A-bomb survivor warns of decline of 'nuclear taboo' in U.N. meeting

The Mainichi

01-05-2025

NEW YORK (Kyodo) -- A Japanese atomic bomb survivor expressed hope for progress at a major U.N. conference on nuclear disarmament next year, warning at a preparatory session on Wednesday of the increased fear of the use of nuclear weapons following Russia's war against Ukraine.
"We have high expectations for the role of the NPT review conference in a world where the decline of the 'nuclear taboo' is a growing concern," said Hiroshi Kanamoto, representing 2024 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Nihon Hidankyo, Japan's leading atomic bomb survivors' group, referring to the review meeting on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
"Will the NPT, which entered into force half a century ago in 1970, continue discussions indefinitely without any progress?" the 80-year-old who survived the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945 said, noting that the "ardent wish" of aging survivors is to achieve the elimination of nuclear weapons in their lifetime.
Kanamoto delivered his speech during a session attended by nongovernmental organizations as part of the third, and final, meeting of the preparatory committee for the 2026 NPT review conference, which will lay the groundwork for whether a final document can be adopted next year.
The last two NPT review conferences, held in 2015 and 2022 at the U.N. headquarters, were unable to reach agreement on any substantive outcome documents, amid divisions between nuclear and non-nuclear weapons states. In 2022, last-minute opposition from Russia scuttled hopes for consensus at the conclusion.
Noting that atomic bomb survivors rejoiced when a U.N. nuclear ban treaty entered into force in 2021, Kamamoto said "the nuclear taboo" seems to be "wavering."
"We are now living in a very dangerous world," he said, citing Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine that began in 2022 and the deadly conflict between Israel and Hamas that started in 2023.
The review conference convenes once every five years, in principle, to assess the situation surrounding nuclear disarmament among other issues under the treaty, which now has 191 parties.
The NPT recognizes Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States as nuclear weapons states and obliges them to pursue nuclear disarmament.
The move to create the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was led by some non-nuclear weapon states and civil society campaigns increasingly frustrated with the stalled progress on disarmament.
Japan, the only country in the world to have experienced nuclear attacks, has not signed the nuclear weapons ban treaty. The Asian nation relies on the nuclear deterrence provided by its security ally, the United States, and the government has called for maintaining and strengthening the NPT regime.