elimination of nuclear weapons."
"Mayors are primarily responsible for public safety.
When it comes to nuclear weapons, President Trump should listen to America’s mayors and let us help set sensible priorities with the aspiration that our collaboration puts the hopes, dreams and possibilities of future generations ahead of war."
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| (Peace and International Solidarity Promotion Division) |
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