[Message to Just Peace Committee and other activists who organized commemorative protests on August 6 and August 9.]
On the occasion of the 77th anniversary of the atomic bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, we AWC-Japan express our heartfelt solidarity to all our friends in Vancouver and the rest of the world who are fighting for nuclear abolition and world peace. We are also holding an anti-war and anti-nuclear rally today, August 6, in front of the Atomic Bomb Dome in Hiroshima.
The two atomic bombs killed so many people. More than 210,000 people in the two cities died by the end of 1945. Survivors have suffered from severe aftereffects. It is a horrendous crime against humanity.
Surprisingly, the U.S. government, which dropped the atomic bombs, has neither apologized for nor compensated the victims until today. In addition, it continues to build up its nuclear capability, including the development of small or tactical nuclear weapons. We strongly denounce the U.S. atrocities 77 years ago as well as present expansion of its nuclear posture.
A-bomb victims were not only Japanese. For example, around 40,000 Koreans died instantly in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They were the dual victims of Japanese imperialism’s forced transport to Japan and the U.S. imperialism’s atomic bombings. We must not forget such kind of historical facts.
We have second and third generation of A-bomb survivors in our membership. The genetic effects of radiation have not been “proven” but cannot be denied. They are standing on the front lines of the anti-war and anti-nuclear struggles in Japan, despite their health concerns. For them and us, the atomic bombings are not a matter of the past, but of the present..
In an aspect, the U.S. atomic bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were a misery result of inter-imperialist war. Therefore, after the World War II, many Japanese people have demanded nuclear abolition and world peace, not war. Japanese government’s attitude, however, is the exact opposite.
The Japanese government has not ratified the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The reason is that ‘Japan must be protected by the U.S. nuclear umbrella’. This is really shameful attitude. Furthermore, the Japanese government is now drastically developed its own military posture under the nuclear-armed U.S.-Japan military alliance. It includes planned double increasing of military budget and moves toward amendment of Article 9 or a peace article of the Japanese Constitution. We also point out that one of the reasons why the Japanese government try to maintain nuclear energy despite the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011 is to keep technical capability for Japan’s own nuclear armament.
We fight against imperialist wars of aggression and expansion of nuclear posture in solidarity with peoples of the world. We believe that only people can stop war and war crisis. Let us fight together for lasting peace in the world.
August 6, 2022
AWC-Japan
* The AWC-Japan or formally ‘Asia-Wide Campaign against the US-Japanese domination and aggression of Asia’ is a people’s organization in Japan, which has long committed people’s campaign against war, nukes, US bases and neoliberal policies. The AWC-Japan is a member organization of the ILPS.
JUST PEAce COMMITTEE 