Mayors for Peace Delegation dispatched as 2015 NPT Review Conference is held
－Activity Report and Future Prospects－
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Mayors for Peace (President: Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui) dispatched a delegation to New York City in April 2015 to coincide with the holding of the NPT (Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons) Review Conference being held there.
The delegation was accompanied by ten high school students from the campaign "Nuclear Abolition Now! Signature Drive by Junior and Senior High School Students".
Main activities by Mayor Matsui
April 26
Mayor Matsui made a speech at a gathering of peace NGOs, and called for participants to work together to build momentum to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons.
The Mayor then participated in the Peace March along a main street, holding Mayors for Peace banners and placards with other participants, appealing for the abolition of nuclear weapons by 2020.
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Peace March
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After the March, Mayor Matsui handed to Ms. Angela Kane, the UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, and Ms. Taous Feroukhi, Chairperson of the 2015 NPT Review Conference, a list of around 1.1 million signatures from citizens calling for the start of negotiations on a nuclear weapons convention.
He also called for participants to create a global movement to achieve such a convention.
April 27
The Hiroshima-Nagasaki Appeal Gathering was held on this day, with the aim of rallying opinions from Hiroshima and Nagasaki and appealing widely to the people of the world for the abolition of nuclear weapons.
Around one hundred people attended, including A-bomb survivors, civic organizations, Youth Communicators for a World without Nuclear Weapons, and people from the United Nations and Japanese national government bodies.
At the gathering, Mayor Matsui presented Ms. Virginia Gamba, UN Director and Deputy to the High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, with a request from Mayors for Peace, a list of around 1.1 million signatures calling for the start of negotiations for a nuclear weapons convention, and paper cranes that had been made by students from Hiroshima Jogakuin Senior High School.
There was also a speech by Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan, Mr. Fumio Kishida, A-bomb testimonials by survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki, activity reports by civic organizations and youth representatives, and a speech by Governor of Hiroshima Prefecture, Mr. Hidehiko Yuzaki.
The event ended with the adoption of "Hiroshima-Nagasaki Appeal in New York".
The mayor then attended the "Nuclear-Free World: Cries from Hiroshima and Nagasaki" exhibition in the UN Headquarters, organized jointly by the Cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and Nihon Hidankyo (Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Associations), where he made a speech and participated in the tape cutting ceremony.
A-bomb artifacts and posters with pictures of the bombing provided by Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum were on display at the venue.
April 28
Mayor Matsui met with Mr. Sebastian Kurz, Austrian Minister for Foreign Affairs and Ms. Taous Feroukhi, and requested further efforts for the abolition of nuclear weapons.
They also had a discussion on the global situation of nuclear disarmament.
April 29
The Mayors for Peace New York Gathering was held, attended by seventy people including Mayors for Peace Leader Cities, member cities, peace NGOs and people from the United Nations and government bodies.
At the gathering, cities that have become leader cities (Bangkok City, Thailand; Fongo-Tongo City, Cameroon; Mexico City, Mexico) were granted their Leader City certification.
There were also activity reports by vice-president cities such as Nagasaki City and Frogn City (Norway) and presentations on future activities.
This was followed by a panel discussion.
With Mr. Yasuyoshi Komizo, Secretary-General of the Mayors for Peace (and Chairperson of this Foundation) as coordinator, representatives of peace NGOs discussed the role of citizens and the specific initiatives to introduce legislation toward the abolition of nuclear weapons after the 2015 NPT Review Conference.
The session ended with the adoption of the Mayors for Peace New York Appeal, expressing the determination to abolish nuclear weapons by 2020 and achieve perpetual world peace.
April 30
Following on from 2014, the second Mayors for Peace Youth Forum was held.
Ten high school students who participated in the "Nuclear Abolition Now! Signature Drive by Junior and Senior High School Students" campaign, two university students from the Nagasaki Youth Delegation, two junior writers from the Chugoku Shimbun newspaper, and two university students from Bangkok, Thailand, made presentations expressing their thoughts about their respective peace activities and peace, and their determination to implement initiatives for the abolition of nuclear weapons.
There was also a video message from young people in Kochi City, India.
In the question and answer session, Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue talked about the importance of activities that continue to pass on the A-bomb experience to the next generation, and the A-bomb survivors expressed their gratitude to the young people for their passionate peace activities.
Next, the mayor met with Mr. Adam Scheinman, Special Representative of the US President for Nuclear Non-Proliferation, and requested that President Obama visits Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and that discussions on a nuclear weapons convention or similar legal frameworks to it are advanced.
In addition, as an event to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima City as well as the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the United Nations, the UN 70th Anniversary Commemorative Event: Hiroshima Peace Memorial Concert Leading to the Future was held together with the Japanese Music Association of Hiroshima, and around one hundred people attended, including people from the United Nations and national governments.
May 1
Mayor Matsui met with Ms. Cynthia Kelly, President of the Atomic Heritage Foundation, which promotes the creation of national historical parks from the Manhattan Project constructions, and communicated his concerns and thoughts from a region that has been hit by an atomic bomb.
He also asked that her Foundation display content that communicates the inhumanity of nuclear weapons.
This was followed by a speech at the NGO session that was part of the official program at the NPT Review Conference, where the mayor made a strong appeal to national government representatives about the inhumanity and “absolute evil” of nuclear weapons.
In his speech, the mayor said that it is commendable that there is now growing awareness at the national state level of the inhumanity of nuclear weapons as an issue.
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On the other hand, he expressed his strong opposition to the recent idea that hostility between states and terrorist acts are preventing progress in nuclear disarmament negotiations.
He also stated strongly to the world's policymakers that now is the time to exercise their leadership for the abolition of nuclear weapons.
He also mentioned that all signatories to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty have a duty to faithfully hold disarmament negotiations as stipulated in Article 6 of the Treaty, and emphasized the importance of starting negotiations on a nuclear weapons convention as soon as possible.
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NGO session
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Release of request document to Chairperson of NPT Review Conference and representatives of signatory nations attending the conference
After the Mayors for Peace delegation returned to Japan, it was found that the NPT Review Conference Final Document did not include the sentence encouraging the world's leaders to visit the A-bombed sites of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which had originally been included in the document.
Mayors for Peace created a document requesting that this sentence be revived, and asking for the inclusion of a specific commitment to hold sincere negotiations on nuclear disarmament to bridge the legal gap for the complete abolition of nuclear weapons.
The document was jointly signed by Mayors for Peace executive cities and leader cities, and sent to the NPT chairperson and others.
Assessment of the NPT Review Conference
The NPT review conference spent four weeks discussing nuclear disarmament measures and was broken off without reaching agreement.
The Final Document included a section on how to proceed with nuclear disarmament for the next five years, but was not adopted due to disagreement over the denuclearization of the Middle East, an extremely disappointing result.
On the other hand, some parts of the conference did provide hope for the progress of future discussions on the abolition of nuclear weapons.
For example, the final draft that was presented at the final session included a recommendation that the world's political leaders conduct exchange activities and share experiences with regions and people who have received damage from nuclear weapons, and establish a task force at the United Nations General Assembly to be held from September 2015 to specify legislation and other effective measures to fulfill their duties for nuclear disarmament.
This is the result of discussions that were held on items that Mayors for Peace have appealed for
－ visits to the A-bombed cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the start of negotiations for a nuclear weapons convention －
and many nations thus became aware of the importance of these items.
This is somewhat worthy of note.
Moreover, at this conference, a record 159 nations backed the Joint Statement, which decries the inhumanity of nuclear weapons and calls for their non-use, and 107 nations assented to the Humanitarian Pledge submitted by Austria.
There is greater awareness of the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons and many non-nuclear weapon states are now taking the issue seriously, aware that they too could be victims of nuclear weapons.
There is also increased awareness of the need for legal frameworks to prohibit nuclear weapons.
These are all noteworthy results of the conference.
Future initiatives of Mayors for Peace
In light of the results of this NPT Review Conference, the current issue is whether or not a forum will be set up for multilateral talks on the legal prohibition of nuclear weapons, and we need to continue to monitor the situation.
In any case, Mayors for Peace must ensure that there is no break in the momentum of discussions on the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons
－ by conveying the facts of the atomic bombing to future generations, spreading the peace message of the A-bomb survivors, and communicating their wishes to future generations and beyond borders to the people of the world.
Mayors for Peace is working for the abolition of nuclear weapons by 2020.
We will further expand the number of member cities and implement proactive and autonomous activities in regions all over the world, with the aim of giving a stronger voice to citizens asking national governments for specific measures to abolish nuclear weapons, and thus building up international public opinion.
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| (Peace and International Solidarity Promotion Division) |
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