Petition update – Hibakusha appeal at the United Nations for a strong treaty to ban nuclear weapons

JUN 29, 2017 — Historic negotiations for “a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination” are now taking place at the United Nations in New York. Civil society representatives from around the world are gathered there to urge all nations to work in good faith to achieve the strongest, most effective treaty possible.

Amongst the civil society present in New York include many Hibakusha, survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As the only people who have ever experienced the devastation of nuclear war, the voices of the Hibakusha carry a heavier weight than most on the topic of global nuclear proliferation. They are mentioned directly in the preamble of the revised treaty draft released earlier this week, which states that participating countries are “mindful of the unacceptable suffering of and harm caused to the victims of the use of nuclear weapons (Hibakusha) as well as of those affected by the testing of nuclear weapons…”

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