2007 Hiroshima Peace Declaration
The following text is a translation of Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba’s 2007 Hiroshima Peace Declaration:
That
fateful summer, 8:15. The roar of a B-29 breaks the morning calm. A parachute
opens in the blue sky. Then suddenly, a flash, an enormous blast — silence
— hell on Earth.
The eyes of young girls watching the parachute were
melted. Their faces became giant charred blisters. The skin of people seeking
help dangled from their fingernails. Their hair stood on end. Their clothes were
ripped to shreds. People trapped in houses toppled by the blast were burned alive.
Others died when their eyeballs and internal organs burst from their bodies —
Hiroshima was a hell where those who somehow survived envied the dead.
Within
the year, 140,000 had died. Many who escaped death initially are still suffering
from leukemia, thyroid cancer, and a vast array of other afflictions.
But
there was more. Sneered at for their keloid scars, discriminated against in employment
and marriage, unable to find understanding for profound emotional wounds, survivors
suffered and struggled day after day, questioning the meaning of life.
And
yet, the message born of that agony is a beam of light now shining the way for
the human family. To ensure that “no one else ever suffers as we did,”
the hibakusha have continuously spoken of experiences they would rather forget,
and we must never forget their accomplishments in preventing a third use of nuclear
weapons.
Despite their best efforts, vast arsenals of nuclear weapons remain
in high states of readiness — deployed or easily available. Proliferation
is gaining momentum, and the human family still faces the peril of extinction.
This is because a handful of old-fashioned leaders, clinging to an early 20th
century worldview in thrall to the rule of brute strength, are rejecting global
democracy, turning their backs on the reality of the atomic bombings and the message
of the hibakusha.
However, here in the 21st century the time has come when
these problems can actually be solved through the power of the people. Former
colonies have become independent. Democratic governments have taken root. Learning
the lessons of history, people have created international rules prohibiting attacks
on non-combatants and the use of inhumane weapons. They have worked hard to make
the United Nations an instrument for the resolution of international disputes.
And now city governments, entities that have always walked with and shared in
the tragedy and pain of their citizens, are rising up. In the light of human wisdom,
they are leveraging the voices of their citizens to lift international politics.
Because
“Cities suffer most from war,” Mayors for Peace, with 1,698 city members
around the world, is actively campaigning to eliminate all nuclear weapons by
2020.
In Hiroshima, we are continuing our effort to communicate the A-bomb
experience by holding A-bomb exhibitions in 101 cities in the US and facilitating
establishment of Hiroshima-Nagasaki Peace Study Courses in universities around
the world. American mayors have taken the lead in our Cities Are Not Targets project.
Mayors in the Czech Republic are opposing the deployment of a missile defense
system. The mayor of Guernica-Lumo is calling for a resurgence of morality in
international politics. The mayor of Ypres is providing an international secretariat
for Mayors for Peace, while other Belgian mayors are contributing funds, and many
more mayors around the world are working with their citizens on pioneering initiatives.
In October this year, at the World Congress of United Cities and Local Governments,
which represents the majority of our planet’s population, cities will express
the will of humanity as we call for the elimination of nuclear weapons.
The
government of Japan, the world’s only A-bombed nation, is duty-bound to humbly
learn the philosophy of the hibakusha along with the facts of the atomic bombings
and to spread this knowledge through the world. At the same time, to abide by
international law and fulfill its good-faith obligation to press for nuclear weapons
abolition, the Japanese government should take pride in and protect, as is, the
Peace Constitution, while clearly saying “No,” to obsolete and mistaken
U.S. policies. We further demand, on behalf of the hibakusha whose average age
now exceeds 74, improved and appropriate assistance, to be extended also to those
living overseas or exposed in “black rain areas.”
Sixty-two years
after the atomic bombing, we offer today our heartfelt prayers for the peaceful
repose of all its victims and of Iccho Itoh, the mayor of Nagasaki shot down on
his way toward nuclear weapons abolition. Let us pledge here and now to take all
actions required to bequeath to future generations a nuclear-weapon-free world.
Tadatoshi
Akiba
Mayor
The City of Hiroshima
Go to the Hiroshima
Peace Site and read declarations from previous ceremonies.
Posted August 7, 2007