Latest news with #MelissaParke
05-08-2025
- Politics
Memorial Service Held for S. Korean A-Bomb Victims in Hiroshima
Hiroshima, Aug. 5 (Jiji Press)--A memorial service was held on Tuesday for South Korean victims of the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima in the closing days of World War II. The 56th such event, which took pace at the Peace Memorial Park in the capital city of Hiroshima Prefecture, western Japan, was hosted by the Hiroshima regional branch of Mindan, an organization for South Koreans living in Japan. The head of the Hiroshima branch pledged to make efforts to pass on the memory of the Aug. 6, 1945, atomic bombing to future generations and across the globe with wishes for world peace at heart. Some 230 people attended the service, including bereaved family members, Joo Ho-young, who heads a league of South Korean lawmakers working to promote friendship with Japan, and Melissa Parke, executive director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, or ICAN. A name list of the 2,824 victims, including 10 people who died in the past year, was placed in a monument at the ceremony venue. Joo said that efforts to realize peace and eliminate nuclear weapons must continue. [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
NHK
05-08-2025
- Politics
- NHK
ICAN head: Japan should join UN nuclear weapons ban treaty meetings
The head of a global anti-nuclear weapons group has urged Japan, as the only country to have suffered atomic bombings, to take part in UN meetings on the treaty to ban the weapons. The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons Executive Director Melissa Parke spoke to reporters in Hiroshima on Monday. The group won the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize for its contribution to the adoption of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Parke is in Japan to attend ceremonies in Hiroshima and Nagasaki to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings. She said the bombings were not an isolated event, but the beginning of 80 years of harm to generations of people. She said she expects the ceremonies will be very moving and will inspire her group even more to seek a world without nuclear weapons. Parke said the risk of nuclear weapons being used is at its highest ever, and as long as the weapons exist, it cannot be said that the next 80 years will be safe. She said, "Japan has the opportunity to provide unique moral leadership, as the only country attacked with nuclear weapons in wartime." She noted that the treaty provides for victim assistance and called on Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru to "listen to the hibakusha."
NHK
17-07-2025
- Politics
- NHK
New memorial marks 80 years from 1st nuclear test in US state of New Mexico
On the 80th anniversary of the world's first atomic bomb test in the US state of New Mexico, a memorial sign was unveiled at the site acknowledging the damage and suffering caused by the radioactive fallout. The first detonation of a nuclear weapon took place on July 16, 1945. Less than a month later, two atomic bombs were dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. About 100 people attended the dedication ceremony on Wednesday and called for the abolition of nuclear weapons. The state government placed the marker near the entrance of the former test site. It includes an explanation of the damage from the blast's radioactivity and conveys the experiences of affected residents. Among the attendees at the ceremony was Melissa Parke, the Executive Director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, or ICAN. She said, "What happened here 80 years ago today also marked the beginning of an existential threat to humanity." She went on to say, "The story perpetuated by nuclear arms states that nuclear weapons keep the world safe through deterrence is a grotesque and dangerous lie." A man from an area affected by the test said people are going to read the sign and know the full story, that it just wasn't about a test, but an atomic bomb explosion. He called nuclear proliferation "ridiculous."
Observer
22-06-2025
- Politics
- Observer
US strikes on Iran 'senseless and reckless': ICAN
GENEVA: The United States' military strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities is "senseless and reckless", the head of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons said on Sunday. "By joining Israel's attack on Iran, the US is also breaking international law. Military action against Iran is not the way to resolve concerns over Tehran's nuclear programme," ICAN's Executive Director Melissa Parke said in a statement. "Given that US intelligence agencies assess Iran is not pursuing nuclear weapons, this is a senseless and reckless act that could undermine international efforts to prevent the further proliferation of nuclear weapons." Geneva-based ICAN won the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize for its key role in drafting the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which took effect in 2021. Some 69 countries have ratified it to date, four more have directly acceded to the treaty and another 25 have signed it. "The US should have continued to pursue the diplomatic process under way before Israel resorted to the illegal use of force. This does not make the region or the world safer. It makes it more dangerous," Parke said. "Striking nuclear installations is explicitly banned under international law and risks causing radioactive contamination harmful to human health and the environment. The US must stop all military action and return to the diplomatic path." In its flagship annual report on June 13 — the day Israel began its strikes on Iran — ICAN said nuclear armed states spent more than $100 billion on their atomic arsenals last year. ICAN said Britain, China, France, India, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia and the United States together spent nearly $10 billion more than in 2023. The United States spent $56.8 billion in 2024, followed by China at $12.5 billion, Britain at $10.4 billion, Russia at $8.1 billion and France at $6.9 billion, said ICAN. — AFP
