Record of 120 countries. Invitation to new generations to make more
Exactly 80 years after the atomic bombing immediately on the morning of August 6, 1945 by the United States, the Japanese city of Hiroshima renewed the invitation to do more to eliminate the threat of other catastrophes, also addressing the new generations, in a world marked by growing geopolitical instability.
At 8:15, inside the park that hosts the Memorial of Peace, the relevance of the bell marked the beginning of the minute of silence: the exact time of 77 years ago in which the atomic device was released by the B29 American bomber ‘Enola Gay’, causing the death of about 140,000 residents. A second bomb was used on Nagasaki on August 9, with the death of at least 74,000 people, mostly civilians, effectively decreeing the end of the Second World War, with the unconditional surrender of Japan.
“Despite the current fragility situation, we citizens should never give up,” said the mayor of Hiroshima, Kazumi Matsui, in the declaration of peace read during the commemorative ceremony, less than a year after the assignment of the Nobel Peace Prize to Nihon Hidankyo, the basic organization that collects the survivors of the atomic bombings, the ‘Hibakusha’, rewarding their efforts for a world free from nuclear weapons.
“Our young people, the leaders of future generations, must recognize that incorrect policies in the field of military spending, national security and nuclear weapons, could lead to absolutely devastating and inhuman consequences. We urge them to come forward with this awareness and to guide civil society towards consent”, underlined Matsui to a record audience of 120 countries and government delegations from all over the world.
On the other hand, for the first time below 100 thousand, the survivors officially recognized for both attacks, with an average age of just over 86 years of age, decrease.
As per the script, the first citizen again urged the government to participate, as an observer, in the meeting of the states of the Treaty States on the prohibition of nuclear weapons (NPT) and adhere quickly as a sign of compliance with the lessons of history. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in his speech did not mention the theme of the Treaty, a practice for the executive found under the protection of the Washington ally, which instead has the atomic weapon. Despite being the only country victim of a nuclear attack, in fact, Japan – like the state of Israel – does not adhere to the treatise that prohibits the use of nuclear armaments, which entered into force in March 1970, although it continues to support the agreement on non -proliferation.
In a message, the Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, reiterated how the risk of a nuclear conflict is gradually growing, and has reported that “the same weapons that caused so much devastation to Hiroshima and Nagasaki are again treated as coercion tools”.
