Japan and the World Must Double Nuclear Disarmament Efforts
RfP Japan DeliverJoint Statementwith Parliament Group to Government
Representatives from Religions for Peace（RfP）Japan and Parliamentarians
for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament (PNND) Japan handed a Joint
Statement for the abolition of nuclear weapons to Keisuke Suzuki, a State
Minister for Foreign Affairs on May 11 at the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo,
calling Japanese government to engage in a broad debate on the credibility
of its nuclear deterrence policies.
RfP Japan and PNND Japan had initially intended to release the Statement
before the opening of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review
Conference which had to be held at UN Headquarters in New York in late
April to May. The conference was postponed due to the pandemic of the novel
coronavirus, and the two organizations were worried that the postponement
would discourage the effort of the international society to nuclear arms
reduction. They were also deeply concerned about the deteriorated situation
of nuclear weapons. So, the two groups decided to issue the Statement.
In the past, RfP Japan and PNND Japan published their joint statement in
2015 and 2019, both in connection to the NPT Review Conferences.
The Joint Statement was adopted by representatives of the two organizations
on April 27 at a meeting in Tokyo. Twelve PNND members, including State
Minister Suzuki (LDP), Representative Shoichi Kondo (PNND Vice-Chair, CDP),
were physically present at the meeting, while nine representatives from
RfP, including Rev. Mitsuaki Takami (Archbishop of Nagasaki), Rev. Kenichiro
Nakamura (Task Force Director for the Ratification of The Treaty on the
Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons), Mr. Kimiaki Tokumasu, President of the
Japan Muslim Association and a member of the Task Force, joined online.
The Joint Statement recalls that this year marks the 75th anniversary of
the atomic bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It expresses deep concern
about the nuclear weapons buildup of today, despite the efforts of the
A-bomb survivors to reduce the WMDs. It also alarms against the standstill
of multilateral nuclear disarmament negotiations, blaming the self-centered
policies of certain countries.
On the other hand, the Statement praised Pope Francis’s visit to Nagasaki
and Hiroshima last November and the Declaration of the 10th RfP World Conference
in Lindau, Germany for "arousing the sympathy of the global citizens
for the abolition of nuclear weapons and sending a message to the political
leaders around the world that the existence of nuclear weapons is an absolute
evil.”
The Statement poses a grave question about the nuclear deterrence policy
of the Japanese government. It calls for a broad-based debate over the
credibility of the policy. “We must verify what kind of nuclear policy
is necessary to protect the lives of people,” it insists.
“The international community is expecting Japan, the only country to suffer
from nuclear weapons during the war, to support the treaty,” says the Statement
regarding the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. It strongly
urges the Japanese government to participate as an observer to the Conference
of the Parties to the Convention, which will be convened within one year
of its entry into force.
Joint Statement by RfP Japan and PNND Japan
