2015 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference NGO Session
May 1, 2015 (UN Headquarters, New York)

Speech by Representative of Mayors for Peace(Tomihisa Taue, Mayor of Nagasaki)
Chairman Ambassador Taous Feroukhi,
Distinguished delegates and leaders of civil groups,
My name is Tomihisa Taue, the Mayor of Nagasaki. It is an honor to address you
today as the representative of Nagasaki, a city which was devastated by an atomic
bomb, and as the Vice-President of Mayors for Peace.
Seventy years ago, on the 9th of August 1945, Nagasaki became the world’s secondcity to be attacked by an atomic bomb. The terrible heat rays, blast, and radiation
released by the atomic bomb instantly destroyed the city, and caused 150,000 civilian
casualties. These included children and the elderly. Even today, those who narrowly
survived are still suffering from the aftereffects of radiation exposure.
Today, many hibakusha, atomic bomb survivors, are using the last of their strength tobe here in New York to appeal for the abolition of nuclear weapons. This year, theaverage age of the hibakusha will be 80. There is not much time left to them. We havea responsibility to show these survivors the path to the abolition of nuclear weapons
while they are alive to witness it.
The “Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons” has been held
three times since the 2010 NPT Review Conference. We have arrived at this NPT
Review Conference amid rising debate surrounding nuclear disarmament, thanks tothe focus being placed on their inhumanity. However, far from the articles of the1

previous Review Conference’s Final Document being honored, we see a return to theCold War era. Nuclear war is ever more likely as tensions rise between Russia and theU.S.A. over the political turmoil in Ukraine. At this rate, the NPT regime is in dangerof becoming a mere façade.
I ask the following of the nuclear weapon states:
Firstly, I urge the U.S.A and Russia to speed up their nuclear arms reduction. We
would see progress in nuclear disarmament negotiations between all five nuclear
weapon states if both the U.S.A and Russia were to reduce their nuclear arsenal to 500warheads.
Last month, Ambassador Feroukhi visited Hiroshima and Nagasaki. I would like toask not only heads of state and heads of government, but all those involved in thenuclear problem, to come to Hiroshima and Nagasaki. There, you will see the truth of
exposure to nuclear weapons with your own eyes. If you do, you will understand just
how inhumane these weapons are, and also understand that we must be rid of them assoon as possible.
I appeal to the non-nuclear states that are under nuclear umbrellas:
Please recall Action 1 of the 2010 NPT Review Conference Final Document whichstates that:“All States parties commit to pursue policies that are fully compatible with the Treaty
and the objective of achieving a world without nuclear weapons.”
I ask that you obey these terms which you have each sworn to, and be aware that thisis a problem faced by each and every one of us.
One of these policies we must pursue is the creation of “Nuclear Weapon Free Zones”.
Instead of nuclear umbrellas, we must expand the range of “non-nuclear umbrellas”.
For those of us living in northeast Asia, there is tension concerning North Korea’s
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nuclear capabilities. I ask that Japan, for the sake of a stable northeast Asia, approach
South Korea and North Korea and make efforts to establish a “Northeast Asia NuclearWeapon Free Zone”.
I address the non-nuclear states that are not relying on nuclear deterrence:
I thank the many of you who are forming nuclear weapon free zones. I hope that yourstrong cooperation will finally set in motion the creation of a “Middle East Weaponsof Mass Destruction Free Zone”. Furthermore, I ask for your continued activity so that
we can make all 7.2 billion global citizens participate in the international discourse
concerning the inhumanity of nuclear weapons.
Many countries have submitted working documents to today’s Review Conference topromote nuclear disarmament. Our goal is the same, even if our approaches towards
the abolition of nuclear weapons differ. We should use this Conference to create a newand continuing conference which is open to all countries, where we can create a roadmap towards our goal.
I ask each of you to acknowledge that while we have been unable to rid ourselves ofour old-fashioned reliance on nuclear deterrence, the danger has once again grown. 70years after the atomic bombings, let us make this Review Conference a turning pointin the creation of a new world which denies the value of nuclear weapons.
I look forward to a lively discussion at the NPT Review Conference, and hope that you
will achieve the progress desired by the hibakusha.
Thank you very much.

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