The 7th General Conference of Mayors for Peace

Opening Ceremony
August 8 (Sat), 2009 13:30 – 15:00
Nagasaki Brick Hall (Main Hall)

Opening Remarks: Tomihisa Taue
Vice President of Mayors for Peace
Mayor of Nagasaki City
Tadatoshi Akiba
President of Mayors for Peace
Mayor of Hiroshima
Greetings:

H.E. Rev. Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann
President of the 63rd United Nations General Assembly
Genjiro Kaneko
Governor of Nagasaki Prefecture

Message:

H.E. Mr. Ban Ki-moon
Secretary-General of the United Nations
Delivered by Mayor Taue of Nagasaki City

Keynote Speech:“Creating an Integrated Vision for Nuclear Abolition”
Bruce Gagnon
Coordinator
Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in SpaceMC: Tomihisa Taue, Vice President of Mayors for Peace;
Mayor of Nagasaki City
Hello everyone. Mayors for Peace is a conference of mayors who are determined toprotect citizens of the world from nuclear weapons. My name is Tomihisa Taue, I
serve as Vice President of Mayors for Peace. I shall be serving as Master of Ceremony,as we are hosting this conference. So, ladies and gentlemen, we would now like to
begin the 7th General Conference of Mayors for Peace.
Opening Remarks: Mayor Taue
I would like to welcome participants from overseas as well as from Japan.

Thank youvery much for coming all the way to Nagasaki. I would also like to express my thanks
to our citizens who have come to this hall in spite of very hot weather.
Since the United States first succeeded in the production of atomic bombs in July 1945,
nuclear development has led to greater destructive power, extended range, and increased
arsenals. Recently, we have seen more countries coming to possess nuclear weapons,
and history tells us that the danger for humanity has increased with the world‟s nuclear
arsenal.
Under such circumstances, President Obama made a speech in Prague, Czech Republic,
where he clearly declared to seek “a world without nuclear weapons”. That speech by
President Obama changed the atmosphere. Expectations for the abolition of nuclear
weapons have risen. Of course, President Obama can‟t do it himself. Many others
will have to be involved, and we all must to show our determination to put an end to the
nuclear threat.
The 7th General Conference of Mayors for Peace in Nagasaki, held under the theme of“NUCLEAR WEAPONS ABOLITION IS IN OUR HAND! –Let‟s get theHiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol adopted in 2010 – ” will be the first and largest
conference of cities and municipalities seeking the abolition of nuclear weapons since
the Prague speech by President Obama. Through inter-city solidarity, we need to takeleadership in raising awareness of the importance of abolishing nuclear weapons andmake this conference held at the A-bombed city of Nagasaki an historic event.
In Nagasaki, citizens have started collecting signatures asking President Obama to visit
Nagasaki so he can see the horror of the atomic bombings with his own eyes and listen1directly to the survivors‟ voices. This would greatly raise awareness about theabolition of nuclear weapons. At this hall, we are asking everyone to sign such apetition to strengthen our invitation to President Obama and get him to Nagasaki. In
this way we can send a strong message to the world. I hope that you will join us insigning the petition to support the President Obama‟s speech in Prague and invite world
leaders to visit Nagasaki.
I hope that you will work with us to make this 7th General Conference of Mayors for
Peace in Nagasaki a successful one. As the mayor of the host city, I will do my best toensure a productive and successful General Conference over the next three days.
Thank you for your cooperation.
Now, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to introduce to you the guests of honor, theexecutive officials of Mayors for Peace and some people who have made a major
contribution to the success of Mayors for Peace.
First, let me introduce His Excellency Mr. Miguel d‟Escoto Brockmann. As Presidentof the 63rd UN General Assembly, he pointed out that the abolition of nuclear weapons
is the only way to prevent proliferation. He has come all the way to Nagasaki tosupport our efforts. This is the first time in 16 years that the incumbent president of
the UN General Assembly has visited Nagasaki. The last visit by the President was in
1993, by His Excellency Mr. Stoyan Ganev. Thank you very much Your Excellency
for coming to Nagasaki.
Next is the Governor of Nagasaki Prefecture, Mr. Genjiro Kaneko. As governor, hecooperated with Nagasaki City to host the symposium during the UN Disarmament
Week. I will invite Mr. d‟Escoto and Mr. Kaneko to deliver their addresses a little
later.
Now, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to introduce to you the organizations,individuals, and cities that have contributed to Mayors for Peace.
Madam Miho Cibot of the Association Française des Communes, Départements etRégions pour la Paix (AFCDRP), or the French association of cities, departments andregions for peace, is the wife of Mr. Michel Cibot, General Manager of Malakoff City.
She is a well-known poet. Using French, she is conveying the horror of atomic bombs

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in graphic terms.
Mr. Bruce Gagnon, Coordinator of the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear
Power in Space will deliver the keynote address.
Next, I will introduce the executive officials of Mayors for Peace.
From Hannover, Germany, Lord Mayor Stephan Weil. From 1987, the city of
Hannover has served us as an executive official and vice president. Hannover is one ofthe oldest members. In Germany, Hannover has been the leader of our anti-nuclear
activities. Thank you very much for your long years of contributions to Mayors for
Peace.
Next is Mr. Michel Cibot, General Manager of Malakoff in France. From 1995, thecity of Malakoff has served as an executive official and vice president, and as I havealready introduced, Madam Miho Cibot is the wife of Mr. Michel Cibot. They areconnecting anti-nuclear activities in France with Japan. This is the 10th visit for themto Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Next is Mr. Sean Patrick Morris, Principal Policy and Research Officer of Manchester
City in the United Kingdom. Since 2001, the city of Manchester has served as an
executive official and vice president. Manchester took leadership in the anti- nuclear
movement during the Cold War. Manchester was the first city to declare itself a
Nuclear Free Local Authority. That was the beginning of the nuclear free local
authorities movement, and now 1,500 local authorities in Japan have also declaredthemselves nuclear free.
Next is Ms. Susanna Agostini, Councilor from Florence, Italy. Since 2005, the city of
Florence has served as an executive official and vice president. The most recent
Executive Conference of Mayors for Peace took place in Florence. I was impressedwith the history and stately patina of the city that was the cradle of the Renaissance.
She is a city councilor, and a trusted advisor to the mayor and her people.
Next is Mr. Donald Plusquellic, from the City of Akron, in the United States. Since
2005, Akron has been the executive city and vice president. He was the former
president of the US Conference of Mayors. The city joined us quite recently but has

3given tremendous support to Mayors for Peace.
Next, from the City of Ypres, Belgium, Mayor Luc Dehaene. It was quite recent that
Ypres became an executive city in 2007, only two years ago. But they havecontributed greatly to Mayors for Peace. As you are aware, the International
Secretariat for the 2020 Vision Campaign Association is in the City of Ypres, and Mayor
Dehaene is the one who has made that courageous decision. In the city office, there isa monument to Mayors for Peace. They are active and positive in giving their support
for our activities.
Next, from Biograd na Moru, Croatia, Mayor Ivan Knez. Last year in 2008, the city ofBiograd na Moru became an executive city. In the 1990s during the conflict in Croatia,
Biograd na Moru became a battlefield for several years. There is a strong wish andhope for peace there. They were very much impressed by the paper cranes presented
by Hiroshima City. Mayor Ivan Knez erected a copper crane monument on their coastthat is over four meters tall.
From the City of Granollers, Spain, Mayor Josep Mayoral i Antigas. Granollers joined
Mayors for Peace in 2005, contributing a great deal to the expansion of our organization.
They became an executive city last year, and we are looking forward to working withthem.
Now from the Arab world, from the City of Halabja, Kurdistan, Iraq, Mayor Khder
Kareem. Halabja became an executive city in 2008 and is the leader of our member
cities in Iraq. In this General Conference, it is our pleasure to have many participant
cities from Iraq. In March 1988, under the Hussein administration, chemical weapons
were used in Halabja on the border between Iraq and Iran. Instantly, as many as 5,000
people were killed in the tragedy of Halabja. We should never forget that incident.
Just like Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Halabja lost many of its residents, and has been
active in building peace.
Lastly, from the City of Waitakere, New Zealand, Mayor Robert Harvey. Waitakere
has been an executive city since 2008. With Maori, Polynesians, and people from the
Pacific islands, there are more than 100 different cultures in Waitakere. Their voices
are reflected in the peace policy of the city. We have heard different voices from themand we are expecting to hear many voices from the Pacific region. Thank you very4much.
Now, then, may I now call upon President of Mayors for Peace, Mayor Akiba ofHiroshima City, please.
Opening Remarks: Tadatoshi Akiba, President of Mayors for Peace;
Mayor of Hiroshima
Good afternoon everyone. I am Akiba from Hiroshima. I serve as President ofMayors for Peace. First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to participants who
have traveled a long distance from abroad. Now I shall be speaking in English.
Fellow Mayors for Peace, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 7th General Conferenceof Mayors for Peace. This conference takes place once every four years and is theforum in which we share our hopes for the future and confirm our collective
commitment to our goals and objectives.
As most of you know, this is the first time that this conference has been held exclusively
in Nagasaki, and I want to begin by thanking Mayor Taue, the Nagasaki city staff andthe citizens of Nagasaki who have devoted so much time and effort to this mostimportant Mayors for Peace event. I am extremely grateful to them for taking on thissignificant burden and for doing such a fine job.
In addition to the City of Nagasaki, I would like to specifically mention a few nameswith thanks. First, George Regan is chairman of the Association of Nuclear Free Local
Authorities, one of our most important organizational allies in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Regan. And Tom Cochran is executive director of the US Conference of Mayors,
our greatest source of support in the United States. The USCM has passed five
powerful resolutions supporting our campaign, and we are profoundly grateful for theleading role they have played. Tom, are you here? Please stand to be recognized.
Thank you very much. Also with us today is one of Japan‟s most respectedanti-nuclear activists, the creator of the Peace Depot, Mr. Hiromichi Umebayashi.
will be here later on and I shall be introducing him then.

He

Thanks for being here today, especially when all cities have been hit hard by the global
economic crisis. I would like to express my appreciation to all the mayors and cityrepresentatives who are even more committed to the cause of peace under these difficult

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circumstances. I believe that in the long run, our efforts to abolish nuclear weapons
will improve city economies. Because money spent on weapons and war will be
converted to real people‟s needs. For this reason alone, we would like to focus on theabolition of nuclear weapons now, especially this year. As a matter of fact, this is a
critical year for Mayors for Peace, and for that matter for the world, for the abolition of
nuclear weapons, for peace and for the future of our species on this planet. As you
will see later today when we present our Action Plan, we are focusing our efforts quite
intensely on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT Review Conference that willtake place in May 2010. At that conference, the international community will make afateful decision. Will we take a convincing step toward total nuclear disarmament, or
will we allow nuclear weapons to spin out of control?
Luckily, President Obama has opened the door to a nuclear-weapon-free world. Byspeaking out, he and other high-ranking government officials and former government
officials in the UK, US, Germany, and other nations have made it acceptable to imagine
and even work toward a nuclear-weapon-free world.
Last May in New York, I along with several others here today, attended the Third
Preparatory Committee Meeting for the NPT Review Conference of 2010. There, I
witnessed first-hand the tremendous change in the disarmament climate largely
attributed to President Obama. One after another, national representatives rose toquote some part of his Prague speech and to declare that their country, too, wanted
nothing more than a nuclear-weapon-free world. It was as if the entire world had
suddenly heard the voices of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki hibakusha. This change inclimate inspired me to launch what we are calling the “Obamajority campaign”. The
term “Obamajority” refers to the overwhelming majority of people and nations on thisplanet that want to be liberated from the threat of nuclear annihilation. The word isalso meant to commit ourselves to do more than what we are doing now or even what
President Obama will do so that together we can make our dream come true. Somepeople are reluctant to put a proper name in front of the majority, but it is there forpractical reasons.
The United States is the nuclear superpower. Without the commitment andcooperation of the President of that country, we cannot possibly reach our goal, anuclear-weapon-free world. And there are many people and organizations everywhere
trying to discourage or unabashedly opposing President Obama. The question is6whether we want to encourage them or encourage President Obama. The answer isobvious. Largely because of the Obama effect, I came away from the Preparatory
Committee Meeting last May quite hopeful, but keenly aware that a great deal of workneeds to be done. My understanding is that all parties to the NPT will be working hard
to avoid a repetition of the failure we saw at the Review Conference in 2005.
We have recently seen the US and Russia agree to a small reduction in warheads, withpromises of more to come. President Obama has promised to host a major conference
on nuclear disarmament in March 2010, and we certainly hope the momentum
generated there will lead to a disarmament agreement at the NPT Review Conference in
May that will convince all nations that the international community, including thenuclear-weapon states, is determined to rid the planet of this threat to our survival.
However, the forces working against such an agreement remain extremely strong.
Powerful forces within the nuclear-armed states, including India, Pakistan, Israel andNorth Korea, are doing everything in their power to slow down and stop the momentum
toward disarmament. Similar forces exist in countries that do not yet have nuclear
weapons but are working secretly to obtain them. Even here in Japan, some arepushing hard to maintain or even to enhance the so-called nuclear umbrella. Others
are openly advocating that Japan should possess nuclear weapons of its own.
And here is where the majority comes in. According to a public opinion survey
conducted last year in 21 countries including seven nuclear-armed states, close to 80%of the people in these countries support a treaty banning nuclear weapons. This showsthat those who want to eliminate nuclear weapons are the majority. In fact, we are theoverwhelming majority.
However, wanting something is not enough. We must start walking toward that goal.
And there are those experts who can show how we can get there. That is why, after
consulting with those experts, relying on the common sense of the majority of people,
and on behalf of Mayors for Peace, I introduced the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol at
UN Headquarters in Geneva in April 2008. It proposes the following scenario in
diplomatically acceptable language and format. First, an immediate halt to all efforts
to acquire or deploy nuclear weapons by all countries, including the Democratic
People‟s Republic of Korea, which has so recently conducted defiant nuclear tests; animmediate start of multilateral negotiations in good faith with the goal of concluding a7

nuclear weapons convention by 2015; and finally, elimination of all nuclear weapons by
2020.
It is straight forward, logical, practical, technically feasible, legally effective, morally
solid, and simple as well as short. It fits on one page. I would like to ask you to readthe Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol once again to be assured of its worthiness. It is the
only document on the table that conceivably stops the proliferation of nuclear weapons.
As I have mentioned in the Peace Declaration, we, the citizens of the world, are working
together as the majority voice of the world.
The US Conference of Mayors resolution adopted at the 77th Annual Meeting urges
President Obama to announce at the NPT Review Conference the initiation ofnegotiations to reach an agreement to abolish nuclear weapons by 2020. The
Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol together with the announcement by President Obama
would be the most natural flow anybody can expect. Then we would be in business.
And let me point out in passing by quoting what is known as Occam‟s razor: “Thesimplest answer is usually the correct answer”. Let me repeat. All nuclear weapons
can easily be made permanently inoperable by 2020. We do not lack the money, thefacilities or the methods required. We lack only the political will. And we will bedoing everything in our power to promote its acceptance at the Review Conference nextMay.
That is why this General Conference is devoted to the theme of making the NPT
Review Conference next May a success. I know that at the end of the three days, we,Mayors for Peace, will have a much clearer view of what each of us needs to do fromnow until May next year. I assure you that I, Mayor Taue, and the cities of Hiroshima
and Nagasaki will be doing everything we can to make the Review Conference a
success. We want as many hibakusha as possible to welcome and live a
nuclear-weapon-free world. We want our children and their children to live in a
nuclear-weapon-free world. We owe that much to our future generations. It is thewill of the Obamajority.
We, cities, can and must demand it of our national governments. We have the power,
we have the responsibility, and we are the Obamajority. Together, we can abolishnuclear weapons. Yes, we can. Thank you very much.

8Mayor TaueThank you very much. Now, we would like to receive greetings from the guests ofhonor. I invite His Excellency Father Miguel d‟Escoto Brockmann, President of theUnited Nations General Assembly to deliver his remarks.
Greetings: H.E. Rev. Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann
President of the 63rd United Nations General Assembly
The Honorable Governor Genjiro Kaneko, Honorable Mayor Taue, Honorable Mayors
for Peace, blessed survivors, distinguished guests, brothers and sisters all, it is truly anhonor for me to be with you this afternoon, and to participate in the 7th General
Conference of Mayors for Peace.
I want to thank Mayor Taue and Mayor Akiba especially for extending the invitationthat brings me here today, and to congratulate them and all their collaborators – nearly
3,000 cities and many millions of citizens around the world – for their tirelessleadership in campaigning for a world free of nuclear weapons.
I believe, we have arrived at a propitious moment, recognized as such by heads of stateand government across the world and in nearly every political camp who have declaredthat now is the time to commit ourselves to eliminating nuclear weapons once and forall.
I also believe that we have arrived at this moment of hope largely through the tirelessand inspiring work of Mayors for Peace and their many like-minded collaborators
around the globe.
I am very pleased to have this opportunity to share my own reflections on where wehave arrived in the arduous, but unavoidable quest to guarantee a world free of nuclear
weapons.
To assess where we are at now, it is important to know where we have been. So I think
we should begin with a quick look at history. In the mid-to-late 1960s, it was
becoming clear that a new, comprehensive approach to nuclear non-proliferation anddisarmament was needed that would simultaneously curtail the accelerating nuclear
arms race among the leading “nuclear-haves” and the rapidly growing number of those
aspiring to become nuclear powers.

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It was also recognized that if we were to have any possibility of persuading morecountries not to exercise the nuclear option, it would be necessary to address the issues
most important to the nuclear “have-nots”, namely that they not be denied the benefitsof access to nuclear energy and other peaceful applications of nuclear technology, andthat nuclear-weapon states not derive any exclusive benefits from the permissions they
were given to continue nuclear tests and development.
The solution was a proposed new “grand bargain” that took the form of a global Treaty
on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, or NPT. The NPT was first signed in
London, Moscow, and Washington on July 1, 1968, and entered into force on March 5,
1970.
In essence, its terms were relatively simple and went as follows: the number of nuclear
powers would be frozen at five; all other state parties to the Treaty would commit todismantle or otherwise not pursue their own nuclear weapons development program.
Each nuclear-weapon state party to the Treaty also agreed not to transfer, and thenon-nuclear states agreed not to accept nuclear weapons and their related materials,
knowledge, and technologies. The non-nuclear state parties agreed in addition, toaccept safeguards under the International Atomic Energy Agency “for the exclusive
purpose of verification of the fulfillment of its obligations” under the Treaty.
Furthermore, in return for agreeing not to pursue nuclear weapons capabilities of theirown, the non-nuclear states received commitments under the NPT not to be denied their“inalienable right” to “develop research, production and use of nuclear energy forpeaceful purposes without discrimination.”
Nuclear-weapon states were enjoined to cooperate with other parties to the treaty, incontributing “to the further development of the applications of nuclear energy forpeaceful purposes.” And the Treaty committed nuclear-weapon states to agree that any“technological by-products” derived from the development of nuclear explosive devices
should be made available for peaceful purposes to all parties.
Finally, Article VI of the NPT contained what seemed to be a ringing declaration that
“Each of the Parties undertakes to pursue negotiations in good faith on effective

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measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date, and to
nuclear disarmament and on a Treaty on general and complete disarmament understrict and effective international control.”The grand bargain of the NPT has provided the central institutional framework for
global cooperation on nuclear arms control and disarmament for nearly four decades
now. During the last ten years, largely owing to political deadlock in the US Senate,that framework has been nearly moribund, but the activism of civil society and a
growing unease among political elites around the globe, helped preserve and thenrevitalize public demands for “Global Zero,” or complete and final abolition of nuclear
weapons.
This movement is so powerful and broad-based that the Democratic and Republican
candidates in the year 2008 US national elections both declared that it would be theirintention to make elimination of nuclear weapons the explicit policy of the US
Government. On April 5 of this year, the winner of that election, President Barack
Obama, fulfilled that commitment by declaring in a speech delivered in Prague and I
quote:“I state clearly and with conviction America‟s commitment to seek the peace andsecurity of a world without nuclear weapons.”
That much-anticipated statement followed similar statements by leaders of several othernuclear powers, but coming from the new US President it clearly helps to revive
flagging institutions and processes. Within weeks, the long moribund UN Conference
on Disarmament had achieved its first work plan in several years. The US and Russian
negotiators had agreed on an ambitious bilateral nuclear-weapons reductions target andan aggressive negotiating schedule that called for an agreement to be reached by the endof the year. Support for the Comprehensive nuclear Test Ban Treaty and of the Fissile
Material Cut-off Treaty revived like desert flowers after an unexpected rain.
The government of Japan, I am pleased to note, made a welcome bid for leadership in
this cause when Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone announced his “11 Benchmarks
for Global Nuclear Disarmament” in an important speech on April 27. I hope that it is
not improper for me to express my personal wish that the government of Japan continue
to follow the direction indicated by Foreign Minister Nakasone, asserting Japan‟s moral
authority and leadership on this issue.

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The rise of public demand, and now political support, for “Global Zero” is not the endof the story, but only, possibly, the beginning. But a door has opened, and we all havea profound obligation to explore its possibilities and exploit the options it presents forachieving nuclear disarmament.
How shall we proceed? At the risk of sounding petulant, I must raise two importantconcerns about the path we are on:
The first relates to credibility: it is unclear to what extent the new commitment to
Global Zero espoused not only by President Obama, but also by many of his colleagues
in the nuclear club, represents something truly new. Merely committing to Global
Zero is nothing new; that promise was a core element of the grand bargain of the
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
If experience is any guide, merely returning to the NPT-centered approach to nuclear
disarmament, even with a strong emphasis on the importance of nuclear weapon
abolition as an “ultimate” end, will not lead states down the path to nuclear
disarmament.
The second problem is one of legitimacy. The NPT is patently discriminatory. Not
only did it legitimize a world divided between nuclear “haves” and “have-nots”, but it
also established, or rather reconfirmed, the practice of allowing a small group of statesto interpret and enforce the rules, without themselves being subject to those same rules.
The safeguards and international inspection regimes of the NPT, do not apply to the
nuclear powers today in the same way that they apply to the non-nuclear powers; andthe more onerous monitoring and inspection regimes proposed under the Model
Additional Protocol apply primarily to the nuclear “have-nots.”
Any new approach to Global Zero based on the NPT must address these deficiencies ofcredibility and legitimacy or risk being portrayed, accurately in my opinion, as old winein new bottles.
In order to address these fundamental questions of credibility and legitimacy, I want topropose four important lines of action that can help demonstrate convincingly that theworld has indeed committed itself to complete and final elimination of nuclear

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weapons:
First, it is vitally important to set an early date for achieving disarmament, along with aclear realistic timetable, and to work hard and be seen to work hard to achieve it. I
strongly support the date proposed by Mayors for Peace. The year 2020 will be the75th anniversary of the terrible destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and also the50th anniversary of the NPT. An American president once set an ambitious goal of
placing a man on the moon within a decade, and this year we have celebrated the 40th
anniversary of that human achievement. Eleven years is not too little to demonstratereal commitment and real progress, even if full achievement of the end goal may prove
to be somewhat beyond our reach in just one decade.
Second, it is essential that we begin work on the large new problems that call for
attention once we take seriously the goal of achieving complete elimination of nuclear
weapons, not for a brief moment, but forever. In an important essay in this direction,
researchers, George Perkovich and James Acton, have noted that the main questions
associated with disarming below minimal thresholds to zero, and establishing aneffective international regime in support of global abolition have never seriously evenbeen asked by the foreign policy and nuclear weapons establishments. This workneeds to begin at once, in a setting that guarantees transparency and inclusiveness for all
interested parties, which should include all 192 member states of the United Nations
plus the observers.
Third, all nuclear weapons “haves,” including those outside the Non-Proliferation
Treaty regime, should begin to build credibility and enhance the legitimacy of theinternational non-proliferation regime by placing their own enrichment and weapons
programs under international monitoring and inspection regimes. This step is
indispensable if we are going to manage nuclear rivalries and persuade countries thatare not yet quite convinced that the whole international community is, in fact, preparedto accept a peaceful nuclear energy program, but not a weapons program.
Finally, to achieve legitimacy and enhance effectiveness, the whole process needs to bebrought into the United Nations system, where it truly belongs. It is possible, andhighly desirable, to have private efforts, independent scientific inquiry, and othernon-United Nations initiatives, but there should be a strong presumption that thefindings of all such efforts should be made available to all nation-states through the UN13

agencies, and the United Nations organizations should be strengthened to be able toengage as a peer with any governmental agency.
I am pleased to join Mayors for Peace in your extraordinary campaign to bring a
profound sense of moral responsibility, hope, commitment, common sense, reason andthe power of many hundreds of thousands of collaborators all over the world.
Together we can show that a better world is indeed possible. Thank you.
Mayor TaueThank you very much for your greatly informative explication, Your Excellency.
May I now call upon Mr. Genjiro Kaneko, the Governor of Nagasaki Prefecture to say a
few words of greeting?
Greetings: Genjiro Kaneko, Governor of Nagasaki Prefecture
Thank you very much for your kind introduction.
With the 64th A-bombing anniversary coming tomorrow, on behalf of the people ofNagasaki Prefecture, it gives me a great privilege to congratulate and welcome yourvisit to Nagasaki for the occasion of the 7th General Conference of Mayors for Peacewith high level of attendance from home and abroad. My thanks especially go to His
Excellency Mr. d‟Escoto Brockmann, President of the United Nations General
Assembly for coming all the way to the A-Bombed City of Nagasaki.
To all the members of Mayors for Peace, I would like to pay my highest esteem to yourendeavors for the realization of permanent peace in the world. Your activities are so
deep and broad in seeking the total abolition of nuclear weapons, protecting the global
environment indispensable for human life, and solving the issues of human rights,
famine, and poverty through close inter-city coordination.
On August 9, 64 years ago, this beautiful city of Nagasaki was turned into rubble in a
split second by one A-bomb. Over the past 64 years, the town has resuscitated again
into a beautiful peace town, but the sorrow of the bereaved, those who have lost their
beloved families and friends, is too deep to be healed even today. The elderly
hibakusha are still suffering from the aftereffects of radiation. I believe it is the
responsibility of the entire Prefecture of Nagasaki to communicate the tragedy causedby the A-bomb to the next generations, and appeal to the world for the total abolition of14

nuclear weapons.
Nagasaki Prefecture designated August 9 as the date of citizens‟ prayer, through which
we pray for the repose of the souls of A-bomb victims and coordinate our wishes torealize the abolition of nuclear weapons and perpetual peace in the world. We also
designate the same day as a day for school children to come to school during thesummer vacation to instill in the young generation the peace loving spirit of Nagasaki
through various peace education programs.
When we look at the international community, there is momentum emerging, asrepresented by US President Obama‟s speech in April, for a world without nuclear
weapons. On the other hand, we still have large nuclear threats in front of us such as
the underground nuclear test by the DPRK in May.
It is a MUST for all of us to arouse international voices in search for the success at the
NPT Review Conference to be held in New York in May next year, and to strengthen
the international nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime. I believe that it isquite opportune that all of you gathered here for the 7th General Conference of Mayors
for Peace in Nagasaki to build an inter-city relationship to create a world free from
nuclear weapons. We, the citizens of Nagasaki Prefecture, are committed tocooperating with you to make our best efforts to create a peaceful world without nuclear
weapons.
Lastly, I offer my best wishes for a productive and fruitful conference and foraccomplishing your planned objectives. Wishing you good health and furtherance ofyour cities, I conclude my address. Thank you very much.
Mayor TaueThank you very much, Governor Kaneko, for joining us despite your busy schedule.
We have received a message from the Secretary-General of the United Nations, His
Excellency Mr. Ban Ki-moon.

I would like to read it for you.

Message: H.E. Mr. Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations
Delivered by Mayor TaueI am pleased to send greetings to the 7th General Conference of Mayors for Peace.

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I salute Mayor Akiba of Hiroshima and Mayor Taue of Nagasaki as well as theirpredecessors for collectively advancing this valuable initiative over more than aquarter of a century.
Thanks to Mayors for Peace, millions of people around the world have been
informed about the catastrophic effects of the 1945 nuclear attacks. You have also
raised public awareness about the dangers that cities, in particular, would face ifthese destructive weapons were ever used again.
I am grateful for your advocacy because I share your vision of a world free of
nuclear weapons. While we remain far from this goal, that is no reason to despair.
As outlined in the five-point plan I issued last year, there are practical and realistic
steps the international community can take to make this vision a reality.
Global awareness of the need for progress in nuclear disarmament is greater than it
has been in many years. This support is broad-based. To build on thismomentum, next month‟s observance of the International Day of Peace will seek tomobilize the world to advance the disarmament and non-proliferation agenda.
I am encouraged by the commitment shown by many world leaders, and by yourown efforts to promote a global ban on nuclear weapons by 2020. A world
without nuclear weapons may be distant, but it is no longer just a dream. I lookforward to continuing to work with governments and global citizens to realize thisshared vision. Please accept my best wishes for a successful conference.
The United Nations Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon
Mayor TaueThank you very much.

We have received many messages but because of the time

constraint, I will put them up on the message board in the hallway of the auditorium.
Please take a look at them at your leisure.
Now ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce to you our keynote speaker. He is awell known peace activist from the State of Maine in the United States, Mr. Bruce
Gagnon. In 1992, he was a co-founder of the Global Network Against Weapons and16

Nuclear Power in Space. He is currently the coordinator of this network. He hashelped us understand how space is utilized for the warfare. To stop the militarizationof space, he has been delivering speeches and is a popular personality on community
TV in the State of Maine. Today he is going to deliver a speech entitled of “Creatingan Integrated Vision for Nuclear Abolition”. Mr. Gagnon, you have the floor, please.
Keynote Speech: “Creating an Integrated Vision for Nuclear Abolition”
Bruce Gagnon, Coordinator
Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space
Hello. It is good to be with you all today.
Before I get started, I would like to say a word of thanks. As I travel and I speak about
the difficulties of the age that we live in today, people often ask me where I get my hope,
what keeps me going. And I tell them that the thing that gives me the greatest hope iseverywhere I go I see wonderful people doing wonderful work. And here today, to seeleaders from all over the world, from cities all over the world, is one more time that I
feel great hope. I thank all of you very much.
I am very honored to have been invited by Mayor Akiba and Mayors for Peace to sharemy thoughts about the important subject of nuclear abolition at this solemn time when
we remember the nuclear bombings of the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by theUnited States 64 years ago. Nuclear disarmament remains the fundamental issue of
our time.
Let me first say a few words about my own personal history and the organization I workfor. I grew up in a military family and lived in various places around the world. In
1971, being a young conservative like my father, I too joined the United States Air
Force and was stationed at a base in California that was an airlift base for the war in
Vietnam. Soldiers would come from all over the country to board the planes to go to
the war. When the huge transport jets returned, they carried the wounded soldiers andthe body bags of those troops who had been killed. As a result, there were frequently
anti-war protests outside of my base. Although they were often very small, theycaused the GIs like myself on our base to endlessly debate the war, and this is the timethat I became a peace activist.
Some of you may remember the date June 12, 1982, a historic day.

17

On that day,

almost a million people demonstrated outside the United Nations in New York City,
calling for nuclear abolition. People came from all over the world for the UN Special
Session on Disarmament that was called to deal with the continued use of violence ininternational affairs and with the growing nuclear arms race.
I did not attend the June 12 march, but I did watch the rally on public television frommy home in Orlando, Florida. After the rally was over, the TV coverage switched to aconference where Lieutenant General Daniel Graham was speaking. At the time
General Graham was President Ronald Reagan‟s head of the Strategic Defense Initiative,
or “Star Wars.” During a question and answer session following Graham‟s speech,
someone asked him: “General, they say there are almost a million people in New York
City today, demonstrating for disarmament. Aren‟t you worried about that?”Without missing a beat, General Graham responded: “No, I think it is great. They areout there protesting against ICBMs, and we are moving into space. They do not have aclue. Let them keep doing what they are doing.”
Imagine my surprise at hearing this. What was he talking about? Moving into space?
I knew very little about this. It was then that I began working to help prevent the arms
race from moving into the heavens.
The following year, just as the nuclear freeze campaign was taking off all over theUnited States, I became the state coordinator of the Florida Coalition for Peace andJustice, where I helped to build a statewide movement opposing all nuclear weapons. I
also began working hard to learn about, and to share with the public, as much as I could
about General Graham‟s Star Wars plans.
In 1984, I made my first trip to Hiroshima and Nagasaki. While in Nagasaki, I was
asked to speak at a memorial service to commemorate the Koreans in Hiroshima andNagasaki who were killed on August 6 and 9. I was told that only in more recent years
have the Koreans who were killed, and the Korean hibakusha, been remembered.
During those days, I was to hear the stories of many hibakusha who further turned myworld upside down.
When I returned to Florida, I was determined to share the things I had learned with as
many people as possible. I wrote an opinion piece for my local newspaper, but it was
rejected on the grounds that I could not prove that the stories I shared from the18

hibakusha were true.
This only made me more determined, and the following year in early August, I arranged
for several hibakusha to tour our state of Florida. Their visit ended with a major
protest on August 9 at a weapons factory that manufactured the Tomahawk cruise
missile. Thirteen of us were arrested that day for attempting to walk onto the factory
grounds carrying a letter calling for the conversion of the facility to peaceful production.
I believed then, and I believe now, that it would dishonor the memory and sacrifices of
the hibakusha if we did not do everything possible to expand their campaign to abolishnuclear weapons and war.
Those of us living in Florida at that time could quickly understand the plans for space
warfare, as the Kennedy Space Center and NASA, the space agency, are based in thecenter of the state, not far from where I was living at that time. I began organizing
people to go to the space center for protests whenever military satellites were launched,when Trident nuclear missiles were test-fired from there, or when NASA launchedspace missions carrying highly-toxic Plutonium 238 on-board.
It was during this time that much of what the so-called “civilian” NASA space program
was actually doing, we learned it was actually “dual use”, meaning virtually every
mission served two masters. Civilian space programs are routinely used to test space
weapons technologies.
By 1992, the Florida Coalition for Peace and Justice had become so heavily involved in
the space issue in Florida that we began looking around for more allies. We had earlier
discovered an organization, called Citizens for Peace in Space, in the state of Colorado,
where the US Space Command was headquartered. This relationship led to a creationof the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space that I coordinate
today.
As we organized the Global Network, we learned about the US space warfare bases inEngland, Greenland, Norway, Australia and in other parts of the world. Local peacegroups in those countries quickly became part of our movement, and today we have 150
affiliated organizations around the planet.

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In the years that followed, we began collecting and sharing the US Space Command‟sdetailed plans for space. “Master of Space” is the logo of the 50th Space Wing at theheadquarters building at the Space Command in Colorado.
In an important planning document, called “Vision for 2020” published in 1997 during
the presidency of Bill Clinton, this Space Command states:“Although unlikely to be challenged by a global peer competitor, the United States
will continue to be challenged regionally. The globalization of the world economy
will also continue, with a widening between „haves‟ and „have-nots‟…spacesuperiority is emerging as an essential element of battlefield success and future
warfare.”Furthermore, the Space Command calls for the US “control and domination” of space.
And they say, “Control of Space is the ability to assure access to space, freedom of
operations within the space medium”, and most importantly, they say, “an ability todeny others the use of space.”
Each branch of the military today, the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force, now has its
own space command. Another important document, this time written by the Air ForceSpace Command, gives us a better idea of what the Pentagon has in mind for space,called the “Strategic Master Plan: Fiscal Year 2006 and Beyond” it states:“the ability to gain space superiority (the ability to exploit space while selectively
disallowing it to adversaries) is critically important…To date, we have enjoyed defacto space superiority, but adversaries have shown that they have taken notice…To
fully develop and exploit potential CS (counter-space)…some US policies andinternational treaties may need to be reviewed and modified.”
When the Space Command talks about “exploiting space”, it does not only mean using
it as a weapons platform. Scientists have discovered precious mineral resources on themoon, Mars, and asteroids. One of the jobs of the Space Command, in the years ahead
will be to build a military highway to these bodies so that aerospace corporations cancontrol them for mining operations. One reason so many nations, including Japan, areso interested in establishing bases on the moon is because helium-3 has been discovered
there. Scientists believe the resource could be used to fuel fusion reactors back on
Earth, making the profits of the oil corporations pale in comparison. This new race tothe planets could be another source of conflict here on Earth, unless the world begins

20now to insist on peaceful, cooperative space exploration.
Let us now return to the Space Command and further define some of the terms it uses.
“Full spectrum dominance” means that the US military will control all war fighting at
every level of conflict. The Army will control the ground; the Navy will control theoceans; the Air Force will control the air, and the Space Command will control space.
But there is just one problem. If the US can do this, so could some other countries.
Thus, the Space Command says, it must deny other countries access to space. It must
be the “Master of Space.” And to carry out this denial mission, the Space Commandhas said, it must have weapons in space that would be able to take out a competitor
nation‟s space assets, meaning their satellites.
We now know that military satellites are what controls war on the ground today. Whenthe Pentagon launched the initial attack in the “shock and awe” invasion of Iraq in 2003,
70 % of the weapons that were used were directed to their targets by space satellites.
The Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, or drones as they are often called, that are killing many
civilians in Afghanistan and Pakistan today, are actually flown by pilots sitting atcomputer terminals at military bases inside the United States. In real time, split second
time, the pilots can watch the ground in Afghanistan from cameras mounted on thedrones and order them to fire their deadly missiles using satellite technology.
The idea that no competitor nation will be allowed to have access to space duringconflict is of course a very provocative one to Russia, China and even the European
Union. The European Union has responded to this fact by creating their own military
satellite navigation and targeting system, called Galileo.
Another important point that must be mentioned is the cost of Star Wars. Not only
does the militarization of space make life on Earth less secure today, because it fuels a
new arms race, but it is also extremely expensive. The aerospace industry has boasted
that the Star Wars will be the largest industrial project in the history of the planet Earth.
No matter how hard the United States government tries, it cannot afford to pay for thisnew arms race in space, all by itself. This is where the allies come into the equation.
One of the Pentagon‟s jobs today is to persuade Japan, South Korea, Australia, England,21Germany, India and other nations to become a part of the program to put the expensive
space warfare system in the place. That of course means that many social andenvironmental needs will be neglected or ignored completely.
So today we see the United Sates expanding PAC3 and THAAD missile defense
programs throughout the world, particularly in the Asian Pacific region. We see thePentagon pushing for “missile defense” deployments in Poland and the Czech Republicagainst the will of the people in those nations. We see Star Wars radar facilities being
expanded and upgraded in England, Australia, Germany, Greenland, Norway, and inother places around the world for the purpose of communicating with new generationsof military satellites that will help direct this program of “full spectrum dominance.”
In the US, we see space technology weapons programs under development, like laser
weapon systems, new generations of war fighting satellites, cyber warfare systems, andmilitary space planes, and even hives of miniature robotic Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.
This is just the tip of the iceberg.
Let me talk about just one of these programs to illustrate how space technology“advancements” are a danger to hopes for global nuclear disarmament.
General James Cartwright, the Vice Chairman of the Pentagon‟s Joint Chiefs of Staff,
recently concluded that conventionally-armed bombers are “too slow and too intrusive”
for many “global strike missions.” General Cartwright pushes for a “prompt global
strike” weapon, which would be ultra-fast and fitted with a conventional warhead. The
General says that the military needs “hypersonic” weapons that would travel throughspace to take out targets on the other side of the planet.
For the past several years the US Space Command has annually been computer
war-gaming such an attack. Set in the year 2016, the Pentagon launches the military
space plane that takes off like an airplane, flies through space, and then unleashes adevastating first-strike attack on China‟s nuclear forces all within one hour. Chinathen attempts to launch a retaliatory strike with its tens of nuclear missiles capable ofhitting the west coast of the continental United States. But US “missile defense”
systems, like those parked nearby on Naval Aegis destroyers, in Japan, South Korea,
and possibly even Taiwan, help take out China‟s crippled nuclear response. Missile
defense, sold to the public as a defensive system, is really designed by the Pentagon to22

be the shield after the first-strike sword has lunged into the heart of China‟s nuclear
arsenal.
Imagine, if you would, how the leaders inside China view this computer war game.
The technologies are now being developed to destroy the firewall between conventionaland nuclear weapons. Space technology thus becomes the enabler of first-strike
military doctrine. Any hopes for serious nuclear abolition negotiations with China are
irreparably harmed by the militarization and weaponization of space.
Some, when they hear about the Space Command plans like Vision for 2020 or the 2016
computer war games against China, say that these developments are just theoretical, that
the Global Network makes too much out of nothing. But there is much more toconsider.
Just after the 9-11 attacks in New York, the Strategic Command, at Omaha, Nebraska inthe mid-western United States, began undergoing a complete overhaul in its role andmission. For years, the famous Strategic Air Command (SAC) was the bomber andnuclear missile command for the Pentagon, charged with providing “nuclear
deterrence.” Now though, the Strategic Command, or StratCom as it is popularly
called, has been charged with new, more aggressive missions. Tim Rinne, the State
Coordinator of Nebraskans for Peace has watched the quick evolution of StratCom anddescribes it this way:“Those so-called „Missile Defense‟ installations proposed for Poland and the Czech
Republic – that‟s StratCom. StratCom coordinated the shootdown in February
2008 of a falling US spy satellite with a „Missile Defense‟ interceptor launchedfrom an Aegis cruiser in the Pacific Ocean. Those CIA Predator drones flying
over Pakistani airspace are flown with the aid of StratCom‟s space assets, withintelligence supplied by StratCom spy satellites. Those ECHELON National
Security Agency listening stations in Misawa, Japan; Pine Gap, Australia andWaihopai, New Zealand – that are eavesdropping on your phone calls and emails –are all part of StratCom‟s network. The recent clash between a US spy ship andChinese naval defenses in the South China Sea is linked to StratCom‟s mission as
well. And StratCom‟s presence is also felt in the Asian-Pacific where it is
responsible for launching a preemptive nuclear or conventional attack against North
Korea and the military encirclement of China.”

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The entire US military is now tied together using space technology. StratCom
maintains that all warfare on the Earth today is “net-centric.” With military satellites
in place, the US can see virtually everything on the planet and can target virtually any
place on the Earth.
One finds oneself asking the question why? Why, when we already have a maddening
nuclear arms race, is the US pushing the militarization and weaponization of space?
President Obama‟s new National Security Advisor, General James Jones, was the former
Supreme Allied Commander of NATO. In 2006, General Jones told the media:“NATO is developing a plan to safeguard oil and gas fields in the Caspian Sea
region…Our strategic goal is to expand to Eastern Europe and Africa.”
Who is the US competitor in Africa? The Pentagon maintains that it is China, largely
due to the fierce international competition for dwindling supplies of oil, natural gas,coal, uranium, and other resources around the world.
In April 2009, Army General Walter Sharp, the commander of US Forces Korea, told
members of the United States Senate Armed Services Committee in Washington that the
US-South Korean alliance was “a linchpin for stability in Northeast Asia.”
The US now has 30 ground-based interceptor missiles deployed in South Korea.
Many peace activists there, and here in Japan, strongly believe that the ultimate target ofthese systems is not North Korea, but China and Russia.
The current US military transformation underway in South Korea and Japan is indeed akey element in this regional offensive strategy to contain China, while justifying themilitary expansion as containment of a “hostile and aggressive” North Korea. I
believe North Korea‟s recent nuclear test and missile tests have been a desperate
reaction from an insecure nation worried about the US military strategy of “fullspectrum dominance.” While North Korea‟s tests were wrong, and only helped tojustify “Missile Defense” deployments in response, it must also be remembered that the
US launched a nuclear ICBM from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California toward thePacific on June 29. This might be a good time for the peace movement to begin
talking about the reductions of all strategic delivery vehicles and a missile test ban.

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The Russians have expressed interest in these kinds of negotiations.
Japanese Self-Defense Forces are now integrated into the military strategy of the UnitedStates, which puts Japan into the middle of a growing conflict zone in the region.
Japan is now in a delicate position, because if it follows the US space dominancestrategy, it will become a full partner in the dangerous and provocative plan to contain
China and Russia. The consequences could be harsh, as Japan would economically
pay a costly price. It would be wiser for Japan to remain a neutral, peace-loving nationin the region.
China maintains that deployment of “Missile Defense” systems in the Asia-Pacificregion by the United States and its allies is a threat to hopes for nuclear disarmament.
US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates‟ comments were quite revealing last April when
he said, “We are converting more navy ships to have ballistic missile defense that will
help against China.”
Living in Bath, Maine, as I do today, I have a special perspective on this US-China
naval competition. In my town, the Navy builds the Aegis destroyer that is outfittedwith missile defense systems and is being deployed in the Asian-Pacific region. The
two Republican senators from my state maintain that more Pentagon funds for Aegis
shipbuilding are needed, because China, they say, is undertaking a “massive militarybuild-up,” in order to push the US out of the Asian-Pacific.
Last June, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute released its annual
figures on global military spending for the year 2008. Not surprisingly, the UnitedStates was in first place. It spent 607 billion dollars, accounting for about 42% of theworld total. China in second place was far behind at 85 billion a year. Russia was in
fifth place at 59 billion, while Japan came in seventh at 46 billion. In fact, seven of the
top ten global spenders on military in the year 2008 were US allies. It is one thing that
the United States is massively building up its military, but why are so many othercountries around the world following the same path? Why is Japan now talking about
ending its commitment to honor Article 9 of its Constitution, and change from “forever
renouncing war” to the possibility of “preemptive offensive attack?”
Why is virtually every country in the world expanding its military at the very time thateveryone agrees that we must put the nuclear genie back into the bottle?

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We all know that fossil fuels are a declining natural resource on our fragile Mother
Earth. Many experts now say we have reached the peak of oil availability, and are now
quickly heading down the hill toward scarcity, at the very time that global demand foroil is growing.
Renowned author Noam Chomsky says US foreign policy is now all about controlling
most of the world‟s oil supply, as a “lever of world domination.” One way to keep
Europe, China, India, and other emerging markets depended on the US and in sync with
its policies is to maintain control of the oil supply that they are relying on. Even as the
US economy is collapsing, the Pentagon appears to be saying, whoever controls thekeys to the world‟s economic engine still remains in charge.
China, for example, imports up to 80% of its oil through the Malacca Straits. If any
competitor nation was able to militarily control that transit route, and choke off China‟s
oil supply, its economy could be held hostage. Many thus wonder if the current
doubling of the US military presence in the Asian-Pacific is really due to North Korea‟s
nuclear program, or is it actually a part of a larger military strategy to ensure US
control?
In his book called The Grand Chessboard, former US National Security Advisor
Zbigniew Brezinski wrote:“For America, the chief geopolitical prize is Eurasia…and America‟s global
primacy is directly dependent on how long and how effectively its preponderance
on the Eurasian continent is sustained…the primary interest”, he said, “is to gain
Geostrategic depth through political influence in Afghanistan…and to benefit
eventually from any pipeline construction linking Central Asia with the ArabianSea.”
It should be remembered that Brezinski was a chief foreign policy advisor to President
Obama during his recent presidential campaign.
Russia has the world‟s largest deposits of natural gas and significant supplies of oil.
The US has recently built military bases in Romania and Bulgaria and will soon be
adding more in Albania. NATO has been expanding eastward into Latvia, Lithuania
and Estonia, right on Russia‟s border. Georgia and Ukraine are next on the list to26

become members of what is quickly becoming a global NATO military alliance.
The NATO Treaty‟s Article 5 is quite clear that if one NATO member country is
attacked, it is the responsibility, the obligation, of all NATO members to join in defenseof that country. That means that if Georgia, which the US is now promoting for full
membership in the alliance, got into another hot conflict with neighboring Russia,
NATO would be called upon to go to war with Russia.
Much to his credit, President Obama has called for a “reset” of relations between the US
and Russia, in hopes that there will be an opportunity to negotiate significant reductionsin the arsenals of these two leading nuclear powers.
Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev delivered the opening address at the“Overcoming Nuclear Dangers” conference in Rome on April 16, 2009. He noted:“The world is now going through a global crisis, which is an unprecedented
challenge to international politics…We have to admit that nothing fundamentally
new has been achieved in the past decade and a half. The pace of nuclear arms
reductions has slowed…The quantities of nuclear weapons held by Russia and theUnited States still far exceed the arsenals of all other nuclear powers taken together,thus making it more difficult to bring them into the process of nuclear
disarmament.”
Gorbachev continued,“In the final analysis, the nuclear danger can only be removed by abolishing nuclear
weapons. But could one regard as realistic the prospect of one country retaining
the quantities of conventional weapons that exceed the combined arsenals ofpractically all other nations – the prospect of one country achieving absolute global
superiority?...Unless we address the need to demilitarize international relations,
reduce military budgets, put an end to the creation of new kinds of weapons andprevent weaponization of outer space, all talk about a nuclear-weapon-free world
will be just inconsequential rhetoric.”
I must turn to Mr. Gorbachev for one more important point here. In a very recent
interview with a German newspaper, he commented that Western Germany, the US andother powers had pledged after Germany‟s reunification in 1990 that, “NATO would not
move a centimeter to the east.” This broken promise had led to Russia‟s27

disillusionment with relations with the West, Gorbachev said.
China is not sitting still as these US military moves are made on the grand chessboard.
In 2007, they destroyed one of their own defunct satellites with a ballistic missile as away to show the world that they had “anti-satellite” weapons capability. This
contributed to the growing problem of space debris that is now dangerously orbiting the
Earth and, if worsened, could one day make it virtually impossible for any nation tolaunch a rocket into space, due to the minefield of space junk surrounding the planet.
Russia and China have created the Shanghai Cooperation Organization that is gathering
neighbors in the region into an economic and military alliance to counter NATO‟sexpanding presence in their “backyard.” They are increasing their military spending
and each putting more emphasis on their own space technology developments. But
much to their credit, they have also been calling for negotiations. In the middle ofJune, following another meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization that washeld in Russia, the two nuclear powers issued a statement saying that they will once
again attempt to draft a treaty on the prevention of the deployment of weapons in outerspace at the United Nations.
For many years, Russia and China have introduced resolutions at the UN, calling fornegotiations on a new treaty that would ban weapons in space. All countries of theworld have supported the resolution with the exception of the US, Israel and Micronesia.
This was true during the Clinton presidency as well as during the reign of George W.
Bush. It will be crucial for President Obama, if he truly hopes to reset relations with
Moscow, to seriously enter into negotiations for a global ban on weapons in space.
Just prior to the recent Moscow nuclear weapons negotiations between the US andRussia, President Obama‟s senior director for Russian affairs on the National Security
Council told the media, “We don‟t need the Russians…We are not going to reassure,give or trade anything with the Russians regarding NATO expansion or missile
defense.”Based on the tentative agreement that has come out of the US-Russia summit on July 6,
it appears that “very modest” changes at best can be expected in the near term when it
comes to the nuclear arsenals of the two powers.

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Global Network‟s New York City board member, a woman by the name of Alice Slater,long a tireless worker for nuclear abolition, has written:“It would be tragic if cooperation once again failed because of the hegemonic US
drive to dominate and control the earth from space. In a sense, we have now comefull circle to the time of the Reagan-Gorbachev 1986 summit in Reikjavik, whennegotiations for the total abolition of nuclear weapons collapsed because Reagan
wouldn‟t give up US plans for a Strategic Defense Initiative to dominate space.”
Slater continues:“Clinton similarly rejected opportunities to take up Putin‟s proposal to cut our
nuclear arsenals to 1,000 warheads. After Russia‟s ratification of START II and
the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty in 2000, Putin called for new talks to reduce
long-range missiles from 3,500 to 1,500 or even 1,000. This forward-looking
proposal was accompanied by Putin‟s stern caveat that all Russian offers would be
off the table if the US proceeded to build a National Missile Defense (NMD) in
violation of the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty.
Astoundingly, US diplomatic „talking points‟ leaked by Russia to the Bulletin ofAtomic Scientists revealed that Clinton was telling Russia that it had nothing to fear
from NMD as long as Russia kept 2,500 weapons at launch-on-warning,hair-trigger alert. Rejecting Putin‟s offer to cut to 1,000 warheads, the US assured
Russia that with 2,500 warheads it could overcome a NMD shield and deliver an„annihilating counterattack!‟ If the Clinton administration had instead embraced
Putin‟s plan, the US and Russia would have been able to call all nuclear-weapon
states to the table – even those with arsenals in the hundreds or fewer – to negotiate
a treaty to ban the bomb.”
This is what the world wants today. It wants an end to the nuclear nightmare, it wants
a halt to endless war for control of the world‟s finite resources, it wants the cities of theplanet removed from nuclear targeting lists, it wants its hard-earned tax monies to be
used for healthcare, education, green jobs, and dealing with the coming harsh realities ofglobal climate change. Most of all, the people of the world want an end to theenormous hypocrisy that exists today.
The world clearly hears the US and its allies lecturing Iran and North Korea about theevils of nuclear weapons, and then cringes when it listens to the threats of preemptive

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attack against those two nations if they do not halt their nuclear weapons development
programs. But in fairness, one must reflect on the American congressional decision togo forward with the US-India nuclear program that will assist that nation in ultimately
building more nuclear weapons – even as India refuses to sign the NPT.
In a recent college graduation ceremony speech, environmentalist and author, Paul
Hawken, told the students:“You join a multitude of caring people. No one knows how many groups andorganizations are working on the most salient issues of our day, climate change,poverty, deforestation, peace, water, hunger, conservation, human rights, and more.
This is the largest movement the world has ever seen.”This Hawken-described reality should give us all hope and courage. Nuclear
disarmament must be attained in our lifetimes, or human life might not continue on ourplanet.
The people of Japan have valiantly taken the leadership to keep the issue of nuclear
abolition before the world‟s eyes and hearts for the past 64 years. Mayor Akiba andMayors for Peace have come forward with the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol that offers
a positive direction to the international community at the very time that the NPT is on
the verge of collapse. Mayor Akiba asks this central question: “Do we abolish nuclear
weapons or allow them to spread uncontrolled?”
How do we then proceed at this historic juncture? How can we ensure success at theUN‟s 2010 NPT Review Conference in New York City?
Nuclear weapons, the world‟s deadliest scourge, must be the leading edge of a global
demilitarization. In order to capture the hearts and minds of the people of the planet,
we must show the deadly connections between nuclear abolition and their importantconcerns. We must put human security and environmental sustainability at the centerof global conflict resolution.
Our call for general and complete disarmament must include a universal call to end not
only nuclear weapons but also nuclear power. We must call for the conversion of the
global military machine to peaceful production. This would give us the ability toenergize the sinking global economy with green jobs.

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We must call for an end to corporate domination of our political systems all across theplanet. We must support real democracy by returning power and economic control to
our local communities.
In my country, we once had another economic and political institution that had a lock on
the government and our people. We eventually had a civil war, where brother fought
against brother, to end the overwhelming power of slavery. Many people felt then, likemany people feel today about nuclear weapons, that change was not possible.
One of the great leaders of the movement to abolish slavery was a black man andescaped slave by the name of Frederick Douglass. Douglass was known for his great
speaking skills. He once declared that, “I would unite with anybody to do right.” As
we attempt to build a successful movement to demilitarize our planet, we must extend
ourselves and be willing to work with people and groups we have never worked with
before.
And we can only do that by making the important connections and links
between issues that we all care about.
Sadly, we are back in a period of great political maneuvering where disarmament
negotiations are one more tactic used by countries to stay in control. Let‟s face thefacts: No one has so far been able to successfully manage the problem of nuclear
weapons and the current global military buildup. The public is losing confidence inleaders and government. It is as if the people of the planet are captives on a sinking
ship, and they are stuck in the lower decks with no way out. They feel powerless
about the things that they most care about.
We must make a unified global demand. We should urge the people all over the world
to take to the streets in protest against nuclear weapons and for conversion of the global
war system prior to the 2010 NPT Review Conference in New York. It would seemthat our local governments and local elected officials are closest to the people and could
play a crucial role in helping to bring people together at this critical time. Who knows
better than the mayors of the world what a waste it is to build and sustain the nuclear
arms race? Who can more effectively describe the urgent needs of our local
communities than the mayors of the world? Why couldn‟t Mayors for Peace call forsuch a weekend of events that would unite the planet in opposition to nuclear weaponsand speak out for human development and environmental sustainability?

31

We must also talk about the connections between nuclear weapons and the offensive
nature of so-called “Missile Defense.”
Until we overcome the legacy of past wars, like the Korean War that still continues after
58 years, misunderstanding and miscalculations will continue. We must recognize thatgrowing military alliances and expansion of conventional forces will negate our wishes
for nuclear abolition. We must respect and keep the UN Charter that outlaws
preemptive war and calls for peaceful resolution of all conflicts.
The membership of the Global Network is ready to work with each of you on thisimportant agenda. Maybe if we do these things, change will come at last to the world.
We have no other choice. Let us say together: No More Hiroshima, No MoreNagasaki, No More hibakusha. Never again. Thank you very much.
Mayor TaueThank you very much, Mr. Gagnon. Thank you indeed for your encouragement andinformation. There are so many things that we did not know; we have learned a lot
from you. We hope that we will be able to deepen our liaison and communication with
NGOs, as Mayor Akiba said, the Peace Depot is another NGO, with which we arehaving very close communication.
I think Mr. Gagnon is already gone but thank you very much. Please give one moreround of applause to Mr. Gagnon. Thank you very much.
Now ladies and gentlemen, the A-bombed city of Nagasaki, is also famous as a tourist
destination. As a port town, we have fostered unique cultures through our longexchange with other countries. Japanese culture is thoroughly mixed with Western andAsian cultures here in Nagasaki. So you will be able to enjoy the diversity of cultures
here in Nagasaki.
I believe that coexistence of different ideas and living with diversity are fundamentals
for peace. Mr. Tatsuichiro Akizuki, one of the leaders of peace activities in Nagasaki,
called for solidarity among peace groups under the broad cause when those groups wereat odds with each other over their differences in ideas or methods for peace. I think hiswords were a message that whenever we have differences, we should try to think about32

our objectives and attempt to overcome small differences. We should try to accept
diversity and look at our objectives and our common goal far ahead, instead of arguingand fighting over the small differences.
I think we, Mayors for Peace, share this spirit as a group working in solidarity toward
common objectives while respecting our diversity. In this regard, the existence ofMayors for Peace itself embodies a form of peace.
I believe that our culture and tradition are a reflection of the culture of peace. Now lets
proceed to the arts and performances showing a part of the diverse cultures in Nagasaki.
I will turn the mike over to a different MC.

Thank you very much for your support.

33

The 7th General Conference of Mayors for Peace

General Conference
August 8 (Sat), 2009 15:30 – 16:30
Nagasaki Brick Hall

Chairperson:

Tomihisa Taue
Vice President of Mayors for Peace
Mayor of Nagasaki City

Agenda Explanation: Steven Leeper
ChairmanHiroshima Peace Culture Foundation

Chairperson: Tomihisa Taue, Mayor of Nagasaki
Thank you very much. We would like to begin now with this General Conference.
I shall be serving as the Master of Ceremony to moderate this session, on behalf of thehost city and as a Vice President of Mayors for Peace.
Let me start by introducing the chairpersons:
For Plenary Session I, the chairperson is Mr. Robert Harvey, Mayor of Waitakere, New
Zealand. Would you please stand up? Thank you.
For Section Meeting I, the chairperson is Mr. Stephan Weil, Load Mayor of Hannover.
I am sorry. He is not here yet. I will introduce him later.
For Section Meeting II, Mr. Luc Dehaene, Mayor of Ypres, Belgium will serve as thechairperson.
For Plenary Session II, the chairperson is Mr. Donald Plusquellic, Mayor of Akron in
the United States.
So, ladies and gentlemen, let’s begin with the Agenda Items. The General Conferenceis basically a place where members of Mayors for Peace discuss the agenda items. We
have some non-member cities participating in this conference; they are here as
observers. We also have some government representatives, NGOs, and members of
the general public also participating as observers. We also have some representatives
from cities that are not yet members of Mayors for Peace, and I would like to take thisopportunity to ask you to join.
Now the Agenda Item 1, which is: Election of Executive Cities. Secretariat, could you
please give us an explanation?
Agenda Explanation from the Secretariat:
Steven Leeper, Chairman of the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation
I am chairman of the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation, the organization that houses
the Secretariat of Mayors for Peace.
First, let me confirm that all mayors and all city representatives have the handout that
contains the Agenda Item 1 and Agenda Item 2. Everyone has that handout? If not,please raise your hand. Okay, thank you very much.
The first item on the agenda is the election of the vice president cities.
1

Please refer toAgenda Item 1 in your packet. Since the last General Conference in 2005, we worked
hard to get support for our 2020 Vision Campaign. In support of this campaign, we
have requested that the mayors of Ypres in Belgium, Biograd na Moru in Croatia,
Granollers in Spain, Halabja in Iraq, and Waitakere in New Zealand join Mayors for
Peace as executive cities. All readily agreed to accept the positions.
At this conference, we are very happy to have representatives from twelve executive
cities. Executive cities unable to attend include Christchurch (New Zealand), Laakdal(Belgium), Muntinlupa (Philippines) and Volgograd (Russia).
At present, we have a total of 16 members in the Executive Committee. Mayors for
Peace membership comprises the Hiroshima City Mayor who serves as President, with
Nagasaki City Mayor as Vice President, along with the mayors of Hannover, Malakoff,
Manchester, Muntinlupa, Volgograd, Akron, Florence, Christchurch, and Laakdal for a
total of 10 vice president cities. The executive officials include the mayors of Ypres,
Biograd na Moru, Granollers, Halabja, and Waitakere.
Let me briefly explain the selection procedure. Please look at the bottom section ofAgenda Item 1. According to Chapter III Article 4 Section 2 of our Covenant, thePresident and Vice Presidents shall be chosen by the solidarity cities. This refers to all
the member cities. Additionally, in accordance with Article 5 of the same chapter,their term of office shall continue until such time as the replacement is selected at thesubsequent Mayors for Peace General Conference.
In preparation for this 7th General Conference, Hiroshima Secretariat requested
confirmation from previous executive cities, regarding their desire to continue in thisposition. Nine cities, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Hannover, Malakoff, Manchester,
Muntinlupa, Volgograd, Akron and Florence expressed the desire to continue as vicepresident cities. Ypres, Biograd na Moru, Granollers, Halabja, and Waitakere also
expressed willingness to serve as vice presidents.
In addition, last November, Mayor Akiba met with Mayor Thielemans of Brussels andasked him to join the Executive Committee. We did not hear from him for some time,
but just on August 5, we did hear that they are willing to become an executive official.
Therefore, we would like to now add them as candidate for vice president city, in order
to avoid waiting four years before we can vote them in.
2

The cities of Laakdal and Christchurch have expressed their desire to step down as
executive members. Their mayors are not in attendance today.
As the result of all these changes, if Agenda Item 1 is approved, Hiroshima City willcontinue as President with Nagasaki and 13 other cities serving as Vice Presidents.
Mayor TaueThank you very much. The Secretariat explanation was based on this morning’s
Executive Conference. May I ask you to show your agreement with a round of
applause?

(Applause)

Thank you very much.

Until the 8th General Conference, I would ask all these Executive Cities to take leadingroles for Mayors for Peace.
Let us now move on to Agenda Item 2, the future activities of Mayors for Peace.
Explanation, please.
LeeperAgenda Item 2, this is the Action Plan for Mayors for Peace for the next few years:
At every General Conference since 1999, we have adopted an action plan. I will
explain the Action Plan proposed this time by the Secretariat. After I finish the
explanation, we hope you will give us the benefit of your wisdom. If you have any
doubts, suggestions or ideas, we hope you will not hesitate to raise them.
I begin with Number 1, our current priority activities. Of these, our first priority is topromote the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol. Although President Obama has helped tocreate a far more receptive climate, our Protocol is a large step. Even in Japan, where
the population overwhelmingly supports the abolition of nuclear weapons, the Japanese
government may hesitate to press as hard as the Protocol presses for rapid movement
toward disarmament. The goal of all our efforts will be to make the Protocol so
popular in Japan and around the world that all governments will feel real pressure fromthe people. Because Hiroshima and Nagasaki are Japanese cities, Japan will play a
critical role in this campaign. However, we intend to wage this campaign intensively
and globally.

3

At the same time, to prepare the rest of the world for a major shift toward nuclear
disarmament, it is extremely important to promote the International Decade for
Disarmament. The UN General Assembly already designated the 10 years from early2010 to early 2020 as the International Decade for Disarmament. It instructed the UN
Disarmament Commission to prepare a formal declaration, though it will not finish
drafting that declaration until early next year. We will be lobbying heavily to makesure it is completed on time. Then we will do our best to make sure that this Decadefor Disarmament is perceived as the decade in which the international community mustachieve nuclear disarmament. We are very lucky that this Decade perfectly matches
our 2020 Vision, and we intend to make the most of it.
Down to Number 3: Our third priority is to recruit new members and work with cities,
and municipal associations around the world to promote the idea and a practical realityof city diplomacy. We will be pressing at every opportunity to help cities speak with alouder voice on a global stage.
To explain these priorities further, let me read through the concrete activities we areplanning. Please look at page 3, activities beginning in September. In September,
Mayor Akiba and Mayors for Peace staff will attend the UN Department of PublicInformation NGO Conference to be held in Mexico City. This conference is held
every year, but this is the first time it will focus on disarmament. Mayor Akiba andMayor Taue were both invited as special guests. We have reason to believe that this
could be the start of our strong disarmament effort at the UN, perhaps led by the
Secretary-General himself. We put forward as early as October, an excellent fivepoint plan for nuclear disarmament that emphasize the need to start negotiating a
nuclear weapons convention.
The DPI/NGO Conference in Mexico will be followed almost immediately by the UN
International Day of Peace. We know that the Secretary-General is putting a lot ofeffort into this program this year. He personally proposes its main theme: WMD-We
Must Disarm. So we want to support him. We hope to have Mayors for Peace well
represented there, including the possibility of a video conference featuring Mayor
Akiba.
The International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament(ICNND) is a major international effort led by Australia and Japan to chart a path from4

here to a nuclear-weapon-free world. They have met three times, and Mayor Akiba
attended their third meeting in Moscow to explain the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol.
The fourth meeting will be held in Hiroshima in mid-October. These meetings arebasically closed except to the commissioners and a limited number of invited speakers.
However, we will be organizing city-sponsored events, and encouraging grass-root
activities designed to encourage the Commission to adopt 2020 as their recommended
year for nuclear abolition.
For about two years now, we have been circulating a petition and gathering signatures
for the support for our Cities Are Not Targets project and the Hiroshima-Nagasaki
Protocol. Just this year, we have obtained the assistance of major labor unions inJapan and the International Trade Union Confederation with its 170 million members.
In addition, Abolition 2000 member groups in a number of countries are circulating
similar petitions. With all of this help, we will be able to collect 10 million signaturesby next May.
Another extremely important activity is our ongoing campaign to recruit new Mayors
for Peace. We have been growing very fast since 2003, but this year we intend to morethan double our rate of growth. Our goal is 5,000 members and we would like to getthere before May.
I am moving now to page 4, and May 2010. Our plans for the 2010 NPT Review
Conference are still far from concrete, but we do intend to take a delegation and have asignificant presence there. Thanks to Tom Cochran of the US Conference of Mayors
and his staff, who are with us here today, and several of our US members, Mayors for
Peace has been working closely with the US Conference of Mayors, which has adopted
strong resolutions in support of Mayors for Peace and our goals at each of their annual
meetings since 2004. Mayor Akiba was invited to speak at their last meeting in June
this year, and the USCM unanimously adopted a resolution that:“…welcomes enthusiastically the new leadership and multilateralism that theUnited States is demonstrating toward achievement of a nuclear-weapon-free world,and calls on President Obama to announce at the 2010 Nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty Review Conference the initiation of good faith multilateral negotiations on
an international agreement to abolish nuclear weapons by the year 2020.”
We have also worked with municipal associations in Belgium, Italy, Germany, the5

Netherlands and elsewhere. Furthermore, the idea that Cities Are Not Targets has beenendorsed by the world’s largest municipal association, United Cities and Local
Governments (UCLG). These organizations have been invaluable in recruiting efforts
and they have also helped us lobby more effectively at the national and international
levels.
If the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol is to play a meaningful role, it will have to be
championed by UN member countries. Finding a group of courageous champions will
not be an easy task. Our international campaign manager, Aaron Tovish, was able toarouse considerable interests in the Protocol in the lead-up to 2009 NPT Preparatory
Committee meeting but did not get them to take concrete actions. He will becoordinating with other NGO advocates to ensure that concerted action is taken by
governments before or during the 2010 NPT Review Conference. We need to support
their lobbying by generating a level of public demand that the media and national
leaders cannot ignore.
It is possible that in the end we will have to settle for some documents that do not
actually name the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol. However, in all our lobbying, wehave at least two non-negotiable demands. One is an immediate start to substantive
negotiations. The other is a target date for a nuclear weapons convention and the totalelimination of nuclear weapons.
We have often heard people talk about nuclear abolition as a long and difficult road, but
we have yet to hear a good reason for delaying the elimination of nuclear weapons
beyond 2020. We will not trade this perfectly feasible target date for some sort ofvague open-ended promise. The nuclear-weapon states have been promising toeliminate their nuclear weapons for 40 years. Now, it is time for them to step forward
and say by when they will do so.
As I mentioned earlier, we will be in New York in May 2010, lobbying for adoption of
the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol. We have heard that Abolition 2000 and United forPeace and Justice are planning to hold an international conference on nuclear abolition,
peace and disarmament on May 1 and a major rally on May 2. We will do everything
we can to support these events. We need thousands of people in the streets on May 2.
So I hope you all will encourage your citizens to be there. During the Review
Conference, we will address the delegates when the NGOs have their chance to speak at6

the NGO session.
conference.

In addition, Mayors for Peace will hold our own workshop or

After the NPT Review Conference, we will be pushing hard for the 4th UN Special
Session on Disarmament, which we hope, will lead directly substantive disarmament
negotiations.
Aside from the special session or possibly to help plan for that session, we intend tobring together all the major players in the field of nuclear disarmament for a conferencein Hiroshima as soon after the Review Conference as possible, hopefully before August
6 that year. This will include national representatives, cities, NGOs, and possibly evena few heads of states. At this Hiroshima Conference we will discuss the results of the
NPT Review, and decide our next step. We cannot say much now about what that step
might be, because it does depend heavily on the outcome of the Review Conference.
Our purpose will be to make sure all the main players are in agreement and are well
prepared to keep pushing, to consolidate our gains or possibly take an entirely new
approach.
I am moving now to Number 4 below the table of Activities to “Strengthen
collaboration…” From its inception, the 2020 Vision Campaign spearheaded by
Mayors for Peace has been a joint activity involving many other NGOs and peacegroups. This collaboration is essential. It has been growing and must continue todevelop if we are to achieve our goal. I mentioned the grass-roots petition drive earlier.
We will only succeed in this if our friends and allies make it as their own. I hope thatyou all will do whatever you can to gather signatures in your communities.
Please turn to Page 5 of the Action Plan, the Activities table. In addition to our
traditional allies, we are planning a deliberate effort to bring together representatives
from cities that have experienced major tragedies related to war. We have found thisgroup of cities to have a natural affinity for each other and we believe we can work
together smoothly, because we have unusually strong support from our citizens.
can speak with special authority on the subject of Cities Are Not Targets.

We

The Abolition 2000 Global Network to Eliminate Nuclear Weapons is an umbrellaorganization for nuclear weapons abolition that has approximately 2,000 member
groups in over 90 countries. Its founding statement drafted in 1995 called on all states7

to immediately commence negotiations on a treaty to eliminate nuclear weapons withina time-bound framework. This demand has been advanced through our Mayors for
Peace 2020 Vision Campaign. Working with international lawyers and scientists, theAbolition 2000 groups drafted a model nuclear weapons convention that has been
circulated as an official UN document for deliberative purposes. Abolition 2000 has
been an important partner to Mayors for Peace and it will continue to be so. We intend
to strengthen our relationships with the International Campaign to Ban Landmines(ICBL) and the Cluster Munitions Coalition (CMC), so we can get the benefits of theirexperiences with successful global treaty campaigns. We will also seek to strengthen
our existing alliances with the Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation andDisarmament (PNND) and the International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear
Arms (IALANA). We will build new alliances with environmental networks andcoalitions addressing climate change.
The next world conference of UCLG will be in Mexico City in the last quarter of 2010.
We intend to have a strong presence there, and to obtain further involvement in our
Cities Are Not Targets project. We hope Mayor Akiba will be able to take this up with
Mayor Ebrard of Mexico City this September.
I am moving now to Number 5, increasing membership.

In its first 20 years, Mayors

for Peace grew to 500 members. In the six years since the launch of 2020 Vision
Campaign to this day, we have multiplied that number by six fold to about 3,000
members. This year in eight months between now and May 2010, we intend to growby another 40 percent, to 5,000. To save time, I will not go through all our methods,
but we will only succeed if all of you take this recruiting effort seriously and do
everything you can to help. The purpose of demonstrating this spectacular growth is toshow that the world truly wants to be liberated from nuclear threats. Our growth has
always been our greatest strength, and we need to be stronger than ever this year.
Now on to Number 6: “Expansion of the Executive Committee.”In the past four years,

we have expanded our Executive Committee by four cities. Now, given our rapid
growth, we are seeking your permission to further expand. In expanding thisCommittee, we will be guided by the following principles;i. We will seek geographical balance among continents and countries.
ii. We will give priority to cities and countries with high numbers of members, buteven in countries with lower numbers, cities that demonstrated high
8

iii.

effectiveness or special strategic importance will be considered.
Finally, we will not expand the Executive Committee beyond 1% of total
membership.

Now I am turning to Page 6 of the Action Plan to Number 7. In the past few years, ourgrowth has outpaced our capacity for communicating and managing our campaign.
Beginning this year, we will be making a stronger effort to organize ourselves into
regions or territories. For example, we should be able to communicate with one city in
Nicaragua or Ethiopia and know that our message will be translated into the local
language and spread effectively to all members and through them to the general public.
By your presence here, you have demonstrated a high level of concern. We hope thatmany of you will volunteer to organize for us in your areas. If you approve this part of
the Action Plan, a specific proposal describing our new approach and requesting yourassistance will be going out soon.
Here, I must point out that the City of Ypres, which was the first victim of an attack withchemical weapons and was utterly destroyed during World War I, has demonstrated to aremarkable extent the regional leadership we need. In 2006, they donated an office tous. In 2007, they helped Mayors for Peace formally incorporate as a non-profit
organization under Belgian Law, called the 2020 Vision Campaign, which is now ourinternational secretariat. This is the office that manages the day to day activities of ourglobal 2020 Vision Campaign. I hope you all will accept this secretariat as a
campaigning arm of Mayors for Peace and assist them in every possible way.
Now, I will turn to say a few words about the Obamajority campaign. When Tadatoshi
Akiba became Hiroshima’s Mayor in 1999, all Mayors for Peace activities wereorganized by a secretariat housed in one small section of the Hiroshima Peace Culture
Foundation that consisted of three or four people who worked on other projects as well.
Ever since Mayor Akiba became President of Mayors for Peace, the amount of time andeffort poured into Mayors for Peace and the international campaign against nuclear
weapons has been growing by leaps and bounds.
In 2007, because of my previous involvement with the campaign, he made me
Chairman of the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation. His purpose was to get more of
the Foundation’s energy focused on the campaign. Now, the Hiroshima Peace Culture
Foundation is not enough. Recently Mayor Akiba has recruited all three of9Hiroshima’s deputy mayors and many of the city’s top executives to form a campaign
headquarters that would literally engage Hiroshima’s entire municipal government.
This is an unprecedented effort by Hiroshima and as far as I know by any city to liberate
the human family from nuclear weapons and we are calling this new effort the
Obamajority campaign.
By adopting the term Obamajority, we are recognizing President Obama’s undeniable
contribution to changing the atmosphere, within which the disarmament debate is taking
place at the UN and in Washington DC. In addition, we are deliberately fighting the
deeply rooted belief, especially strong here in Japan that only radical anti-American
left-wing people care about peace and nuclear abolition. We are making the point thata nuclear-weapon-free world is the will of an overwhelming majority of people andnations on this planet, including the President of the nuclear superpower. We are wellaware that the US military industrial complex remains the source of the most powerful
opposition to our cause, but that is precisely why we feel it so important to lift up andopenly support President Obama. He is the head of the nuclear superpower. We
literally cannot succeed in eliminating nuclear weapons without his active andenthusiastic support. Furthermore, at this time in history he is the man of the hour and
we need him as our champion. For these reasons, the City of Hiroshima will be
implementing the Obamajority campaign described in this Action Plan. We hope
Mayors for Peace and all of you will take it up and use it in whatever way you think it
will work in your community.
I am moving now to Number 2, our Midterm plans. As I said earlier, the primary
focus of our campaign this year will be obtaining a disarmament breakthrough at the2010 NPT Review Conference. After that Conference we will sit down with thedisarmament community and plan our next steps. Whatever we decide will be
designed to increase the momentum and pressure toward abolition. We will bepromoting the International Decade for Disarmament, pressing hard for a Special
Session on Disarmament, expanding our membership and holding our Executive andGeneral Conferences as usual.
Please turn to Page 7 and Number 3. In our long term planning, we are alreadythinking about the enormous gala celebration we will hold in 2020, when we finallybring an end to the nuclear age. We have several ideas in mind, but we think the most
exciting celebration will be to hold the 2020 Olympics in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
10Even if Tokyo hosts the 2016 Olympics, it will still be quite appropriate. The first
Olympics since 1945 in a nuclear-weapon-free world should be viewed completely
unrelated to national identity. After all, the first Olympics were held among cities andremarked by Olympic truce. The end of nuclear weapons should be a truly global
celebration and it should naturally take place in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Moving on to 4 and 5, all of the plans I have been describing depend on twoorganizational factors.
First, we need to improve our organization and communication. As I said earlier, if
you approve our plan to organize national and regional chapters, you will soon receive a
concrete request and we hope you will volunteer to play an active role.
Second, we must have additional funds. This global campaign is far more than
Hiroshima and Nagasaki can pay alone. If you approve this Action Plan, you will soonreceive an invoice with a suggested donation based on a formula that takes into accountboth population and national per capita GDP. This is a completely voluntary donation.
We know that we are in the midst of serious global economic crisis. We know thateach city is struggling with its own special economic situation. Furthermore, it has
always been our policy that no city must pay to be a member of Mayors for Peace. We
are requesting a voluntary donation only to support the 2020 Vision Campaign. You
should feel completely free to decline our request or to give us less than we request.
However, as you consider your response, please remember that this is the global issue of
our time. If the international community fails in May 2010 to take a convincing step
toward disarmament, we will have lost a critical opportunity to de-legitimize nuclear
weapons and halt their further spread. If that happens, our hopes for a new age ofpeace and prosperity will dim significantly. On the other hand, if we can generatesufficient public demand and persuade our leaders to guide us to a nuclear-weapon-freeworld, we will have achieved epoch-making breakthrough that could open a door to
truly sustainable peace and prosperity for all.
I will end by pointing out that we are not asking for a major investment. We have3,000 members. If every member in the richer nations were to give us 1,000 euro andevery member in the developing nations were to give us 100 euros, we could wage apowerful and successful campaign.
11This is the Action Plan we have in mind.

We are open to your suggestions.

Mayor TaueThank you very much for explaining the priority activities of Mayors for Peace as wellas the midterm projects and plans according to the proposed Action Plan. Many of thecurrent priority activities involve campaigning to get the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol
be adopted at the NPT Review Conference in May 2010. At the same time, a series ofactivities will be required to expand our network, to form more alliances and tostrengthen our membership. For the latter part of the midterm plan, the overall
direction was given but concrete plans are to be decided.
Do you have any questions or any comments or observations from the floor? If you do,please raise your hand. Member cities are requested to offer your comments orquestions. Any opinions or comments? If you have no objection to adopting the
Action Plan as presented, please give us a round of applause to show your approval.
(Applause) Thank you very much. The plan was adopted. Based on this Action
Plan, we will strengthen our activities toward the next General Conference. Thank youvery much for your cooperation. This concludes the General Conference Agenda
Items. Any questions? Please give him the microphone.
Question from the floor: French city representative
Yes indeed, as we have gone through the General Conference, I concur with thedirection. However, I have a concern. It seems that there are repetitions of the word“President Obama”. Of course President Obama is very much highlighted. He has
given us a turnaround for the future, but we are from the cities. We are representativesof cities gathered here in the Conference of Mayors for Peace. Why do we need an
opinion leader like him? The opinion leader is supposed to be citizens or inhabitantsof cities. It does not have to be the leader of a state to take initiatives. Of course
President Obama of the United States is a wonderful person, but still, we arerepresenting our citizens. You keep saying “President Obama” as if selecting him as aking in taking these initiatives. I am very much concerned about emphasizing Mr.
Obama.
Mayor Taue
Secretariat, please response.
12Leeper
It is going to be conducted in the City of Hiroshima. This is already decided, because
it is an extremely useful strategy here in Japan. It is truly a way to get out of the boxthat we are in. We are in a box where many Japanese people consider it only a far-leftwing project to eliminate nuclear weapons. We have to escape that box. We needaverage housewives. We need average “salary men.” We need everybody thinking
that this is their problem. And in Japan, President Obama is very popular, the UnitedStates is popular, and this is a very powerful move that has already been very wellreceived and accepted in Japan.
We are presenting it here as this part of the Action Plan for Mayors for Peace, hoping
you that Mayors for Peace will adopt it, which I believe by the clapping of our hands,
we have done just now. And we also offer or suggest that you use it, or not use it, inyour own city or your own country, depending on how you think it will be useful to you,but we are doing it in Hiroshima and Japan for sure, and we are proposing it.
The other thing is that President Obama really is vital, critical, to the success of any
effort to eliminate nuclear weapons, and we believe that by expressing our support for
him we push him forward. We push him to work with us and to be listening to us.
It is much more effective than if we take some kind of “anti” stance.
And finally, just in terms of name recognition, he is probably the best known name on
the planet right now. So for these reasons, we have chosen to do this.
Mayor TaueThank you. Does that answer your question about President Obama and the invitation
to the campaign? It is up to each city and local authority to decide how you are goingto use this. In Nagasaki City, we are now making a citizens’ movement to invite
President Obama to visit Nagasaki. Having said that, we are not fully dependent on
his initiative, but we would like to offer an opportunity for him to look at the A-bombsite with his own eyes in Nagasaki. By looking at these and listening to the voices of
the hibakusha, we are hoping President Obama will appeal to the world, which will bevery influential to the world. I believe this is going to be a joint undertaking and thecitizens are now making the movement. We do not intend to make President Obama aking. We are not going to be wholly dependent on President Obama. I believe what13

we are doing is correlating and matching with an intent that has been raised.
Now, any other questions?

Yes, please.

Question from the floor
I raise a question to the Executive Committee and wonder why all the nuclear nations
are not represented on the Executive Committee like Pakistan and India. It seems tome that, if we are going to be effective in all these countries, we need to have a special
push in those nuclear nations. Well, I think it is eight right now. People ask whether
or not North Korea has nuclear weapons and a lot of us believe they might have them.
Pakistan and India—those nations are not represented here. And it seems to me thatmayors from nuclear nations should be included to be a part of this. I am asking if wehave done that.
Mayor TaueThank you very much for your question.

Response from the Secretariat, please.

LeeperVery good point, and that is why we have asked for permission to expand the executives,
and we have just received that permission. We have been growing so rapidly since2003, we are sort of changing the traditions of Mayors for Peace as we go along. Whatyou see before you is a mixture of old and new. I believe that we are going to movetoward much more geographical uniformity or a coverage of the whole globe. We arecertainly aiming at that.
The other thing is, we expand executives through the relationships we build with cities.
As we get to know people, as we get to feel comfortable working with them, and as we
feel that we can be a good team with them, we invite them to join the executive
committee. That is also a very important consideration. So, we are definitely
working in that direction, and I believe that you will see that kind of development in thenext few years.
Mayor Taue
Will that answer your question? Any other questions or comments? As we received
a round of applause from you, we would like to adopt the Action Plan. Would you
please give us another round of applause to show your approval? (Applause) I thank14

you very much. I hope that our activities will be strengthened according to thisprogram, and of course we would like to come back to discuss things when necessary.
So we would like to conclude the General Conference of Mayors for Peace now.
Now, Lord Mayor of Hannover is with us, the chair person of the Section Meeting I.
May I ask you to stand up, Mr. Stephan Weil, Lord Mayor of Hannover?
Thank you very much for attending this General Conference and for your active
participation. We are going to have further meetings today, tomorrow and the next day.
With this, we would like to conclude this session.

15

The 7th General Conference of Mayors for Peace

Plenary Session I
CITIES AND CITIZENS CAN MOVE NATIONS- Toward a worldwide paradigm shift August 8 (Sat), 2009 16:30 – 18:00
Nagasaki Brick Hall
Chairperson:

Robert Harvey
Vice President of Mayors for Peace
Mayor of Waitakere, New Zealand

Speakers:

Donald L. Plusquellic
Vice President of Mayors for Peace
Mayor of Akron; US Conference of Mayors, U.S.A
Ivan Knez
Vice President of Mayors for Peace
Mayor of Biograd na Moru, Croatia
Stephan Weil
Vice President of Mayors for Peace
Lord Mayor of Hannover, Germany
Michel Cibot
Representative from Vice President City of Mayors for Peace
General Manager, City of Malakoff, France
Association Française des Communes, Départements etRégions pour la Paix (AFCDRP)
Kenji Kitahashi
Mayor of Kitakyushu, Japan
Tomoko Nakagawa
Mayor of Takarazuka, Japan
Susanna Agostini
Representative from Vice President City of Mayors for PeaceCouncilor, Florence, Italy
Khder Kareem
Vice President of Mayors for Peace
Mayor of Halabja, Kurdistan, Iraq
George Regan
Baillie (Councillor), Dundee City Council
Chair, the UK and Ireland Nuclear Free Local Authorities

Chairperson: Robert Harvey, Mayor of Waitakere, New Zealand
Good afternoon. Kia ora tatou! (Maori: Greetings to all of you)
I am the Mayor of Waitakere City. I am delighted to welcome you here to this firstsession. I hope that you can all hear me. We have one hour, which seems a bit severe,a chairman’s worst nightmare is to say we have one hour, but I think we can come andgo, so, everyone who wants to speak can speak.
Quickly to introduce myself: I am the Mayor of Waitakere City. I have been a mayor
for 17 years. I have been a peace activist for 50 years with the first anti-nuclear
demonstrations in 1950 in Auckland, New Zealand, where I was born. I have been an
activist for all my life; my life is still going on, against nuclear war and nuclear weapons.
I became the mayor in 1992 and declared Waitakere City, a peace city. I had worked
with Prime Minister David Lange declaring New Zealand nuclear free in 1994, which
was a milestone. I led a protest to French Polynesia to stop the nuclear testing on theatolls in the Pacific. And so, I have had a long commitment in the Pacific Islands withthe campaigns against nuclear weapons.
I would like to tell you that I bring you greetings from the Prime Minister of New
Zealand, Mr. John Key, and I handed it to my good friend, Mr. Akiba, a letter from the
Minister of Nuclear Disarmament this morning. So, I feel very lucky and greatly
privileged to say that the whole country of New Zealand, the nation of New Zealand, istotally committed to being nuclear free. We do not even allow nuclear boats to comeinto our waters, or to our ports. So, “No, no, no”, has been the way that New Zealandhas been for the last 30 years. I am very proud of that. There are eight major cities in
New Zealand. And every mayor has signed up to this Mayors for Peace.
So I am privileged to welcome you all, with this brief introduction, and I am sure you
will be around for the next couple of days. There are around 16 speakers in the next
hour. And I would like to welcome first, the Mayor of Akron, Mr. Donald Plusquellic.
We are delighted to welcome you, Mayor Donald Plusquellic.
Donald L. Plusquellic, Mayor of Akron; US Conference of Mayors, U.S.A
First of all, good afternoon. I would like to thank Mayor Taue for hosting this event
here in this important city. I am honored to have this opportunity to speak to you today,and bring you the greetings from the mayors of the United States. I am speaking on
behalf of the United States Conference of Mayors.
1

I would like to express our appreciation to Mayor Akiba for his efforts for many years,
as well as, again, to Mayor Taue. Each of you here today has worked hard to make ourcities safer from the destructive forces of nuclear weapons.
For many years, the US Conference of Mayors has worked hard for the same causes thatbring us here today, i.e. nuclear disarmament, nuclear non-proliferation, anuclear-weapon-free world by the year 2020, as well as, in general, urging theredirecting of limited resources from weapons to peaceful uses, to address issues suchas housing, poverty, and other important matters to cities. The US Conference ofMayors is composed of mayors from both major political parties and politicalindependence. When the mayors come together, we try to set our political differences
aside and focus on the jobs of delivering services that are important to the people of ourcities.
I want to make a personal note here that it has been so much more enjoyable, and I think
Mayor Akiba will appreciate this, coming to Japan not as an apologist for our national
government, but taking great pride that you use our new president’s name as a part ofour campaign that is something very worthwhile and useful for the citizens of the world
and I thank you for that.
The US Conference of Mayors includes the mayor of cities with populations of morethan 30,000 and I have been honored to have served as the president from 2004 to 2005.
Let me really talk about what we do. Each year, in our annual meeting in June, we
adopt resolutions concerning fundamental policies that we believe in, on a variety ofissues. We certainly have a strong record on nuclear disarmament.
I want to cite several examples: Back in 1984, the US Conference of Mayors called fora decrease in threat posed by nuclear weapons. In 1985, on the 40th anniversary ofHiroshima and Nagasaki, we called for reversing the nuclear arms race. In 1987, wecalled for the suspension of nuclear testing. In 2004, we declared that weapons ofmass destruction had no place in the civilized world and called for new negotiations.
In 2008, we called for the elimination of all nuclear weapons by the year 2020.
And this year we called upon the International Commission for the Nuclear
Non-proliferation and Disarmament (ICNND) to adopt 2020 as the target date for2

achieving a nuclear-weapon-free world. We asked President Obama to announce thiscall at the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference in 2010. We
were very honored to have Mayor Akiba at our annual meeting this year to witness the
US mayors unanimously passing the resolution.
Leading our group year after year for so many years as a person that I would like torecognize, and ask you to thank, that is the Executive and CEO of US Conference ofMayors Tom Cochran who is with us today. He has provided outstanding leadership.
And I ask Tom to stand, please, and be recognized for your support for these many yearsof nuclear disarmament policies.
Let me just finish by making a comment on Mayor Akiba’s leadership. Through his
writings, speeches and his leadership, Mayor Akiba continues to define the moral
imperative of nuclear disarmament and he has motivated many US Mayors to become
involved, including myself. He reminds us that we must not allow ourselves to havethe message of Hiroshima and Nagasaki fade from our minds. And we cannot allow
our hope for the future to fade. The US Conference of Mayors will continue to workwith Mayors for Peace to ever strengthen our visions, ideas and our commitment tonuclear free world and we join with all of you to make that goal, that dream, becomes a
reality. Thank you very much for the opportunity today.
Mayor Harvey
Mayor Plusquellic should say God bless America and keep that Obama very well.
Thank you very much for your fine speech. Talking in this session, the subject is“CITIES AND CITIZENS CAN MOVE NATIONS – toward a worldwide paradigm
shift–.” I would like to welcome the next speaker, who is Mayor Ivan Knez of Biograd
na Moru, that is in Croatia. Dobra večer. (Croatian: Good afternoon)
Ivan Knez, Mayor of Biograd na Moru, Croatia
Ladies and gentlemen, first of all I just would like to say that I am speaking in the nameof the Mayor of Biograd na Moru, Mayor Ivan Knez.
words.

I would just like to say a few

First of all to thank Mayor Taue of Nagasaki for the reception he has prepared for all ofus. Now, I have to say that we are very honored being present here for the first time at
the General Conference. We have become a member of the Executive Cities and we3

have become a member of Mayors for Peace fairly recently in the year 2008. And
being honored particularly for being now, officially named as an Executive Vice
President City, we have come here to Hiroshima and Nagasaki and here to Japan tolearn of the horrors and sufferings caused by the use of nuclear weapons here in Japan.
We are here because Biograd also suffered in a recent war, but it cannot be comparedwith what you have gone through here.
So we are educating our children in Biograd on the theme of disarmament. We started
with the children through the making of paper cranes, and as they were taught to makepaper cranes, the story of Sadako was told to them. They learned why and how she
suffered and died. Through our children we convey the message of peace, and theneed for disarmament to keep peace in the world.
By sending the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol to all the cities and municipalities in
Croatia, and we have more than 500 of them, we have informed them all of what theorganization of Mayors for Peace is doing to have nuclear weapons abolished.
Registration forms were also sent to these cities and municipalities, and quite a few
signed them and joined the organization. So now Croatia has 28 members. We
intend to repeat this action again on September 21, the International Day of Peace thisyear.
People do not know what nuclear arms are and their consequences. Unfortunately, thisis best known by those who have suffered the consequences as you have here in Japan.
This issue is something rather distant and abstract for the common citizen in this era ofrecession. The citizen who is struggling to make ends meet does not have time tothink about nuclear disarmament until it becomes a direct threat, and then it is too late.
And this is what Mayors for Peace wants to prevent.
We, members of this organization, must make citizens aware that the threat is always
present as long as there are nuclear weapons anywhere in the world. As a small local
government, we will keep our voice as high as we can on this issue. We will work on
increasing the number of Croatian cities and municipalities to join this honorable
organization, our Mayors for Peace, and make its message known to everyone.
In the hope of acquiring President Obama’s support, as we have mentioned so manytimes today, I will quote another famous American, Dwight D. Eisenhower, who said:
4

“Controlled, universal disarmament is the imperative of our time. The demand for
it by the hundreds of millions whose chief concern is the long future of themselves
and their children will, I hope, become so universal and so insistent that no man, no
government anywhere, can withstand it…Disarmament, with mutual honor andconfidence, is a continuing imperative.”Thank you.
Mayor Harvey
Ivan, would you like to stand, so we can give you a round of applause.
the Lord Mayor of Hannover, Mr. Stephan Weil. Welcome.

I now call on

Stephan Weil, Lord Mayor of Hannover, Germany
Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to give you some
information about the situation of the German section of Mayors for Peace. First of all,I want to thank warmly dear Mayor Taue for the warm reception here and the hospitalityof Nagasaki. We are enjoying staying in your town very much.
“Peace is not everything, but without peace everything else is nothing.” Our insight inthis is due to Willy Brandt, the former German Chancellor and winner of the Nobel
Peace Prize.
When members of the public put forward their opinion regarding this very importantand emotional question, and when the cities express themselves as representatives of
their citizens, this cannot leave countries and governments unaffected. This has to be
regarded especially when it comes to the questions of life and survival in the future,
which are fundamental for the dedication towards disarmament and peace.
The increasing attention that Mayors for Peace enjoy as an organization with more than
3,000 members all over the world has without a doubt contributed to the fact that ourcalls for a total nuclear disarmament targeted for the realization of a world free of
nuclear weapons by 2020 are high on the agenda again. More than 350 member cities
and communities in Germany among them 10 new members in the recent weeks alone
have also contributed to this. They are worried because the nuclear threat is still
existent and nuclear disarmament has come to a halt in the past few years.
Especially older people in Germany know from their own experience what war and5destruction mean. To give you an example, the City of Hannover was about 90%
destroyed during the Second World War. They do not want their children andgrandchildren to relive the same thing. For them, therefore, it is a very personal
concern to engage themselves in disarmament and peace.
In these days special memorial ceremonies take place in many German cities tocommemorate the victims of the nuclear bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki on theirrespective anniversaries. These ceremonies are the result of dedication to Mayors for
Peace. Many cities organize special activities on the occasion of September 1, theInternational Day of Peace this year, as we do in Hannover. Because this day marks
the 70th anniversary of the beginning of the Second World War, and I must say that it
was the darkest period of German history.
These questions occupy people’s minds, and therefore, concern cities, too. But wemust also understand that completely different challenges actually take precedence forthe people in the cities, and therefore occupy the cities, too. The consequences of the
global financial and economic crisis do not exclude cities. The economic problems
and the worries about employment supersede all other subjects for the moment for many
people. Massive tax deficits disrupt the budgets of many cities.
Nevertheless, the question of war and peace must be part of the political agenda. We
have to continue our efforts for global disarmament, because economic crises come andgo, but nuclear threat is a permanent one all over the world. This will also be one of
the subjects that the German member cities will give attention to at the annual
conference on November 27 in Hannover.
After our federal election at the end of September and the forming of a new governmentin Germany, we expect information on how parliament and the government will deal
with the issue of disarmament, and what the aims in respect to the NPT Review
Conference in May next year will be from the German side. And the German sectionof the Mayors for Peace will make great efforts. Germany will be a further part of the
global peace movement. Thank you very much for your attention.
Mayor Harvey
Thank you Lord Mayor. The next speaker will be the General Manager of the City ofMalakoff, Mr. Michel Cibot.
6

Michel Cibot, General Manager, City of Malakoff; Association Française desCommunes, Départements et Régions pour la Paix (AFCDRP), France
Malakoff is a very small city but it has participated in all seven of the General
Conferences of Mayors for Peace. I would like to tell you about my own personal
history, which may be of interest to you.
We know that nuclear weapons are the most dangerous thing created by human beings.
This has been said repeatedly in the process of modernization. However, we haveconfirmed that the nuclear weapons are getting more and more dangerous.
Since 1968, we have had the NPT, which aims to abolish nuclear weapons. The
United Nations in 1984 adopted the Declaration on the Right of Peoples to Peace. It isstipulated in that Declaration that“ensuring the exercise of the right of peoples to peace demands that the policies ofStates be directed towards the elimination of the threat of war, particularly nuclear
war...”
The abolition of nuclear weapons is already accepted at the international level, but wethink that the speed of abolition is too slow. Recently, there was a statement made by
President Obama that has opened the door to a new pathway in the international arena.
This gave hope to people around the world, especially peace activists. We have to findhope and power to achieve the abolition of nuclear weapons. We have to act together
for that and I propose two roadmaps.
First, we are experiencing an economic crisis, but there are also too many nuclear
armaments, which are a waste of money and resources. We have to pay attention tosuch waste in relation to sustainable development. There are various arguments aboutsustainable development. However, we often forget about the issue of nuclear
weapons when we talk about sustainable development.
If you think of sustainable development on this earth, you really have to make it clearthat you cannot possess nuclear weapons. We have problems such as climate change,
environment, and the depletion of fossil fuels. These issues are concerns for local
governments, but we are not very clear about their relationships to nuclear weapons.
Cities really have to make the relationships clearer.
7

That being the case, we who are present at this General Conference of Mayors for Peace
have to advise the mayors who are not here today to think about things from an angle
where sustainable development and nuclear weapons are not compatible, and cannot bereconciled with each other.
This has to be included in municipal agendas and they have to take appropriate steps forsustainable development and the abolition of nuclear weapons. These should go handin hand. To prevent the total destruction by nuclear weapons, the people of the world
have to take action. Now, the world is changing. We are living increasingly in an
urbanized world, so the problem is getting much more important.
Very often, cities are targeted for attacks, and we are asserting that Cities Are Not
Targets for any attacks. Cities are full of people whose lives are threatened.
Therefore, we have to take action. We have to think what we must do to protect
ourselves from possible attacks. We need to consider a simple suggestion to connect
the issues of sustainable development and nuclear disarmament.
Mayor Harvey
Mayor Kitahashi of the City of Kitakyushu.

Konnichiwa, Mayor.

Kenji Kitahashi, Mayor of Kitakyushu, JapanI am participating in this General Conference on behalf of the one million people ofKitakyushu. This is the first time in 24 years for the Mayor of Kitakyushu toparticipate in this meeting.
I would like to express my gratitude to Mayor Akiba and Mayor Taue. I would also
like to express my respect to all the mayors and other people who are working hard to
realize a peaceful world without nuclear weapons.
Kitakyushu is about 200 kilometers east from Nagasaki and 64 years ago on August 9,
the bomber was aiming for Kitakyushu. Kitakyushu was the original target of theatomic bomb, but that day was overcast. So the atomic bomb was not dropped on
Kitakyushu, but Nagasaki. We feel deep sorrow and sympathy for Hiroshima andNagasaki, which were completely destroyed by the atomic bombs.

8

At Kitakyushu, every year on August 9, when the atomic bomb was dropped on
Nagasaki, we hold a peace memorial ceremony for the victims of the atomic bombing.
But with the passing of time, the survivors of the atomic bombs are getting quite old, so
we need to raise awareness about the horror of the atomic bombing amongst young
people. Therefore, we hold a ceremony to pray for peace co-organized by the
Kitakyushu A-bomb survivors’ association.
On August 15, the day when the war ended, we hold memorial services for the war deadin five places around Kitakyushu City and we have a permanent exhibition of war
related materials, which has been donated by citizens. These are our efforts to pass on
the horror of wars to the next generation.
This April, we learned about a movement called “Kayoko Cherry” planting tocommemorate a Nagasaki hibakusha girl, Kayoko. A tree planting ceremony for“Kayoko Cherry and Mother-Child Cherry” took place in Kitakyushu because we werepowerfully affected by this movement. In cooperation with the association in chargeof the cherry tree planting, we actually did a cherry tree planting ceremony inKitakyushu with the participation of our citizens.
It is now 64 years after the end of the war. We have many young people who do notknow the horror of war. So, we have to involve young people in our campaign toeliminate nuclear weapons and teach them the importance of peace. This is why I
attended this Conference.
Of course it is very important for national governments to make a decision on theelimination of nuclear weapons, but citizens and mayors and local authorities can work
together, too. If we have solidarity across national borders, then we can create a new
movement. The year 2010 is the target for the campaign of Mayors for Peace to havethe Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol adopted, and we sincerely support the target.
My mother was a Hiroshima citizen, and I myself am a second generation survivor of
the atomic bombs. When she got pregnant, she was wondering whether she should
give a birth to me, because she was afraid of the aftereffects. We need to continue thispeace movement advocating “No more Hiroshima, no more Nagasaki and no morehibakusha.”9

I thank you very much, Mr. Chair, for giving me this opportunity to speak.
very much.

Thank you

Mayor Harvey
Thank you. Next, the first woman speaker is the Mayor of Takarazuka, Ms. Tomoko
Nakagawa.
Tomoko Nakagawa, Mayor of Takarazuka, JapanI am from Takarazuka City in Hyogo Prefecture. My name is Tomoko Nakagawa.
In April of this year I was elected Mayor. I am the first woman elected mayor in mycity’s 54 years of municipal government. The first task I tackled was to join Mayors
for Peace, and today I am very pleased to be able to share my feelings with mycolleagues from around the world here in Nagasaki.
Starting in 1996, I was a member of the lower house for 7 years. At that time, I
encountered Mayor Akiba of Hiroshima City. He sometimes called me even at
midnight. When Pakistan conducted nuclear tests, he called me saying, “Nakagawasan, we have to go to the Pakistani Embassy to protest.” Even at night, we went to the
Pakistani Embassy to protest. When there was a nuclear test done by India, Mayor
Akiba said, “Let’s go to the Indian Embassy to protest”, and he was seen there, because
he was fighting against nuclear weapons. I was very much inspired and very touchedby his guts and efforts in these activities. I deeply admire his endeavors. After I
became a mayor, I joined Mayors for Peace to give support and assistance to the earnest
feelings of Mayor Akiba.
Today, I would like to let you know about what is happening to the A-bomb survivors
overseas. For a long time, the Atomic Bomb Survivors’ Support Law was notapplicable to hibakusha overseas, but there have been court proceedings one after
another. Now, finally, they can get some benefits at their residences based on the
Atomic Bomb Survivors’ Support Law. But their benefits are not equivalent to thoseof the hibakusha in Japan. For example, the medical cost has a ceiling of 150,000 yen
per year. Secondly, in order for them to get approved as hibakusha, they have to comeall the way to Japan from overseas. Most of them are elderly and sick from theaftereffects of radiation. There are so many such hibakusha living overseas. I
sincerely hope that those hibakusha living abroad will be able to get benefits equivalent
to those of the hibakusha in Japan. This is something I would like you to understand.
10

I hope that we will be able to lobby the Japanese Government so that these people canbe recognized.
A-bombs and weapons of mass destruction kill thousands instantaneously andindiscriminately, regardless of which side they are on. Many Korean people from the
Korean Peninsula, which was colonized by Japan, were victimized. The number of
Korean hibakusha is about 70,000 people, which is more than 10% of all hibakusha.
After being exposed to the A-bombings, a lot of hibakusha moved outside of Japan, toSouth Korea, DPRK, US, Brazil and so forth, to more than 40 countries in total, andnow, there are 5,000 overseas hibakusha who are living outside of Japan. We hope tohave more information about those people in the Atomic Bomb Museums in Hiroshima
and Nagasaki. For these overseas hibakusha, we need your support so that we will beable to provide them an appropriate level of assistance and convey the facts of theatomic bombings to the next generation.
Through the Peace Declaration by Mayor Akiba, we need to at least execute andperform our responsibilities for the next generation. I do have the confidence in theactivities of this Mayors for Peace. Mayors are here to protect citizens. Mayors arehere to protect peace. This is the mission and our message to the nation. Thank youvery much indeed for giving me an opportunity to speak.
But before I stop, I would like to give you some information on Takarazuka City.
Takarazuka is where Dr. Osamu Tezuka, a very famous cartoonist and the author of“Hinotori (Phoenix)” lived from 5 to 24 years old. Also famous is the Takarazuka
Girls’ Revue. Please find some materials about Takarazuka City in Hyogo Prefecture,outside of this hall.
Let us recruit as many cities as possible for Mayors for Peace. I will work hard indoing the same for my colleagues in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. Thank you very much.
Mayor Harvey
That was Mayor Nakagawa. I think one of Mayors for Peace’s great speakers andactivists is Ms. Susanna Agostini, who is here to represent Mayor Matteo Renzi. She
is a star performer and such a great supporter of the aim of Hiroshima. And we would
like to welcome you from Florence, Italy.

11

Susanna Agostini, Councilor of Florence, Italy
First of all, greetings to the audience, to all the mayors and association, and peace
movement people we have in this room. They are fighting for peace for the people in
the world. We want to show our gratitude to the City and the Mayor of Nagasaki, Vice
President of Mayors for Peace.
In 1987, a Florence artist Jorio Vivarelli came to this city and donated a sculpture,
which is now in the Peace Park. You might be able to see that. That is anothercontribution by the City of Florence. The sculpture is named “Hymn to Life,” and has
the purpose of “never forgetting the horror of the A-bomb.”
The reason I am here today is to meet you all and to reconfirm the commitment forworld peace of the City of Florence. This commitment is quite old. In fact it alreadystarted in the 1950s, when then Mayor Giorgio La Pira proposed his political vision ofpeace to the mayors of the world, highlighting in particular the roles of mayors as a linkamong institutions and citizens.
I would like to thank the President of Mayors for Peace, Mayor of Hiroshima, Dr.
Tadatoshi Akiba, for his constant and amazing work during these years. When we met
him in Geneva in 2008 for the second Preparatory Committee meeting for the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference, Mayor Akiba called Mayor La Pira a“prophet.”
In fact, 54 years earlier, in the same city of Geneva, Mayor La Pira spoke at theInternational Red Cross Committee, proposing the following concept:“Cities are living units which play an essential role in contemporary society.
National governments don’t have the right to destroy them. Cities have a right toexist because of the political, historical, religious values they represent that must berecognized by nations.”
During the Geneva meeting, it was decided to organize a world meeting of the mayorsof capital cities, which actually took place in Florence in October 1955. 10 years after
the bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, when the world was still divided in two becauseof the Cold War. The ancient city hall of Florence hosted the meeting of capital cities,
with mayors from the East and from the West, from the North and from the South of theworld. There were mayors from Washington DC, Moscow, London, Paris, Prague,
12Bucharest, Warsaw, Vientiane, Jerusalem, Teheran and Beijing. Cities weretranscending national frontiers and even the iron curtain to create ties in the name ofhumankind.
La Pira opened the meeting with the following words:“Cities are like books. They tell us about human history and human civilization.
They are useful for the spiritual and material education of the future generations.
Cities cannot be killed. They are assigned to each generation with the expectationthat we will take care of them. They are to be preserved, enriched, and then given
to following generations.”
Nowadays, with an increasing number of countries possessing weapons of mass
destruction, we need to recreate the ties between institutions and citizens, in the name ofthe so-called “power of humankind.” It was advocated by Martens in 1907 during theSecond Hague Peace Conference. He mentioned the power of pushing thegovernments towards new policies aimed at the peaceful resolution of conflicts andtowards the refusal of the possession of weapons of mass destruction or nuclear
weapons.
To achieve this goal, it is necessary to increase the awareness of human rights.
Nowadays the world is facing a financial crisis, an increase of poverty, massive new
migrations as well as terrorism and wars, and all those problems are distracting public
opinion from the nuclear threat. That’s why we are here today; we must continue ourwork keeping the public aware of the danger. We have walked together until now and
we must keep on walking united.
The new mayor of Florence has expressed the will to protect his community from thisthreat, forbidding the installation of nuclear plants in municipal territory. He is also
encouraging the promotion of peace culture in schools, giving the next generations
information about the risks for the future of humankind.
Since 2005, Florence has been working to achieve these goals. In 2005, Mayor
Leonardo Domenici was elected in the Executive Board of Mayors for Peace. Since
then, thanks to his dual role of Mayor of Florence and President of the Italian
Conference of Mayors (ANCI), he was able to convince a lot of Italian mayors to join
Mayors for Peace.
13Besides that, enforcing an international mission organized in Iraqi Kurdistan by theInternational Peace Bureau Association of the Italian section, Mayor Domenici became
the point of reference for many mayors of that part of Iraq, suffering from years of war.
The Italian delegation in that mission was led by the Mayor of Marzabotto, a member
city of Mayors for Peace, which is famous for the atrocities which occurred during theSecond World War, and which since 1988 has established a sister city agreement with
the Kurd city of Halabja. We were thrilled when we found out that the Mayor of
Halabja, Mr. Khder Kareem had entered the Executive Committee of Mayors for Peace.
We consider it a real step toward the reconstruction of that area devastated by the use ofchemical weapons that produced serious damage, often irreversible, for current andfuture generations.
The activity of peace promotion of the Municipality of Florence has continued in 2006,
when Mrs. Hero Ibrahim Ahmed, the wife of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, came to
Florence to receive the Florence “Seal of Peace” for her work in the field of children’s
protection, acting through “Save the children,” the association she created in Kurdistanwith the aim of promoting the remote adoption of abandoned children. These areexamples of solidarity and of active cooperation between a city and a country at war.
Meanwhile the Municipality of Florence has concretely operated in projects ofcooperation and of reconstruction in Iraq. In particular, we have started a project ofhealth assistance in Kurdistan, with the construction of three hospitals equipped with
Italian sanitary technology and Italian staff. These hospitals assist both adults andchildren in their own country avoiding the patients to be transferred abroad to be cured.
Another positive action of the City of Florence promoting the culture of peace was theassignment of honorary citizenship to Dr. El Baradei, who won the Novel Peace Prize in2005. He is the director of the UN International Atomic Energy Agency against thenuclear proliferation. During his mandate the agency developed and enlarged theknowledge of the risks related to atomic weapons, has enhanced the role of security andhas spread the acceptance of nuclear inspections, in order to avoid a new run towards
nuclear armaments, especially in third world countries.
In November 2007, like in 1955, Florence became the centre for the promotion of peacein the world, hosting the Executive Conference of Mayors for Peace. At the end of theconference, over 100 Italian mayors plus some international mayors gathered in the City
14

Hall to move their commitment to the 2020 Vision Campaign and their support to theactivities of Mayors for Peace. During the three days of the meeting, mayors from allover the world; Japan, Iraq, America, Belgium, France, Germany, Great Britain and
Italy were representing the 1,828 cities in 122 nations that had joined Mayors for Peaceat the time. The common target was the elimination of any atomic weapons by 2020,
on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings.
Another important international appointment was the Geneva meeting in April 2008.
On that occasion, during the Preparatory Committee meeting for the Non-Proliferation
Treaty Review Conference we had an executive committee meeting and we decided toenlarge the number of city members joining both Mayors for Peace and the 2020 Vision
Campaign. According to this decision, the Mayor of Florence personally wrote to 190
Italian mayors officially asking them to join the campaign.
In the world there are some good signs that something positive is happening. US
President Barack Obama during his speech in Prague on April 5, 2009, expressed his
intention to work for nuclear disarmament, indicating the target of a nuclear-weaponfree world.
On June 5, 2008, the European Parliament expressed the need to create a universal
convention banning the nuclear weapons and inviting the countries owning nuclear
weapons to propose initiatives of disarmament, creating a nuclear-free zone covering
the whole of Europe.
The Italian parliament has approved a law obliging the Italian government to actively
promote the above European decisions in the field of the abolition of nuclear weapons
during the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference that will takeplace in 2010. These are the reasons why we need an always bigger number ofmembers to join our association.
The last action of Florence in the field of the promotion of peace and the respect ofhuman rights has been the meeting of Mayor Matteo Renzi, our new Mayor, with Nobel
Peace Prize Laureate Shirin Ebadi. She is a lawyer who has become the symbol of all
the Iranian men and women who are fighting for the recognition of their human rights.
The new Mayor of Florence, who I am proud of representing here, wants to increase thenumber of actions in the field of international cooperation, working with our sister cities15

in particular, through education for a culture of peace and for the ban of all weapons ofmass destruction, working with both Italian and foreign students living in our city.
My duty, both as President of the Peace Commission for the Municipality of Florence
and as representative of the Mayor of Florence in this important meeting for the second
time, is to keep and strengthen the ties with all of you, working together with the NGOs
and peace operators.
Only working together can we stimulate our institutions and national governments totake the right decisions and grant the success of our initiatives to promote a safe,
weapons free world to the future generations.

Yes, we can.

Mayor Harvey
We would like to record our respect, particularly the history that Florence has been so
generous for such a long period, particularly a beautiful sculpture “Hymn to Life” thatyou gave about 40 years ago. Would you take our respect and our support to Mayor
Renzi, and that I wish you well and Mr. Damonti, your interpreter.
You mentioned Kurdistan and what Florence has done to them. It is appropriate thatthe next speaker is indeed a mayor from Kurdistan, Mayor Khder Kareem. He is fromthe City of Halabja and he is here to speak with us this afternoon.
welcome.

Mayor Kareem,

Khder Kareem, Mayor of Halabja, Kurdistan, Iraq
Ladies and gentlemen. First of all I have warm thanks to you all for arranging thisimportant conference. It is an honor for me to meet you here to prevent what
happened in my city of Halabja. I would like to explain some points about the
genocide in Iraq using weapons of mass destruction against the Kurdish people.
Since the establishment of the Iraqi state in 1921 until the collapse of Saddam Hussein’s
regime in 2003, all formal government policies in Iraq sought to erase Kurdish
nationality, culture, and language. The Kurdish people continuously came up against
such regimes and defended their own lands. When the Ba’ath party in Iraq took up
power under the command of Saddam Hussein, the situation for Iraq as a whole, inparticular the Kurdish region, deteriorated.

16

The former Iraqi regime experimented in using weapons of mass destruction against theKurds. In 1974, the Iraqi army destroyed the cities of Halabja and Qaladzya with
Napalm bombs. Also in 1980s, chemical weapons had been used by the same army
against more than 200 Kurdish villages.
But the most brutal crime against the Halabja people happened on March 16, 1988,
when the city was attacked with different kinds of chemical weapons including mustardgas, cyanide and VX. During the raids, more than 5,000 civilians were killed andmore than 10,000 were injured while the rest fled to the borders and to Iran.
Halabja today is still re-building and recuperating from the attacks 21 years ago. But
still the aftermath effects of such chemical gas threaten the lives of the people of
Halabja. It has been an emotional journey for our city that does not speak about
revenge or hatred. The people of Kurdistan and Halabja seek peace as a way ofreconciling their past and shaping their future. More importantly, we do not want suchan atrocity to happen again anywhere.
We hope in the new Iraq, all religions, nations and ethnics can live peacefully together.
Mayors for Peace plays an important role because this organization is like a parliament
to bring together all different mayors of different ethnicities in one.
Mayor Harvey
Thank you. We thank you for a very moving address. We now move to UK and wewant to welcome from Dundee in the United Kingdom, the Chair of UK and Ireland
Nuclear Free Local Authorities, Mr. George Regan. Welcome.

George Regan, Baillie (Councillor), Dundee City Council;
Chair, the UK and Ireland Nuclear Free Local Authorities
Thank you Chairman, Mayor Akiba, Mayor Taue. My thanks and appreciation forhaving the conference, our visit to Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
experience. I thank you for that.

It has been an everlasting

Mayors, delegates, I am Baillie George Regan and I am Chair of the United Kingdom
and Ireland Nuclear Free Local Authorities, which has its base in the Mayors for Peace
Executive City of Manchester.
17

I pass greetings on to all here in Japan from all the citizens and cities involved in our
movement. We campaign for the abolition of nuclear weapons and the reduction of
nuclear power in the British Isles.
Our movement began in 1980 at the height of the “Cold War” between the Soviet Unionand the United States. At the time, the UK was a very close ally of the United Statesand had agreed to the American request to host nuclear weapons at American bases in
the UK such as Greenham Common. Local councilors, under pressure from their local
communities, and highly concerned about the possibility of having their cities becoming
targets for a nuclear attack, believed they had to do something about it.
Thus, on November 5, 1980, Manchester City Council declared itself a “nuclear freezone”. Within months, towns and cities across England, Scotland and Wales hadjoined the movement, including the likes of London, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Cardiff,
Leeds and my home city of Dundee. The decision to declare “nuclear free zones” wasa highly political and unusual, as on the whole, local councils discuss local issues andrarely venture into international politics. Being “nuclear free” was also a strange
concept – how can a city be nuclear free when it may have a nuclear power station in its
area, or nuclear materials being transported through it on a regular basis?
However, “nuclear free” was a worthy aspiration to work for, and all the towns andcities that joined up campaigned on that idea. After the Chernobyl disaster of 1986,
the government also widened to cover concerns over the safety of nuclear power system.
For 30 years, the Nuclear Free Local Authorities, as it became, has been the major local
government voice on nuclear issues in the United Kingdom and has a respected recordof highlighting concerns over nuclear weapons and nuclear power, and we have beensuccessful. There are no US nuclear weapons at Greenham Common. Instead, there
is a country park and a business centre. That was due to the last major nuclear
weapons cuts made in the late 1980s by the USA and USSR. I do believe citizen
groups, councils and public opinion were a hugely important factor in these decisions.
I believe all the campaigning made by cities and citizens were listened to by national
governments.
I remember listening to Mayor Akiba and Mayor Ito speaking in Manchester in 2003,
saying how they were inspired by the “nuclear free zones” movement in the UK to set
18

up Mayors for Peace organization and develop Japan’s Nuclear Free Local Authorities
movement. We are proud to have led the way then and are proud to be a close ally andpart of the Mayors for Peace movement now.
As an organization, Nuclear Free Local Authorities has now expanded to include towns
and cities in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Unlike the United Kingdom,
the Republic of Ireland is, by law, a non-nuclear state and a leading country with an
official status of neutrality. That has enhanced our movement and we have developed
strong links with the Irish Government.
As local politicians we perhaps have more knowledge of how our local communities
work than anyone else. I fundamentally believe that by working together nationallyand internationally, we can influence our national governments. Through Mayors for
Peace, and by working with citizen groups, we can effectively represent the aspirationsof towns and cities to remove nuclear weapons by 2020.
Few years later, few thought that the Soviet Union would be no more and few thoughtthat we would ever see the elimination of nuclear weapons. Well progressive change
always happens when people stand up in favour of legitimate aspirations. We have towork with citizens groups as we did in the 1980’s to make this final aspiration of
nuclear weapons abolition finally take place.
In May I was honoured to speak at the United Nations in the Mayors for Peace session
at the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Preparatory Conference. I was impressed at
how much respect United Nations Ambassadors from around the world gave to the
Mayors for Peace delegation. We spoke with Ambassadors from around Europe, Asia,
Latin America and Africa. I was enthused that there is a strong level of support for our
aspiration at the conference, and that there may be a major breakthrough, we hope, in
2010.
As Mayor Akiba said, we are the “Obamajority” and just as we never thought there
would be a black President of the United States, I am sure one day, quite soon, we willsee positive moves for major reductions in nuclear weapons. That is something goodto give to my grandchildren. Let’s work for it.
I, basically, am a simple man.

I represent a working class area in my city.
19

I am

delighted to have been elected to work within the Nuclear Free Local Authorities.
I came here 4 years ago to Hiroshima for my very first ever Conference. It had alasting impact on me. I still have horror inside by what was brought across by theexhibition.
To finish, there is an old saying in the United Kingdom, and that is, “The good men do
lives on, and the evil men do lives on, but the good they do is buried with their bones.”
I ask you, please, to work as hard, for us all to work as hard to eliminate nuclear
weapons by 2020 and let my grave be lonely and just name ourselves not any goodwork, let the good work stay behind and continue. Thank you.
Mayor Harvey
George, thank you for those kind words.
We have run out of time. I am sorry, but we are half way there. We have managed to
get through passionate and visionary speakers that have told us about their world,mayors and the world that we all exist in. The rest of this list, and there are some veryfine speakers will need to move till the second plenary session. So there will be muchhope and much information on Monday. So please do come to the second plenary
session on Monday to hear the rest of those fine speakers.
I would just like to finish by thanking you all. And I would just like to applaud thetwo mayors that have made such a wonderful job to bringing us all together, Mayor
Akiba and Mayor Taue. Thank you both. That concludes the afternoon session.
Best wishes for you all, God bless you and see you at the second plenary session on
Monday.

20

The 7th General Conference of Mayors for Peace

Section Meeting I
PASSING THE FLAME:
From hibakusha to children,for the peaceful resolution of conflicts
August 9 (Sun), 2009 14:00 – 17:00
Nagasaki Brick Hall
Chairperson:

A-bomb Survivor’s
Testimony:

Speakers:

Stephan Weil
Vice President of Mayors for Peace
Lord Mayor of Hannover, Germany

Tsukasa Uchida
Nagasaki A-bomb survivor
Jean-Joel Lemarchand
Deputy Mayor, Choisy-Le-Roi, France
Association Française des Communes, Départements etRégions pour la Paix (AFCDRP)
Hiroyuki Nakata
Vice Mayor of Sapporo, Japan
Miho Cibot Shimma
Association Française des Communes, Départements etRégions pour la Paix (AFCDRP), France
Robert Harvey
Vice President of Mayors for Peace
Mayor of Waitakere, New Zealand
Estifanos Afeworki Haile
Ambassador of the State of Eritrea to Japan, Eritrea

Chairperson: Stephan Weil, Lord Mayor of Hannover, Germany
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for attending our discussion.
I know the time during such conferences after lunch is a dangerous one. In Germany,
we talk about “soup coma,” because most people are a little bit sleepy, but I hope wehave a lively discussion. My name is Stephan Weil, Lord Mayor of Hannover inGermany. Hannover is a city with a population of half a million, and we have been amember of Mayors for Peace since early the 1980s, so we are part of the first generationof member cities. It is an honor for me to serve as a chair of this discussion. Let’s
get started.
In this first Section Meeting, while reflecting on the experiences of Nagasaki and theatomic bombing, we would like to discuss the possibility of reconciliation for solving
the various conflicts throughout our world, an idea expressed eloquently by thehibakusha. In addition, we should also discuss how we might pass on our experiences
regarding war and recovery to the next generation of children, who will inherit ourworld.
Before we begin, however, in order to better understand these issues, we would like tolisten to a few words from someone who experienced the atomic bomb attack in
Nagasaki. I would like to introduce Mr. Tsukasa Uchida. Mr. Uchida was working at
a weapons factory as a mobilized student when the bomb was dropped. Mr. Uchida,
thank you for coming. Please go right ahead. Thank you very much.
A-bomb Survivor’s Testimony: “I witnessed hell”
Tsukasa Uchida, Nagasaki A-bomb survivor
As introduced, my name is Tsukasa Uchida. I am very honored to be able to have thisopportunity to share my experiences at this important gathering and I would like toextend my gratitude. The fact I am standing here is something of wonder, and soplease listen to my experience. The title is, “I witnessed hell.”That war was nothing but a nightmare, especially for one like myself who lost five
family members. My family was living at a place called Matsuyama-cho, less than ahundred meters from my house was the hypocenter where the A-bomb was dropped andnow the memorial monolith is located.
At that time, the food shortage was more serious than we had ever imagined. We
1depended on coupons to exchange for daily goods. I would like to mention that we
also suffered from food shortage during the war. We were starving very badly in thosedays. We occasionally visited farmers on the outskirts of the city to purchase food.
With this small amount of food supply, we were barely surviving with continual hunger
in Nagasaki.
I would now like to tell you my experiences on August 9, 1945 in Nagasaki. I was a
junior high school boy. In the third year of junior high school, we were all mobilized
to work at a munitions factory which made military goods. So my daily task was towork at the factory of military supplies.
That morning, August 9, 1945, when I woke up, I asked my father, who was sleeping
next to me, what time it was, but my father’s watch had stopped. His watch showedthat it was 6:10. Neither of us noticed that the watch had stopped.
In August, there were greater numbers of bombings in Nagasaki every day. In themidnight of August 8, getting into August 9, we heard a lot of alarms and air raid
warnings. With such alarms, we would go to shelters. The shelter was located at theplace now called the Peace Park, on a hill in Matsuyama-cho. There were several
buildings there, and at the west side of the hill, there was a shelter built where we could
run into when there were air-raid warnings.
In the previous night, our family of six was in the shelter, and we had just come backhome from the shelter. My father had probably forgotten to wind up the watch.
Of course the watches those days were not run by batteries, but wound. Probably hehad not done so and that was why the watch was stopped that morning.
After eating my potato porridge, as I was putting on my shoes, I looked at the clock near
the doorway. It was past seven o’clock. For 50 minutes the watch had stopped. So
I rushed out the house to run to the factory. But as I was getting out of the house, I
remember that I blamed my father for my being late. I blamed him as if it was all his
fault, but that was the last conversation I had with him, which I regret very much, evento this day. Including my father, all of my family members were killed by the A-bombat our house in Matsuyama-cho. They died instantly in the blazing inferno.
So I finally reached the Mitsubishi Ohashi Factory.
2

At around 8:30a.m., the air-raidalarm started again, so we, junior high school students, assembled in front of an air-raid
shelter on the hillside about 300 meters from the east gate of the factory. Here, wewere told by the chemistry teacher that the bomb that had attacked Hiroshima three days
before was a new type of bomb which must have been an atomic bomb that applied theprinciple of nuclear fission. This was something unknown to all of us and it was agreat shock and a surprise. This was the first time we heard of such a bomb and wewere very shocked. But three days after Hiroshima, the same bomb was dropped on
Nagasaki. Of course we had no way to know that would happen.
After a while, the warning was released and we went back to our workplace in thefactory. In the factory, machine tools were already operating making a large noise.
My job was the finishing of components for precision machines, so I hurried to themachine where the vice was located.
Then, all of a sudden, a strong flash of light ran from the sky through the high ceiling of
the factory building. It was furious, a very strong flash. At that moment, the glass
sheet that was used for the roofing to take in light broke into pieces by the blast and fell
all over the floor. Pieces of glass rained all over the place. I instantly lied flat on thefloor with my face down and I tried to cover my head with my hands like this. In
between my fingers, pieces of glass stuck deep into my skull. My cuts were very deep,and I bled a great deal.

I thought I was going to die.

Fortunately, I had a towel around my head, so with the towel, I tried to wipe the blood.
I took the towel off my head and I tried to stop bleeding with the towel, but it was
beyond my capability. The towel was soaked with blood and I would wring out the
blood and then put the towel back on my head. I did this over and over, but still the
bleeding did not stop. I thought I was going to die.
Fortunately, there were people who came to rescue me. So three times I had to wring
the towel soaked with blood, I remember. Soon after, I realized that wires were melted
like bend candy and hung from the ceiling. Also I realized that I was surrounded bymany dead bodies. About 900 meters from the factory, there was an undergroundfactory, and some rescue team came to rescue us in our factory. I was one of the firstpeople to be rescued, and I was carried on a stretcher to a hill nearby, where I received
first-aid care. There were no good medicines, but there were some herbs that wereused to cure my cuts. Mugwort was used to stop my bleeding. I started to think I
3

might survive.
Once the bleeding had stopped, I started to worry about my family in Matsuyama-cho.
Of course, I was very wary, and still quite shaky, but I went down the hill and crossed asmall river, and walked along the rail tracks. As I walked along the tracks, I got close
to the Matsuyama-cho crossing. The place was filled with broken and burnt bricks,
and also human skeletons covered by thick ash. It looked like a vast desert. I think
the ash must have included quite a bit of radiation.
It must have been around one p.m., and the first rescue train was arriving at the station.
From the railway bridge at Ohashi toward the paddy field, about 500 meters was full ofpeople seriously burnt all over their bodies, and people with burnt skin hanging down.
I managed to get on the rescue train as well, where I found my close school mate Haruo
Nakamura, whom I was with that morning. He jumped on the train before me. He
was burnt from head to toe in the most disastrous way, which made me lose my words.
He could hardly keep his eyes open, but he seemed to recognize my voice. Touching
my blood-covered body, he encouraged me by saying, “We should survive together.
We should live together.” However, death was steadily approaching him. This wastruly an encounter of two people who were wandering between life and death in thedesolation of the disastrous atomic bomb.
Now, I would like to talk about my experience living together with my mother. On
that day, in the dark, the train arrived at Iwamatsu station, one station before Omura
Station. The local fire company volunteers took me on a stretcher to the naval hospital.
The next morning I was awakened by the noise of beds moved out of the room one after
another. I was sad, thinking I was left behind and those were other patients who were
getting well and leaving the hospital. But sometime later, I realized something was
wrong. I fearfully asked a nurse about them. Then she told me all six other patientsin the room had died. I was shocked and trembled with tremendous fear. I foundcountless pieces of broken glass coming off my body and scattered in my bed.
Despite falling into a coma several times, I survived thanks to the best possible care atthat time. I was allowed to leave the hospital in a week. I got thirteen stitches in myhead. Strangely enough, I do not remember how I got on the train again. I headed tomy home but I do not remember how I made it. I got off at the Michinoo Station andheaded for my home in Matsuyama-cho. I happened to see my mother near an4

in-the-tunnel factory in the Sumiyoshi neighborhood.
eyes.

Both of us could not believe ourI was wearing a thin bath robe and straw sandals given to me by the hospital. My
mother was overwhelmed with joy and she frantically clung to me. She had been
searching for me at a number of shelters. She said that she was so exhausted, and one
time dozed off. Then she saw me with warm blood dripping in her dream. Then she
felt that I might be alive somewhere.
When we came close to Ohashi-machi, I thought I had seen my house intact.

However,

it was mere illusion. The main street was cleared after one week from the bombing but
still some unidentified bodies were left here and there. On the land the Sakurai family
used to live on the northern end of Matsuyama-cho, there were no bodies, but on theconcrete floor, I saw six skulls lined up with their dark eyeholes looking up into the air.
There were no other body parts, probably burnt down to ashes in the heat.
I finally came home but the house was gone. I heard later that only a part of myfather’s body was found. I was seized by anger but I had nobody to vent it at. We
should never condone such absurdity. My immediate younger brother was in his firstyear in the middle school. When Nagasaki was first bombed on August 1 about aweek before, my younger brother was very very shocked to see the tragedy caused bythis tremendous bombardment and he urged our father to evacuate soon. But my father,because of his very strong belief, literally scolded him, calling him unpatriotic. In
those days, big cities promoted evacuating children, but we did not know that. It wasvery sad that local cities were left behind. We were not allowed to evacuate children
from local cities and our father firmly believed that Japan would never perish because
the country was led by a divine emperor. His belief determined the fate of our family.
The emperor was believed to be a living god. He looked like a man, but actually a god.
That was a strong belief that supported the imperial system in Japan. I think it iscomplete nonsense. I think we should have been more critical. But if we had been
critical, then we would be called unpatriotic. So, my younger brother and our wholefamily shared a tragic fate. I have no words to express my deep regret.
So far I have talked about my experience with the atomic bomb. In the end, I would
like to talk about the future and how to bring peace to the world. Nobody can deny5

that the use of the atomic bombs during World War II was “evil.” What we have to do
now is never to repeat the tragedy of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We have a mission tosend out to the world the stories of A-bomb survivors who experienced unbearable pain,
not as political propaganda but as a message for peace. I hope that nobody will forget
this terrible and absurd act. This concludes my presentation. Thank you very muchfor listening.
Lord Mayor Weil
Mr. Uchida, thank you very much for your testimony. This morning, we took part in
the impressive memorial at the Nagasaki Peace Ceremony, and now additionally wehave heard very impressive and moving memories of a survivor. Thank you verymuch for this introduction. I think it has been the best we got.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is not easy after such a report to start a discussion, but I will
first give the opportunity to ask Mr. Uchida, if there is something to be asked. Is there
anybody here who wants to ask questions to Mr. Uchida? Thank you. So, Mr.
Uchida, thank you very much for your introduction.
Now we have a lot of time left.
about 20 minutes.

We are supposed to have a coffee break at 3:00pm for

Now we should start to discuss the question on how to pass on the experiences to thenext generation that is the question in many countries all over the world. For example,
in Germany, the people who can talk about their own experiences in the darkest periodof our history are getting very old. Their experiences must be passed on. That is thematter of fact also of a lot of other countries.
I would like to ask a few brief comments to start our discussion from some of ourparticipating cities. And I would like to ask Mr. Jean-Joel Lemarchand from France tostart with his speech. Mr. Lemarchand, the floor is yours.
Jean-Joel Lemarchand, Deputy Mayor, Choisy-Le-Roi, France
Association Française des Communes, Départements et Régions pour la Paix
(AFCDRP)I would like to be very brief. I do not want to go too much into the break time. I
have been very moved by Mr. Uchida’s story. He saw hell and remembered about his
6father’s watch being stopped. There is a popular French song about a wristwatch:“Time on the wristwatch left was different from the time shown on the clock on thewall, when a strange thing happened. The wristwatch was burned and melted withthe heat…”
The lyrics were about war. And human beings may be forced to die because of fearful
weapons. There is something that we have to think about.
I represent the small town of Choisy-Le-Roi, population of 40,000. Even the residents
of such small town may share the same fear. I do not mean to present politicalpropaganda or anything. I think that the tragic experiences and pain of the hibakusha
should be remembered all the time.
Arthur Rambaud, a French poet, said that “fearful people are coming” in his poem,
because as we start our life at the point where our predecessors finish their jobs.
I think Rambaud is quite right. We have to hand down our tragic experiences toyounger generations.
In the ceremony this morning, people talked about their experiences, and the mayors ofdifferent towns and citizens should take precautions about such fearful possibilities.
So citizens, local cities and local governments should participate in the movement tostop it. The significance of Mayors for Peace is to unite citizens to take action. This
organization can take leadership to have our cities and citizens be involved in handing
down their fearful experiences.
This morning we visited the Nagasaki Peace Statue, the monument of the A-bombing,and I saw doves flying out and I remembered the seas. Seas are infinite. It continues
indefinitely. I think this statue unites people. Just like seas, I would like to see ouractivities spread around the world and we would like to continue our efforts. Thankyou very much.
Lord Mayor Weil
Thank you very much. The next speaker is from Japan, the Vice Mayor of Sapporo,
Mr. Hiroyuki Nakata. Mr. Nakata, please go ahead. The floor is yours.
Hiroyuki Nakata, Vice Mayor of Sapporo, Japan7

Hello everyone. Thank you for the kind introduction. My name is Hiroyuki Nakata,and I am the Vice Mayor of Sapporo, Japan. I would like to congratulate you for the
7th General Conference of Mayors for Peace, and I am very honored to have thisopportunity.
As you know, Sapporo City is located in Hokkaido, which is the northernmost island ofJapan. We have 1.9 million people as our population and it is the 5th largest city inJapan. The Winter Olympics were held there in 1972, so many of you may know thename Sapporo by this Olympics.
Today I would like to share with you the kind of activities we are engaged in, in
Sapporo City, in order to convey the message to the children for peaceful resolution of
conflicts.
Seventeen years ago in 1992, the City of Sapporo designated our city as a city of peaceand declared the abolition of nuclear weapons. We consider war as the largest cause ofdestruction of global environment and there is no greater civil welfare than peace.
Based upon these thoughts, we are trying to educate the people with regard to theimportance of peace by sharing experiences on the A-bomb and war.
Sapporo City is located geographically far from Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We wereless affected by the war. We know about war as knowledge, but it is quite rare toactually listen to war experiences directly. People tend to take the present peace for
granted. So we feel it is important not only to provide knowledge about the war, butalso to share the experiences and reality of war.
At the G8 Hokkaido Toyako Summit held last year in 2008, we were able to hold theHiroshima-Nagasaki A-bomb Exhibition co-organized by the cities of Hiroshima,
Nagasaki, and the National Council of Japan Nuclear Free Local Authorities as a verysignificant occasion. Unfortunately, we were not able to secure the visits by theleaders of summit countries but we were able to have visits by the ambassador to Japan
from Mexico and also from many people from Japan as well as foreign people who
visited Toyako on the occasion of the Summit. They were able to see the pictures andalso the actual materials that were affected by the A-bombs. And we were able toconvey the importance of nuclear abolition and peace.

8

Also, storytellings with pictures of A-bomb experiences from Nagasaki were held morethan ten times all over Sapporo during the Summit period. Let me introduce thecomments we received from visitors to the A-bomb Exhibition:“After looking at the pictures immediately after the bombing, children’s clothes, alunch box and roof tiles that were burnt by the A-bomb, it was a very big shock to
me. I have read about war in books, but this shock was much greater.”“By actually listening to the voices of A-bomb victims, I was able to understand thesorrow they had experienced, and the prejudice, discrimination, and mental trauma
they had to fight with all their lives. Although I have knowledge learned in thepast, I was very shocked by your experiences I heard. I was able to feel for
myself the tragedy of war and respect for peace.”
Some people even said that:“I should go to Hiroshima and Nagasaki” and“I learned a lot. I would like to convey the message to the people around me.”As you can see from their impressions, it was a very valuable opportunity for people toreally, actually feel for themselves what the war was like, through real pictures,
A-bombed materials and the voice of the hibakusha.
The City of Sapporo would like to continue having these kinds of opportunities in order
to convey to our citizens the experiences of the A-bomb and the war, so that the children
can actually feel for themselves the experiences of war and the importance of world
peace. We would like them to consider what they can do and we would like to provide
them with such opportunities.
At the City of Sapporo, we have a variety of events including an annual competition ofchildren’s drawings and compositions about what they can do for world peace,programs to send children to visit A-bomb sites, exchange programs through the internetwith A-bomb survivors, an exchange program to directly convey war experiences fromthose who experienced wars to children, and events to think about the importance ofpeace through music, film etc. By providing children with various kinds ofopportunities to think about peace, we hope we can nurture their spirit to achieve
peaceful future.
Last but not least, I would like to extend my respect to the cities of Hiroshima and9Nagasaki for the efforts they have been making for the abolition of nuclear weapons andfor world peace. We should not leave all these efforts to these two cities only. I feelthat it is important that all the cities in Japan consider this important issue along withthe cities of the world, and convey the message to our citizens and children on how
important world peace is. That would contribute to gain momentum for peace.
Thank you very much for your kind attention.
Lord Mayor Weil
Thank you very much, Mr. Nakata, for your remarks, especially about the examples you
gave us about your practice. Now we go on again back to France, I would like to ask
Mrs. Miho Cibot Shinma.

The floor is yours.

Miho Cibot Shimma
Association Française des Communes, Départements et Régions pour la Paix
(AFCDRP), France
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Today I am representing France, but allow me
to speak in Japanese. I am from Malakoff, in France, next to Paris.
Since 1982, I have been talking about the tragedy of the A-bombing. I started an
exhibition of A-bomb materials produced in Japan, a screen play of a documentary filmon the A-bomb, an exhibition of A-bomb photographs and A-bomb survivors’
testimonies. Later on, I published three books on the A-bomb in France, and I
produced animated films on peace education in Japanese, English and French. We
showed them in 67 countries. Its title is “On a Paper Crane: Tomoko’s Adventure” andin 2005, NHK international radio station broadcasted it in 24 languages.
As you know, France is a nuclear weapon state and it is not easy to talk about nuclear
weapons to French people. While I tried to talk about it, they say, “Japanese people
killed lots of people in Nanjing in China,” or “dropping the atomic bomb ended the war
earlier.” When I ask them if they know Nagasaki, they say “it is a city well known forpollution,” or “the town experienced a big earthquake.” In 2005, when we had the
A-bomb exhibition in Paris, some people were very surprised to learn that A-bomb was
dropped on Nagasaki, too.
Despite that, I have been active for the past 27 years, simply because of the kind support
from the citizens and cities, or communes that support conveying the reality of the10A-bombings. Especially in 1997, the Association Francaise des Communes,
Departments, Regions pour la Paix (AFCDRP) was established and played an importantrole.
However, the damages of A-bomb have not been well known yet. According to theofficial report of France, 150,000 people were engaged in French nuclear tests, which
took place 210 times. According to their testimonies, those workers were notprotected from radiation. Also sufficient information was not given to local people.
If they knew more about possible damages by nuclear radiation, they would have taken
more caution or they would have opposed strongly. Those who had formerly engaged
in these tests have later developed malignant tumors and many other serious diseases,
and many of them already passed away.
Then, in 2001, then the Association of Veterans of Nuclear Tests (AVEN) wasestablished. The survey by former military doctors revealed that the damages were far
greater than expected. This group and also the Polynesian Victims Group “Moruroa e
tatou” and the association of nuclear test victims in the Sub-Sahara area of Algeria got
together to sue the French government. Now, the French government is preparing a
law to compensate victims. However, I am afraid that the law will be applicable to
only a small number of victims.
The hibakusha or nuclear test victims are especially concerned about the future of theirchildren. Their children born after they were engaged in nuclear tests have shown
genetic abnormalities and diseases. 23.5 out of 1,000 infants passed away within 1
year after birth, which is three times higher than average infant mortality rate in France.
Even those children who are healthy now may develop similar diseases. So the former
employees of nuclear test grounds and local residents are quite afraid for their children’s
future. They ask us how Hiroshima and Nagasaki hibakusha are doing and how theJapanese government is supporting them, and how are the second and the third
generations of hibakusha.
So there are a number of hibakusha around the world. Nuclear tests by the US wereconducted 1,053 times, 738 times by the Soviet Union and Russia, and adding thenumber of tests by others; the total number comes up to 2,099 times by May 2009.
The power of the H-bomb tests in the atmosphere was 800 to 1,000 times greater thanthe explosion of the A-bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
11

Production of nuclear weapons and nuclear tests contaminate the Earth. Lots of people
were exposed to nuclear radiation. Wars and nuclear bombs are big problems of global
pollution. To protect the global environment, and to realize a more peaceful world, weshould hand down the hibakusha testimonies to younger generations.
September 21 is the UN International Day of Peace, so we are going to carry out acampaign seeking the total ban of nuclear weapons for a week. We would like tocontinue our work in search for a nuclear-free world in cooperation with other membersof Mayors for Peace. Thank you.
Lord Mayor Weil
Thank you very much Madam Cibot. Seems to be you are the ideal person to link
France and Japan.
Ladies and gentlemen, I suggest now to have a break for a quarter of an hour, to havesome coffee and refresh ourselves. We should meet again quarter past three.
Thank you very much so far, and see you in few minutes.
[Break]Lord Mayor Weil
So ladies and gentlemen, may we continue? I hope all of you are refreshed andlooking forward to the second half of our discussion. I would like to ask anybody whowants to give remarks to prepare them and give me the notice after the next speech,
which will be the remarks by the Mayor of Waitakere, New Zealand, our friend Robert
Harvey. Please, the floor is yours.
Robert Harvey, Mayor of Waitakere, New Zealand
Kia ora tatou! Haere mai, haere mai, haere mai, tiki mai haere mai, taki mai, haeremai! (Hello everyone, welcome, welcome, welcome to be here)
I greet you in the ancient language of New Zealand of the Maori people. I bring theirgift to you from across the Pacific. Mr. Chairman, I am delighted to say a few words.
I have been deeply committed to the cause of peace for nearly 55 years. I grew up in a
family of pacifists and I went on my first anti-nuclear march, probably when I was
12about 10 years old in the 1950s. So I am honoured to be here and humbled by theoccasion.
I would just like to acknowledge Mr. Uchida. I would like to acknowledge his story
and his testimony. I felt it was one of the deepest and most tragic stories I have ever
heard in my life, told by a living person. I smelt the bomb and I felt his terror and I
felt his blood. I felt I was in the presence of a real living treasure and that is what I
think is important, that in our lifetime we are hearing a story being told by someone
who was actually there. He was a living documentary. And I think his special placein our lives and in this time cannot be underestimated. As I said there, I thought what
is he thinking about this world now in the 21st century and about children at the sameage as he was on that fateful day, this day 64 years ago? How can he tell his story to
the children now? That, to me, is of a huge importance.
Look, I am a mayor of a large New Zealand city and I am involved violence and thecontrol and management of violence in one of the most beautiful cities in the world.
200,000 people, yet there is the pressure on children to play war games, to see violenceon video, puf, puf, puf, puf, (sound of gunfire) is huge everywhere.
His story is not a game, his story is real. His blood, the skin, his friend burnt, is real.
I think that the children today have got to start respecting life. They see and have somuch pressure, from as I said, from video games, movies, internet. It has just reachedthe level where young children killing themselves, suicide is high. Wherever you see
indigenous people, they are taking the option of death. His story makes it real.
I feel that we have a responsibility to have those stories told to the people, the young
children that were at the same age as he was. To me he wasn’t an old man. All thestories of hibakusha that I heard had never been told by old people, but they have been
told by young people. Their stories were told by young people in the room. Youngpeople need to hear that story told by another young person. They might be in the
body of an 80 year-old, but they’re telling it as it was.
important.

The power of that is really

One of the projects I am involved in is called “Roots of Empathy.” They take babies toschools. It is a wonderful project. The baby is taken by a local mother about a monthold. The baby is just a bundle of crying and breast feeding, I guess. The baby is laid13

down the floor and the classes will welcome the baby when they see the baby. Baby
comes back at three months. “Oh the baby is now moving.” “Oh, wow,” the kids
will say. That baby comes back at six months, now crawling. It is not just a bundleof yelling, it’s a person. It is a living growing person. The baby comes back at ninemonths. Now the baby is walking. The baby and the classroom, the reaction is so
wonderful. The thing we are trying to do is, of course, this is to say, to teach thechildren what must happen with this baby. It mustn’t be dropped, it mustn’t be shaken.
You’ve got no idea how many people throughout this planet shake their babies, and ifthey shake their babies, good-bye brain. This is one of the most important things weare doing in New Zealand, to recognize life and to recognize what a child is.
And in a way, it is the same story that we have heard today here about the preciousnessof life, destroyed in seconds, the hideousness of war. Somehow, I am trying totranslate it to now, so that children now can understand the tragedy of then. Because
these kids today, your kids, my grandkids I got six kids, so I have to behave with all of
this kind of things, and I got 200,000 kids that vote for me. I do not treat them likechildren, but I treat them as a family. I treat them, and I’m a servant leader, so I leadfrom behind, and showing them ideas that I think might work.
We have got another program against bullying, and the silly telephones stick to our ears.
Kids have other techniques with those, to text message, to frightening people.
dangerous as anything we might have, and leads terrible things.

It is asSo, peace happens when we make it happen. Peace grows when we nurture it.
That is what I do. That is what I have been doing for 50 years. I had never thoughtthat I would come to Japan or that I would go to China and talk about peace when I wason those marches when I was 10 years old. I was like Mr. Uchida. I was bewilderedby the world. And I thought those things happened.
Finally, why I am carrying this?

I lit this today with the group of people from New

Zealand. It is a torch. I lit it from the flame of Nagasaki that flame had come from
Greece. I lit it and I put it out. But the wick is still with us here. I am going to light
this again in New Zealand for the World March in October. So this flame from
Nagasaki to New Zealand, the first country to see the new day, will start a March that
goes around the world. So that is why I am carrying it. It is made by indigenous
people of North America. The Maori people will decorate it, too. And we will start a14

march, and I will look for the video so I can see you all here, so you will be on thatmarch.
So, that is a little bit about my life and what I do, and how I think we have got to keep
our stories going between Mr. Uchida, so he never dies. His story will keep going.
And his tale will keep reminding us that once on a terrible day he got cut by glasses andhe lost his family. He will still be in hearts in our mind. Kia ora tatou.
Lord Mayor Weil
Thank you very much for this impressive speech.

Now I would like to ask the

Ambassador of the Kingdom of Bahrain, His Excellency Dr. Khalil Hassan. Is he
there? He was expected to make a speech. If he is not here, he will not have achance to speak. It is an easy conclusion. So, ladies and gentlemen, now the floor isyours. Who wants to give their opinion to us all? Please. Would you like to use
this microphone? And please tell us who you are, and where you come from, what are
your circumstances of life.
Estifanos Afeworki Haile, Ambassador of the State of Eritrea to Japan
Ladies and gentlemen, please kindly understand that I am addressing this important
conference not only in my capacity as Ambassador of the State of Eritrea to Japan, but
as a senior citizen and on behalf of the Mayors of the Capital City of my country,
Asmara, Honorable Mr. Tewelde Kelati and the Port City of Massawa, Honorable Ms.
Fana Tesfamariam, who joined Mayors of Peace in 2008.
First of all allow me to convey, from the mayors of these two cities, on the occasion of
the 7th General Conference of Mayors for Peace, an earnest message of solidarity to thegovernment and people of Japan and all the participants of this important conference
which is being held on a period where unprecedented global anxiety on climate andnuclear issues has started emerging and is heightened.
I was born in a city called Asmara. It is the capital city of Eritrea, on September 1947.
Though I was born in a very far off place and away from the epicenter of Hiroshima andNagasaki atomic bombings, I still recollect from my childhood memories that thesubsequent news, horrific photos, stories and fear which echoed from this tragedy hit
deep into our souls, leaving scars which influenced the creation, upbringings andprevailing perspective of humanism that exists in my country today. Therefore, I
15

believe that I am duty bound and have an obligation to give testimonials and convey a
humble message on behalf of the City of Asmara, the City of Massawa and mygeneration to this conference.
We all believe it is important to remember and reflect on the history of nuclear weapons
even if it is brief in this important conference. Mankind needs to learn from mistakesof the past. I would like to share with the participants of this conference two historicalfacts that happened close to me and my people.
The first one was an atmospheric nuclear test explosion four times more powerful thanthe bomb dropped in Hiroshima which was made by France in the Sahara Desert ofAfrica in the morning of February 14, 1960. I clearly remember that this phenomenon
was of great joy to the President of France of the time, Charles de Gaulle. But I cangive testimonials to this conference that this event was a source of great sadness andsorrow to my neighborhood. Even though I cannot prove to you scientifically thelinkages, I clearly do remember that this was a time of my childhood when strange
sickness and a sense of weakness gripped our entire neighborhood. A mysterious
disease spread like a prairie fire indiscriminately affecting children, elders, men andwomen in Africa. It left people bedridden for days and sometime weeks to come, in
my city of Asmara. This is a city where every year from time immemorial the warm
dust laden winds of the Sahara compete with the wet moisture laden winds from theIndian Ocean giving birth to rains. I think it is not hard to imagine what has happened
during this particular period when nuclear dust also joined the competition. Seventeen
consecutive atmospheric tests were undertaken by France and the damage left on thepeople, environment and eco-system by these are without any doubt horrendous. A
continent which suffered the inhumane experience of the European shackles of slavery
and colonialism was punished with a weapon of mass destruction silently once again inhistory.
The second one was during the cold war period: our Port City of Massawa and its
environs were occupied by the Red Fleet of the Soviet Union from 1980–1990. The
Dahlak Archipelago, in the Red Sea, was the location of a Soviet Navy base. USSR
and its cold war ally in the region, Ethiopia, lost control of the Dahlak Archipelago andthe Red Sea coast and the Islands to the Eritrean independence movement in 1990.
The Port City of Massawa became nuclear free city after the heroic Battle of Fenkel waswon by the Eritrean People’s Liberation Army where Soviet Union sub-marines were16

physically pushed out of the Dahlak Archipelago in 1990.
The City of Asmara and the City of Massawa have come of age under the threat ofnuclear and other weapons of mass destruction and after every family member
sacrificed one or more of its members to live in freedom. The last atomic survivors ofJapan or the hibakusha and the war survivors of the City of Massawa had a meeting in
the Port City of Massawa last October 10, 2008. It was in this meeting that the Mayorof Massawa, Mrs. Fana Tesfamariam, who herself was a survivor of this war,
announced joining the Mayors for Peace movement. News footage showing the air
raids on Massawa City in 1990 was screened, and youth from Massawa who had
experienced the raids shared their own experiences with the hibakusha. The hibakusha
prepared a display of various materials including photographs and remnants of clothingfrom the time of the atomic bombings – as their own Atomic Bomb Museum – andshared their testimonies of experiencing the bombings directly with the youth of
Massawa.
Once again, it is a great honor and privilege for me to reaffirm to the participants of thisconference, the continued commitment of the Mayors of the Cities of Asmara and
Massawa to join ranks in the struggle to abolish nuclear and all kinds of weapons ofmass destruction from our planet including and not excluding weapons of mass
destruction, which was covered by, maybe I take attention of audiences here, theMainichi Newspaper issue of March 25, 2008 by the Democratic People’s Republic ofKorea being built, assembled and stockpiled in Ethiopia in a place called Holmat
Weaponry Factory, about 150 kilometers west of the capital city, Addis Abeba atpresent. If any of these weapons are used at present or in future in the region, historyof Mussolini’s act of genocide and barbarism, committed in the Second World War
against the people of East Africa is repeating itself once again.
Honorable guests, ladies and gentleman,
Last but not least, let me conclude my statement with this note: US 44th President Mr.
Obama’s message on nuclear weapons issue is a welcome wind of change that shouldbe embraced by all of us. Japan has taken over the chairmanship of the nuclear
watchdog, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in 2009. We believe thatthese two factors shall give an opportune period to change course to sustainable
development, climate change, abolition of nuclear weapons. Our traditional wisdom17and saying go as following: “Who, who attacked with a sword and wounded someone
else can forget; but who, who was attacked with a sword and got wounded neverforgets.” Thank you for listening.
Lord Mayor WeilYour Excellency, thank you very much for your remarks. I think for all of us it wasmost interesting to hear from experiences you had in Africa. We know too little about
politics and political affairs in Africa. And I want to thank you also to focus on someevents from former years, which I think were forgotten in many countries. So I think
it was a very proper speech you gave us, and I thank you for that.
Ladies and gentlemen, who will take the floor next? Are there any further remarks?
I can wait for you, but I cannot force you. Okay, if there are no further remarks, let me
try to summarize some points.
First of all, we can be very happy and we are very thankful for the report of Mr. Uchida,
who gave us the best introduction for our discussion we can want for. Thank you verymuch once again, Mr. Uchida.
Secondly, I think we all agree that it is mostly important to have contacts with young
people. It is absolutely necessary to have peace education in younger years. I wantto thank you for your remarks and practical examples you gave from the discussion
from different countries on how you deal with this point. For example, Robert Harvey
talked about babies in schools, which is, from my point of view, a very interesting
example and project. I will go back to Hannover, Germany and ask my experts
whether we can do with this idea from New Zealand. Thank you very much once
again for this.
There have been different examples, and I think I have not summarize all yet. I also
want, finally, to repeat the hint of Robert Harvey about circumstances on which peaceeducation has now to go on, because the main difference my youth and the youth of myson is in internet, electronic generation, with the network effect. We have a lot of war
games but no peace games. We have a lot of violent videos but no peace videos, andso on. I think it is true in nearly every country. This is the point we have to discuss
how we can do peace education under the circumstances of electronic revolution.

18

From my point of view, schools and kindergarten are more important than ever for that.
From German experiences, you cannot let the families alone with youth issue. So I am
sure this topic will be on the agenda of Mayors for Peace, not only on this General
Conference, but also for our further efforts we have to do.
I want to thank you very much for your engagement, for your attendance, and for yourspeeches we have heard. Thank you very much for coming. Now I would like toclose this session. Thank you very much and all the best for you for this day and all
the days to come. Thank you very much.

19

The 7th General Conference of Mayors for Peace

Section Meeting II
FUTURE STEPS FOR THE 2020 VISION CAMPAIGN
August 9 (Sun), 2009 14:00 – 17:00
Nagasaki Brick Hall (Meeting Room)
Chairperson: Luc Dehaene
Vice President of Mayors for Peace
Mayor of Ypres, Belgium
Lecture:“From Solferino to Hiroshima / Nagasaki”
Toshiki Mogami
Professor, International Christian University
Director, ICU Peace Research Institute

Speakers:

Michel Cibot
Representative from Vice President City of Mayors for Peace
General Manager, City of Malakoff, France
Association Française des Communes, Départements et Régions pour la
Paix (AFCDRP)
Sean Morris
Representative from Vice President City of Mayors for Peace
Principal Policy and Research Officer, Manchester City, UK
The UK and Ireland Nuclear Free Local Authorities (NFLA)
Sonia Guenine
Deputy Mayor, Vitry-Sur-Seine, France
Association Française des Communes, Départements et Régions pour la
Paix (AFCDRP)
Aaron TovishCampaign Director, Mayors for Peace 2020 Vision Campaign
Executive Advisor, Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation
Pol D’Huyvetter
International Secretariat Staff, Mayors for Peace 2020 Vision Campaign
Executive Advisor, Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation
Md. Azmat Ullah Khan
Mayor of Tongi, BangladeshChairperson: Luc Dehaene, Mayor of Ypres
Ladies and gentlemen, may I ask you to be seated so that we can start this session?
Thank you for your attention, thank you for being with us here this afternoon.
little bit like a teacher before a classroom.

I feel a

That is not a role I am used to, but I will try

to do my best as Chairperson.
My name is Luc Dehaene.

I am Mayor of Ypres, Belgium.

I will be serving as the

Chair for Section Meeting II of our Conference.
I would like to take advantage of my role for just half a minute to explain why the Cityof Ypres is especially involved in Mayors for Peace these days. Maybe some of you
know that during World War I, Ypres was the center of hostilities. The whole
population of Ypres was refugees during World War I. Everyone had to leave the cityin 1915.

Most of them went to France - Normandy, Brittany, neighboring Paris, andSouth of France - to Great Britain, a few to Holland, and most wealthy people went to
Switzerland.

So, all our citizens know about warfare.

Another reason is that for the first time in the history of warfare, chemical weapons
It was mustard gas, later on named “Yperite” after the name of thewere used in Ypres.
City of Ypres.

So, for that very particular reason, we are involved, and the citizens ofYpres are really involved in the Mayors for Peace movement.
So, ladies and gentlemen, in this Second Section Meeting, I would like to discuss our
future activities, with regard to the promotion of our 2020 Vision Campaign, andpreparation for the ultimate goal of the 2020 abolition of nuclear weapons.
First, however, we will have a brief lecture by Professor Toshiki Mogami ofInternational Christian University.

Professor Mogami is an expert in both internationallaw and organizations operating in the international arena. He is currently a Professor
at the International Christian University, as well as Director of the University‟s Peace
Research Institute.

From 1990 to 2001, he served as president of the Peace Studies

Association of Japan.

In addition, the professor has worked closely with Mayors for

Peace in the past, participating and coordinating the 4th, 5th and the 6th General
Conferences in 1997, 2001 and 2005, respectively. We are all looking forward toProfessor Mogami‟s speech, as I am sure it will be very instructive.
speech will be “From Solferino to Hiroshima/Nagasaki.”
1

The title of theProfessor Mogami, please.

Lecture: “From Solferino to Hiroshima/Nagasaki”
Toshiki Mogami, Professor, International Christian University
Director, ICU Peace Research InstituteThank you very much Mayor Dehaene for your kind introduction.
Distinguished guests and my colleagues, it is a privilege for me to speak in thisimportant session on this memorable day.
Yesterday, I flew here from Tokyo.

And the plane flew over Kokura, Kitakyushu City,

about 30 minutes by plane from here. Then the plane flew southwest and then to
deeper south, and then to Nagasaki.

By taking this route, I kept feeling a bit strange,

because this route was exactly the one that the bomber that dropped the bomb on
Nagasaki took 64 years ago.

So, I was kind of retracing the experience that thebomber had, although I did not experience what happened after 11:02.
Today, I will talk about the importance of international humanitarian law and that ofNGOs, including cities.
One hundred fifty years ago, a fierce battle was fought in a town named Solferino in
Italy. The battle was part of the Italian Unification War, and was fought between
Austria on the one hand, and the allied force of Sardinia and France, on the other.

It

was a truly cruel and sanguinary war.
According to the record, about 300,000 soldiers from both sides fought for fifteen hours.
Approximately 40,000 people died in a single battle on June 24 and the days that
followed. Another 40,000 deaths were added in two months.
Now one man recorded the battle very precisely and scrupulously.

His name is Henri

Dunant, a Swiss, whom I assume that most of you know. Dunant was deeply shocked
by the ghastliness of the war, and published the record in book form under the title “AMemory of Solferino.”

Let me quote a few passages from this book; it may be a bit

long:“When the sun came up on the twenty-fifth (of June 1859), it disclosed the mostdreadful sights imaginable.

Bodies of men and horses covered the battlefield;

corpses were strewn over roads, ditches, ravines, thickets and fields; the approachesof Solferino were literally thick with dead.
2

The fields were devastated, wheat andcorn lying flat on the ground, fences broken, orchards ruined; here and there werepools of blood…”“…Men of all nations lay side by side on the flagstone floors of the churches ofCastiglione --- Frenchmen and Arabs, Germans and Slavs.

Ranged for the time

being close together inside the chapels, they no longer had the strength to move, orif they had there was no room for them to do so.

Oaths, curses and cries such as

no words can describe resounded from the vaulting of the sacred buildings.

"Oh,

Sir, I'm in such pain!" several of these poor fellows said to me, "they desert us,
leave us to die miserably, and yet we fought so hard!"

They could get no rest,

although they were tired out and had not slept for nights.

They called out in theirdistress for a doctor, and writhed in desperate convulsions that ended in tetanus anddeath.”
Dunant goes on to say that:“Humanity and civilization call imperiously for such an organization as is heresuggested.

It seems as if the matter is one of actual duty, and that in carrying it

out the cooperation of every man of influence, and the good wishes at least of every
decent person can be relied upon with assurance.”
And by way of conclusion, Dunant adds that:“In an age when we hear so much of progress and civilization, is it not a matter ofurgency, since unhappily we cannot always avoid wars, to press forward in ahuman and truly civilized spirit the attempt to prevent, or at least to alleviate, thehorrors of war?”
Now, the dreadful scenery that Dunant depicted reminds us of the infernal picture ofHiroshima and Nagasaki.

If the tragedy in Solferino was inhumane andanti-civilizational, as it actually was, the tragedies that visited Hiroshima and Nagasaki
were no less inhumane and anti-civilizational. And if the horrors of Solferino were to
be avoided, the horrors of Hiroshima/Nagasaki are all the more to be avoided.

It isimportant to recognize that the legitimacy of the opposition to the tragedies ofHiroshima/Nagasaki originates from this experience in a small town of Solferino, 150
years ago.
Now, this Henri Dunant established with his friends a humanitarian organization in3

1863, a committee which would later become the International Committee of the Red
Cross (ICRC).

This organization was meant to help the sick and wounded inbattlefields.
What is important is that this new organization was what we call an "NGO" today, sothat historically it had already existed for more than 150 years.

And more importantly

this NGO was going to change history, gradually but drastically.

We should rememberthat citizens have often been the subjects, not merely the objects, of history.
As early as 1864, a Geneva Convention on the Protection of the Sick and Wounded (theFirst Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded inArmies in the Field) was concluded under the auspices of this forerunner of the ICRC.
This was the very first treaty of this kind ever, which marked the beginning ofinternational humanitarian law itself, although nobody at that time anticipated that thisbranch of law would flourish as much as today.
Its importance cannot be overestimated in the sense that from this treaty on, a new
system of international law was born, which would state unambiguously that states are
NOT free to do whatever they wanted to even during wars.

The protection of victims

was extended to prisoners of war and then to citizens, and the new system of law was
rapidly developed.
Some people say, even today, that international law is useless and weak, but a part of it
is solidly humanitarian and useful, which we have to remember. One expression of theenthusiasm of the humanity for international humanitarian law is what is called the St.
Petersburg Declaration of 1868.

Though almost a century and a half years old, thisdeclaration is still new and fresh in its content, which reads in its preamble:“That the only legitimate object which States should endeavour to accomplish
during war is to weaken the military forces of the enemy;”“That this object would be exceeded by the employment of arms which uselessly
aggravate the sufferings of disabled men, or render their death inevitable;
That the employment of such arms would, therefore, be contrary to the laws ofhumanity;”Thus, this declaration is still being turned to as one of the legal foundations on which toassert the illegality of the use of nuclear weapons.
4

You have to make use of thesegeneral principles as there exists no treaty that prohibits nuclear weapons as such.
Later on, the activities of the ICRC were intensified to enrich international humanitarianlaw, which resulted in the conclusion of the renowned four Geneva Conventions of 1949
for the protection of the victims of war.

Of course the Red Cross as a whole has

heavily been engaged in rescue missions in battlefield, but there has been much more in
the normative field like this.

Now it can be said that there is no humanitarian law,which is either elaborated or applied, without the participation, in one form or another,of the ICRC.

ICRC is, thus, an indispensable NGO for the operation of theinternational legal system.

International humanitarian law is one of the mostsignificant branches of international law today, because wars continue in this world.
And it should be remembered that this indispensable pillar started being constructed by
an NGO.
What, then, is international humanitarian law?

It will take a long, long time if I try to

explain all its details, so I have to be content to give you a few essential points only.
There are two fundamental principles of international humanitarian law:
(1)You should not give unnecessary sufferings to your enemies, either combatants
or civilians.
(2) You should not attack civilians or civilian facilities.
Now, these principles are stipulated in several treaties, which I do not name today.
But in short, they say that human beings ought to remain rational and humane at any
time, even in the midst of war.
Alain, a French philosopher.

It reminds us of the insightful aphorism written by
In his book "Mars, ou la guerre jugée" (in English: “Mars,or the judged war”), Alan said:“The spirit of peace is the intelligence to understand that no force can obtain any
status that resembles law.

Yes, even when you beat others, do not throw away

your reason with the shaken fist.

Instead, try to think just, and search for thethoughts of others and understand them.”
Only those who can forget about this spirit can use the horrible weapons like nuclear
weapons.

It is a matter of imagination as well as reason.

Here I would like to emphasize that international humanitarian law is more than thecollection of treaty articles, but includes this very spirit to be rational and humane at any
5time.

It can also be called a civilizational restraint which does not allow yourself toengage in anything you wish.

In the world of law, there is no rule that says you can doanything in order to win, or that you can become a beast to beat others.
In a similar vein, we should also imprint on our minds the famous Martens Clause of1907, which was part of a treaty on warfare. This was one of the first treaties that
determined the conditions in which to fight wars in 1907.

It reads that even if theprohibition of a particular weapon is not covered by treaties:“…the inhabitants and the belligerents remain under the protection and the rule ofthe principles of the law of nations, as they result from the usages establishedamong civilized peoples, from the laws of humanity, and the dictates of the public
conscience.”
Here Dr. Martens talks about the protection by the laws of humanity and public
conscience.

Is it not moving?

Whenever I read this passage, I myself am deeply

moved and I find hope in the system of international humanitarian law.

It relies on

public conscience, and he said that law is governed by this public conscience.
This Martens Clause has been another basis on which to assert the illegality of nuclear
weapons, in the lack of a particular treaty naming them.
As a matter of fact, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) naturally relied on the rulesof international humanitarian law in its Advisory Opinion in 1996 on the illegality of theuse or threat of nuclear weapons. Some people called this as the Advisory Opinion on
the legality of nuclear weapons, but I do not do so.

I think that it was the opinion

judged on the illegality, not legality, of nuclear weapons.

The ICJ was very clear thatthe use of nuclear weapons is, generally, contrary to international law.
In addition to the Court‟s opinion, Judge Weeramantry from Sri Lanka expounded in his
Dissenting Opinion on the constraint dictated by “public conscience” in the following
way.
After deciding that, “Hiroshima and Nagasaki thus do not prove the survivability of
nuclear war,” he dwells eloquently on “public conscience” saying that:“The incompatibility between "the dictates of public conscience" and the weapon
appears starkly…”
6And then he proposes several questions that may be addressed to the public conscienceof the world, as typified by the average citizen in any country:“Is it lawful for the purposes of war to induce cancers, keloid growths or leukemia
in large numbers of the enemy population?
Is it lawful for the purposes of war to inflict congenital deformities and mental
retardation on unborn children of the enemy population?
Is it lawful for the purposes of war to inflict any of the above types of damage on
the population of countries that have nothing to do with the quarrel leading to the
nuclear war?”
Of course his answer to these questions is flatly “No.” Just in passing, it is a pity that
this Judge Weeramantry had to lose his position as a judge in the ICJ, because of thisradicalness against nuclear weapons.
Now, having been encouraged by this judicial testimony of the public conscience of thehumanity, let us take a look at another encouraging expression of political will.

It is

the determination of President Obama of the United States that was made public thislast April.
In the speech in Prague he clearly stated “America‟s commitment to seek the peace andsecurity of a world without nuclear weapons”.

He also said that the United States had“a moral responsibility to act”. Now his determination appeared unfailing, by saying
to those people who contend that nuclear weapons are destined to proliferate that:“Such fatalism is a deadly adversary, for if we believe that the spread of nuclear
weapons is inevitable, then in some way we are admitting to ourselves that the useof nuclear weapons is inevitable.”This is a powerful and hopeful statement.

A British newspaper, The Independent,

wrote rather sarcastically at the beginning, that:“The speech began with almost Disneyesque staging as the President and Mrs.
Obama climbed hand-in-hand on to the outdoor stage to string music, the skyline of
Prague‟s domes and spires behind them and a thick bank of carnations and roses attheir feet.

But the message the President offered was grave and weighted with

unexpected new urgency by the firing overnight of another ballistic missile by
North Korea.”7This speech is not only spiritually encouraging, but also politically most realistic in thesense that nuclear disarmament is unimaginable until and unless the nuclear powers takeaction, even unilaterally.

Either the U.S. or Russia had to do this, if ever there was tobe a beginning.
This possibility was theoretically advocated by peace researchers in the 1980s as a“unilateral nuclear disarmament initiative,” meaning that one nuclear power starts
reducing its nuclear arsenal, while inviting other nuclear states to follow suit.

In thosedays in the 1980s this advocacy was ridiculed as fantasy, especially by the so-called
realists.

They said that nuclear deterrence was most reliable and rational, and that any

reduction of nuclear weapons would be insane.

However, once a nuclear superpower

decides to act along this line, then it is no longer a vain idealism.

It is what President

Obama has shown, and will have to prove.
Another encouraging aspect is the reaction to this presidential statement by the US
Conference of Mayors, which adopted a resolution in July in support of this avowed
policy.

Please forgive me to name only one delegation among yours.

It seems

pertinent at this juncture.
The resolution was not only supportive of the presidential policy.

No less important

was the title of the resolution which was “Affirming the Role of Cities in Achievementof a Peaceful World Free of Nuclear Weapons by 2020.” Yes, this is a civic manifesto
for a nuclear free world.

The Resolution called upon “the International Commission

on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament” (ICNND), established last year, to“recognize the importance of city and citizen level movements for the abolition of
nuclear weapons.” This precisely hits the mark.
The ban on anti-personnel landmines, or the Ottawa Process, was promoted by citizens.
The ban on cluster munitions, the so-called Oslo Process, was promoted also by citizens.
Then it is a mystery that we lack the same movement as regards nuclear weapons.
There has to be something similar, if such a process is most promising for success, andthere can be.
The reason why no such process has gained momentum with nuclear weapons was that
it was deemed unlikely that nuclear-weapon states would join such a process.
8

Nowthis explanation is becoming invalid.
from this hope.

So we have a hope now, and let us not escape

If the past experiences have been successful, we should have a similar

process for nuclear weapons, as well.
If a new process is to start, it seems that the process has to be named with a term which
begins with “O,” following suit to Ottawa and Oslo.

One example could be the Obama

Process, but it may not be appropriate to borrow a specific country‟s president‟s name,since civic movements have to be neutral and universal.

If so, let us think ofsomething else. Whatever it may be, the cardinal point is the recognition that it is
citizens and cities that can play an essential role in nuclear disarmament, as ineliminating other inhumane weapons.

It is never a fantasy, but a historical necessity.

Finally I would like to say a few words about the new multilateralism as a new mode ofinternational relations.

Those who think of international relations solely in terms of

relations between sovereign states and ministries of foreign affairs, andintergovernmental organizations, like the UN, are misunderstanding the reality of thepresent world.

Rather, it is made up of not only sovereign states andintergovernmental organizations, but also individuals, NGOs and cities.

In otherwords, the running of the world has become much more multilateral in a true sense of
the term compared to a century ago, or even a decade ago.
Here, cities have much in common with NGOs, although cities, unlike NGOs, have totake into consideration more difference of views than NGOs.

Yet, like NGOs, cities

can be different from the central government, and can have a broader constituency thanthe central government if they get united trans-nationally.
If 3,000 cities of the world cry out that “Cities Are Not Targets!” and that “therefore
nuclear weapons have to be abolished,” then history cannot keep ignoring thislegitimate claim.
It is exactly what happened in human history after Solferino.

Qualitatively, thedistance between what happened in Solferino and what happened in Hiroshima andNagasaki is quite short, almost null, nothing.

At the same time, the distance has beenvery long as a learning process and process of action.

9But now there are many, many more Henry Dunants in the world, and a post-Solferino
process is being deployed more extensively, in many quarters of the world.

And, aslong as this process endures, the future will be much brighter than people usually think.
Ours is an age of citizens and cities, and the possibility and responsibility of cities are
just significant.

Let us not escape from this hope and challenge.

Also, let us confirm finally that the use of nuclear weapons is a form of instantaneous
genocide. Citizens and cities are under solemn obligation to prevent this genocide, as
other forms of genocide.

Nobody, except for a few fanatic people, endorses genocide.

Yet, the same people may endorse the use of nuclear weapons for the unverifiablereason that it is the surest way of securing national security.

This is strange.

If youdeny genocide, then you are compelled to deny the use of nuclear weapons, too, for it
inevitably leads to genocide.
Now the task before us is how to overcome barbarism, which has been justified for
centuries as a politically rational choice.

It is not.

It is in no way rational.

There has to be no such thing as realism which is also inhumane, as it cannot enjoy
legitimacy in the long run.
What we will ask in the end is the choice to be humane.
Century the century without genocide.

Let us make of the 21stThank you very much.

Mayor Dehaene
So, thank you very much Professor Mogami for your hopeful and at the same time very
realistic words. And you are right.

Besides the hundreds of Dunants in this world,

nowadays we have Mayor Akiba and 3,000 of his colleagues around the world. And in
the near future, we hope to be more than 5,000 next year.
Ladies and gentlemen, the professor has been kind to stay a while longer with us, pleasetake this opportunity to ask some questions and get a more detailed explanation about
his wonderful speech.

More than ever, Professor, we were convinced that it is our roleand it is our duty as Mayors for Peace to go on with our work to intensify all of ouractivities to reach our goal, the abolition of all nuclear weapons by 2020.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is time now for your questions.
10

I know it is always difficult

to ask the first question.

Please feel free.

Michel, please.

Michel Cibot, General Manager, City of Malakoff, France
Thank you very much for your presentation.

It was a very interesting lecture.

Whatmost interests me is the relationship between genocide and weapons, and its meaning
for us. We have to raise a voice to question this.

Because currently, genocide isintentionally carried out or implemented.

What impact would it have on humanity,

when someone has the power to do so?

In our society, many causes such as terrorism,drugs, or weapons have eventually led to many lives lost in the world.
have the intention to cause genocide?

Do we always

That is my concern. So I would like yourcomment on that, regarding the intention of human beings to cause genocide.
Professor Mogami
This is a very deep philosophical question, and we have to keep asking this question
incessantly. Somehow, the use of nuclear weapons has never been regarded as a formof genocide. Strangely enough, these two things have been separated for a long time.
I find the use of nuclear weapons to be a kind of genocide, although the form may bedifferent from the experiences in Auschwitz, but the result can be similar.
Hiroshima and Nagasaki, 200,000 people died quite instantly.

Only in

And this can be two

million, anywhere, anytime. So it is equal to genocide.
The change in history after World War II is that now many more acts are being called
genocide. Even if the number of victims is 3,000 or 7,000, people have started calling
this genocide, if the means of killing is cruel enough, and it is irrevocable.

So there isno question in calling the experiences of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and future incidents
similar to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, genocide.
problem from this new angle.

So I think we should approach thisThis is a philosophical question as well as a legal one,but it is very important.
Alain Rouy, Councilor of Villejuif City, France
My name is Alain Rouy from Villejuif, France.

A German philosopher has related theHiroshima and Nagasaki to Auschwitz, and the name of that philosopher is Günther
Anders.

In Germany, he is regarded as a nuclear philosopher. He wrote various

papers, and visited Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

He has published many writings. He

exchanged communications with a pilot in the United States.

One of the actual pilotsof the bomber group that bombed Hiroshima communicated with that philosopher, and11he wrote a book about the relationship between Auschwitz and Hiroshima- Nagasaki.
So, similar things were created to the conscience of human beings. His name is
Günther Anders.
Professor Mogami
Thank you very much.

As you mentioned, it is significant that there was someone who

established the relationship with the notion of the nuclear weapons. Even where
nuclear weapons were not used, many actions have been called genocide.

I said a few

moments ago, citing the number of 7,000. This was the number of people killed in
Srebrenica of former Yugoslavia.

Several thousands of civilians were killed without

defense in the domestic war, and this has been called genocide.
You can say the number is so small.
this is a matter of conscience.

The number does not matter.

But, as you said,

It shocked the conscience of the entire humanity.

As long as the conscience is shocked deeply, we can call it genocide.
number is 10 or 20, it can be genocide.

Even if theThank you very much for your indication.

George Regan, Baillie (Councilor), Dundee, UK
Thank you Chairman.

I am George Regan, Chair of the Nuclear Free Local

Authorities. Professor, on listening to your very interesting lecture and accepting what
you see I wonder whether the time has come now, where the term “weapons of mass
destruction”, the word “destruction” is non-personal and non-specific, should now bereferred to as, “weapons of mass genocide” directing the terminology then at theeradication of human beings, rather than property on land.
Professor Mogami
Yes, that may be a good proposal. We have been using the term “weapons of mass
destruction”, but it may not be enough. The use of the term “weapons of mass
genocide” would be to shock, once again, the conscience of mankind, of the human race.
Well, it is not our purpose to keep shocking others, but it is necessary to ask the people
to grasp the essence of the phenomenon. So, in that sense, I welcome your proposal.
Thank you.
Mayor Dehaene
OK, please.

12Maria-Teresa Felix, Cultural Attache
Embassy of the Republic of Angola in Japan
Thank you so much.

My name is Maria-Teresa Felix, from the Embassy of Angola.

I would like to ask Professor Mogami to give us a kind of word of comfort.

Is there,

within international law, enough rules to punish people causing such disturbing
consequences on another people‟s lives?

I have had a chance to watch on TV someinteresting people being judged by international court, and I feel that they looked very
happy, everyone around looks happy, we do not feel enough punishment for such huge
criminality.

Somehow I feel that people holding nuclear weapons would feel happy

when they decide to drop one bomb in a certain place, if nothing will happen to them.
Thank you so much.
Professor Mogami
Thank you very much.

Yes, a difficult question as well.

There are many war

criminals, the people who committed crimes against humanity or even some who
committed genocide, and many of them are still at large.

And an increasing number ofcourts are being created in the world including the International Criminal Court in The
Hague. This court can judge some of those people who committed those crimes.

But

that is not enough because the states have to be parties to the treaty in order to have theirwar criminals judged in this court.

So some countries decided to judge those criminals

by themselves, including most prominently, Belgium. This happened in 1993. They
authorized their court to judge those criminals wherever their crimes had taken place, tobring them to the Belgian court and try them in Belgium.
This was successful to some extent, but to some countries this was a problematic action,
because now anybody can be brought to Belgium and tried there, even when the crime
has nothing to do with Belgium. So some countries, including the United States andIsrael, harbor great fear about this.

Thus, there was strong pressure on Belgium, andBelgium had to revise this legislation a few years ago.

But there remain somecountries like Spain, Germany or United Kingdom that can do the same thing.
So there may be some hope. Yet this is an unstable method.
on a courageous country like Belgium to do all this.

It is not enough to rely

In that sense, it would be moredesirable to establish a universal world-wide system in which those heinous crimes canbe charged.

13

Mayor Dehaene
Thank you. Those words were for a small country, but the international community
was not happy with that.

(laughter)If there are no further questions, then I thank Professor Mogami for a wonderful speech.
Thank you very, very much.

So ladies and gentlemen, we have a short break.

everybody agrees, we will restart at 3:15 exactly.

If

Thank you.

[Break]Mayor Dehaene
Ladies and gentlemen, we promised to start at 3:15, but we are a couple of minutes
behind. There are five persons who were making an address to the meeting.
Michel Cibot
After Professor Mogami‟s Talk, it is very difficult to do so because it was a very
excellent presentation given by Professor Mogami, and I would like to thank him.
Post Solferino is my main topic.

It is about how we can promote our activities so that

we can reach denuclearization. With that, we have the 2020 Vision. At the year 2020,
we have to achieve a world without nuclear weapons.

Mayors for Peace started the2020 Vision campaign, and there is another networking for the campaign led by the
Mayor of Ypres, who is here next to me.
Malakoff is very close to Paris.

Our city was named after the Crimean War. At thattime, France was already involved in the war and Napoleon was taking leadership.
France does have nuclear weapons, and because of that, we have a very complicatedsituation. However, we are opposed to nuclear weapons, and we are participating inthe 2020 Vision.
I would like to talk about organizations and the various methods to take, so we canpromote the 2020 Vision.

These include contact information, and how we cancommunicate and relate to sister and friendship cities.
Of course, governmental activities and citizens‟ activities are very important.
We do have international organizations, too.
association at the national level.

In France, we have organized an

This 2020 Vision is promoted by cities.
14

The

messages of hibakusha, survivors of the A-Bomb, must be conveyed through this 2020
Vision Campaign.
It is necessary for us to have technical tools, not only in France but also in othercountries.

What is important is that the instruments and materials for France be

written down in French.

It is important for us to have them available in French.

That

is the only way we can promote activities in France domestically.
What is clear to us is that we are making steps forward and we have an increasing
number of cities participating in Mayors for Peace, so that they can join the activities of2020 Vision.

Another point is that the activities are at the city level so we cancollaborate and share the information.

By doing so, we can improve ourselves.

As Professor Mogami indicated, the relationship between genocide and nuclear
weapons must be discussed. Also, the relationship between sustainable development
and nuclear weapons has to be considered.
Günther Anders, a German philosopher, was introduced. His philosophy is a goodbase.

In partnership, I think his idea is very important.

We are trying tocommunicate our messages to schools, NGOs, various communities, etc. to organize
ourselves. Opinion exchanges are very important, and we are emphasizing that.

The

cities are emphasizing such activities, too, so we can exchange opinions about
denuclearization, or a nuclear-free society.
As discussed yesterday, the Secretariat of Mayors for Peace should come up with acertain structure, so various cities can get together to form an organization, for example,
the cities in the Mediterranean region.
We hope to have 5,000 cities participating, and in order to achieve the goal and in orderfor them to be able to participate, we have to have a lot of means to communicate withthem, and we have to have a certain organization.

I would like you to focus andcollaborate so we can come up with a certain system and organization.

Thank you.

Mayor Dehaene
Thank you.

The second speaker is Mr. Sean Morris. Mr. Morris does policy researchin Manchester.
15

Sean Morris, Principal Policy and Research Officer, Manchester City, UK
The UK and Ireland Nuclear Free Local Authorities (NFLA)
I am very proud and honored to be here today.
today.

I was very impressed by the Ceremony

I am wearing my Nagasaki tie today, which was given to me by Mayor Ito.

It

is a very tragic possession, so it is a really great honor to be in this city today.
As Mr. Dehaene said, my name is Sean Morris and I am a representative from
Manchester City Council, which is very proud to be a Vice President of Mayors for
Peace.

I am also the Secretary of the UK and Ireland Nuclear Free Local Authorities

and the Secretary of the UK Mayors for Peace Group.
I have been involved with Mayors for Peace for about 10 years now and have beenhighly impressed with the expansion of the movement.

In 1999 I was working for

Leeds City Council, which is about 20 kilometers from Manchester and joined theMayors for Peace in 1999 when its main museum hosted a Hiroshima A-bomb
exhibition.

From then on I have been highly committed to this organization, which I

think brings out the very best in humanity – the belief that all human life is sacred, that
nuclear weapons are a real and present danger to humanity and only by working
together, nationally and internationally, can we work for their eventual elimination.
And I believe cities are quite a focal point of that.
I have been the UK and Ireland Secretary of the Nuclear Free Local Authorities for just
8 months and have become acquainted with considering how to develop the Mayors for
Peace 2020 Vision in the UK and Ireland.

In the UK and Ireland that is perhaps abigger challenge than for most countries. Apart from a few obvious examples like
London, we do not have elected Mayors with executive power.

On the whole ourMayors and Lord Mayors are really figureheads – they open shopping centres, or havedinner with important people or provide the opening speech to the presentation of a newevent.

They expressly do not make political decisions and are expected to remain

politically neutral during their term of office, which is usually only for a year.
Therefore, how in the UK and Ireland do we get Mayors involved in the 2020 Vision
Campaign to be involved in a major coalition to eliminate nuclear weapons by 2020
when they have no political role?

Our strategy for the coming year is to use theMayors position as figureheads of their town and cities to hold events where their
16

visibility will be a benefit.
So, for example, for the 2010 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Conference preparations,
we are looking at holding a memorial peace lecture named after our founder, Councillor
Bill Risby of Manchester, who would have probably spoken today, but unfortunately hedied in February.

In his memory, we are very much honored to have a nuclear freemovement in the UK.
We are looking at high profile events over the coming year, including the lectures andreceptions, where we get high profile speakers; mayors and also political leaders,
because the political leaders of our councils are key to the decisions and key politicaldecisions, so get them together. We are looking at high profile names; the biggest
name we got so far coming to mind is Michael Douglas, the actor. He was at theevents in New York in May. He is a well-known anti-nuclear activist and has a South
Wales connection, so we hope to use the Welsh nuclear free organizations to getconnected to him.

If you have any suggestions for high profile names, please come to

me after the meeting.
With this in mind, the UK Mayors for Peace group is looking to meet the UK‟s
representative to the NPT Conference, along with other like-minded NGOs, to put
forward our views and seek to ensure we are clear with the UK government‟s policy forthe conference.

In this, we have been greatly assisted by the recent publication of the

UK government‟s „Road to 2010‟ document, which states a firm commitment to bepositively engaged in disarmament talks on the international stage.

We do not agreewith every aspect of this document, particularly the desire to spread civilian nuclear
power, but we are keen to ensure the strong and positive statements made by Prime
Minister Gordon Brown on nuclear proliferation are adhered to.
I think another key aspect of taking forward the 2020 Vision is educating our towns andcities about the importance of developing a culture of peace.

One of the achievements

I am most proud of is the creation of a peace tree and plaque in the Central Park of
Leeds dedicated to all the innocent civilians killed in warfare since the A-bombs in
Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

This was dedicated by Mayor Akiba and Mayor Itoh in 2003.

Since then, we have held Annual Peace Lectures and Annual Hiroshima and Nagasaki
commemorations in Leeds and Manchester.

17

Indeed, probably around this time, in Leeds and Manchester, they will be doing theevents we did this morning, given the time difference. We brought to Manchester andLeeds various high profile speakers and peacemakers, former US Senator George
Mitchell involved in Palestinian peace talks, Shakespean actor and Star Trek Captain
Jean-Luc Picard, Patrick Stewart, whose major involvement is with Amnesty
International, and Nobel Peace Laureate John Hume from Northern Ireland Peace
Process.

We are also involved in developing many education and skill development

and we hold city receptions to high profile peacemakers, such as Rajmohan Gandhi, inorder to bring together large number of people, like-minded people, to hear about peace.
We think that, by showing that our cities are linked with our civilian populations topromote peace, we can start to build a coalition of support for a culture of a nuclear-freeworld.
By being here today, Manchester is also showing solidarity with Hiroshima, Nagasaki
and all towns, cities and peoples dedicated to making a difference and changing theworld.

As Mayor Akiba said, we are in the „Obamamajority‟ and over the next year

and onwards we should use such good will to encourage our civilian populations towork for peace.

Manchester is very proud to claim to be the world‟s first nuclear-freezone – it has a big red plaque on the front door of its Town Hall saying so.
has an annual Peace Week and councils with far more peace policy.

Manchester

It has large peace

gatherings and hosts now both the UK and Ireland Nuclear Free Local Authorities and is
the UK base for Mayors for Peace. We firmly believe that we are the city for peace
and that is what all Mayors for Peace members seek today. Next year is the 30th
anniversary of our nuclear free declaration and we will be promoting what that means toCouncils and to the public with a series of events across the area.
We believe that by showing the leadership and by working together with our civilian
community and NGOs in these past 30 years we have achieved a surprising amount andmade a major difference.

Now over the next 10 years let‟s finish the job of creatingthat fantastic inspiration of a nuclear-free world by 2020.
Manchester offers its services to the Mayors for Peace, and honored to be a part of thatmovement.

Thank you very much.

Mayor Dehaene
18

Thank you, thank you, thank you Mr. Morris.

Our third speaker is, Ms. Sonia Gueninede Vitry-Sur-Seine.
Sonia Guenine, Deputy Mayor, Vitry-Sur-Seine, France
Association Française des Communes, Départements et Régions pour la Paix
(AFCDRP)
Ladies and gentlemen, my colleagues, I think that each of our cities is inclined to deal
with the issue of peace culture throughout the whole year.

It is necessary for us toparticipate in the 2020 Vision Campaign as a part of our efforts for peace culture.
From the everyday realities of our citizens, the current situation of their living
conditions has been deteriorating.

France, for example, is the fourth largest

nuclear-weapon state, with a budget of almost 40 billion euro and is contributing to thewar in Afghanistan.
We are paying a lot of money for the arms race and war, the reintegration of our country
in the military command of NATO, which is not moving in the right direction. We aremoving from the logic of peacekeeping to a war against peoples.

If there is a war,

death is unavoidable not only for the military personnel but also for citizens, because
cities remain standing targets in the war operations.

It is necessary for us to participate

in a peaceful society.
In France, fortunately, there is no more war, and finally the French government
approved a legislation to compensate victims of nuclear tests in the Sahara Desert andthe Mururoa Atoll. There were 30,000 people exposed to radiation in 1960 at Reggane,
Algeria. They were the first victims of France‟s nuclear tests. Since then nuclear
tests were conducted 210 times.

Tenacious peace movements for nuclear abolition andfor compliance with the NPT have been carried out. As a result of that, the victims are
now getting support.
We have to share the experiences of Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Reggane and the Mururoa
Atoll with others. As such, on the International Day of Peace in September, we haveto agree to that point.

It is a very good opportunity to unite the efforts we make in ourcities, our countries, to connect to the 2020 Vision Campaign at all stages of awarenessand mobilization of citizens.
show our initiatives.

For the 2020 Vision, we have to take actions in order to

In Vitry, we are doing the following, and many activities are held

regularly:
19

Taking various initiatives, having partnership with schools, recreation centers, etc.,
providing exhibitions, movies, promotion of sister city relationships as well as
cooperation and co-development of the cities and communities, and supporting civil
associations. They represent the tools of the culture of peace, understanding, mutual
respect between peoples, between cities.
Hiroshima and Nagasaki should not be repeated any more.

The experiences ofmassacre, localized destruction and exposure to radiation at the Sahara Desert should beshared with others.

We have started to accumulate information about a peacefulsociety, which should become a vector for peaceful societies.
Local destruction has to be avoided, and that is why we have to take action.
No action is trivial in this great struggle for peace, against the weapons of mass
destruction or surgical strikes. Nuclear weapons should be banned from the planet.
Thank you very much.
Mayor Dehaene
Thank you very much.

Next, Mr. Aaron Tovish, Executive Advisor for the Hiroshima

Peace Culture Foundation.

Please Mr. Tovish.

Aaron Tovish, Campaign Director, Mayors for Peace 2020 Vision Campaign
Executive Advisor, Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation
Good afternoon.

In addition to my capacity as an Executive Advisor to the Hiroshima

Peace Culture Foundation, my assignment is the Director of the 2020 Vision Campaign.
The purpose of my intervention today is to give you the background information on theCampaign and its role in Mayors for Peace, and some of the perspectives on where weare headed in the coming years and decades.
Mayors for Peace is rather an old organization.

As you have noticed, this is the 7thGeneral Conference and it occurs every four years.

The first four General Conferenceswere done by invitations sent out, mayors coming to Hiroshima and Nagasaki forseveral days, being exposed to the horrors of what had happened in 1945 through visits
to the museums and the contacts with survivors, then they went home and nothing
happened for four years.

Then they or others would come back again, be exposed to20the horrors, and go home and nothing would happen for four years.
But the change occurred when Mayor Akiba was elected Mayor of Hiroshima and saw
in this organization the potential to have much more happening on a more sustained
basis.

And this began the transformation of the organization.

At its 5th General

Conference in 2001, an action plan was adopted for the first time.

An idea that cities

would be actually active and focused and united in their activities globally to sustain the
motivation they received during the General Conference.
The fact was not a lot of things happened in terms of the follow-up to the action plan
and at the same time, the world situation was deteriorating badly. There were somevery low points, the treaties were being abrogated, and still the treaty hadn‟t beenentered into force, and so on.
And in May of 2003, Mayor Akiba took the initiative by proposing an emergency
campaign. The 6th Executive Conference, which met in Manchester that year,
accepted that proposal, and at the meeting in Manchester, the date 2020 was first settled
upon.
It had of course a symbolic value, 75th anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and50th anniversary of the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
behind it.

But also there was technical thinking

In fact, given the rate at which the nuclear-weapon states are capable ofdismantling nuclear weapons, it was absolutely technically feasible to eliminate all
nuclear weapons by that year. So why not?
The Campaign was launched in Nagasaki, I believe at the second Global Citizens‟
Assembly, and went public. So, now, we are in the sixth year of the Campaign.
It has been a privilege for me to work on this for six years.
At the 6th General Conference in 2005, the Campaign was officially embraced by theorganization, because the initial commitment was from the Executive Conference, andthe whole General Conference supported the Campaign. One of the strong messages
coming from the cities was that the Campaign needs its own international secretariat.
That was when Mayor Dehaene and the City of Ypres stepped forward and offered tohave an international secretariat housed in the city hall and helped with the staffing forthat.

In 2006, Mayor Akiba visited Ypres and officially opened the office, which has
21been functioning ever since.
Finally, the idea was for that office to receive support internationally, in terms offinancial contributions, because the Campaign was getting too big just for Hiroshima
and Nagasaki to support.

They needed to establish an actual association under Belgian

Law to operate this office in Belgium.
So at the Executive Conference meeting in Florence in 2007, the Executive Conference
authorized the Campaign to collect money internationally.

It had already beencollecting money in Belgium, and it formally founded the Mayors for Peace 2020
Vision Campaign Association under Belgian Law.
The Campaign now operates under that framework within Belgium but the structure of
the Campaign Association is such that only members of the Executive Conference ofMayors for Peace can be members of the Association. So the Association‟s leadershipis, in a sense, a sub-committee of the Executive Committee of Mayors for Peace, and isdirectly under control, ultimately, of this General Conference, or the membership ofMayors for Peace as a whole.
However, there have been some recent amendments to the Statutes of the Association,
which have been approved by the 2020 Vision Campaign Association General and
Board of Directors meetings, and reflected in the Action Plan.

The change is that themembership is allowed to expand to include associate members.

They do not havevoting rights, but they can be actively, directly involved in the work of the campaign.
This will allow us to bring in an even larger number of cities from more areas so they
can get experience in working with the Executive Committee members on theCampaign directly.

We see this as a great opportunity to increase our contact andcommunication with key cities throughout the world, not just the 15 member cities of
the Executive Conference.
So, I see there is an opportunity here. The campaign has been going for seven years
now, so it has a strong structural base and now has the basis for raising funds. There
are over 100 cities contributing to the organization now, and we are hopeful that that
number, like the membership of the organization, will be growing rapidly.
Those mayors who are here, and who will be, of course, sending out forms, if you have22

any ideas, suggestions, criticisms, complaints, etc., please direct them to our office inYpres.

If it is about the Campaign, we will try to take on your ideas, answer yourcriticisms, and make the campaign stronger and better between the meetings of
Executive Committee, and of course between the meetings of General Conferences.
I should mention that the Board Meeting of the Campaign Association chaired by Mr.
Dehaene meets every six months and the General Meeting will occur every year, as
required under the Belgian Law.

So this is a very intensive working operation.

Now I would like to talk briefly about the evolution of the Campaign.

In its more

recent manifestation, many of the mayors here and almost 1,000 mayors worldwide
have signed a document called the Cities Appeal in support of the Hiroshima-Nagasaki
Protocol.

This is a great accomplishment.

I know of no other petition in the historyof the world that has had so many city mayors signing it.
But what we were finding was that the question we often got is, “If you have 3,000
mayors, why did you get only 1,000 of them to sign it?” We realized that we are in alosing position. Our membership is growing so fast that it is almost impossible for thesignature campaign to keep up with it.
So the title of this Conference and the Action Plan that was adopted yesterday by the
Conference has basically said that Mayors for Peace as an organization is behind theHiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol, all of the organization.
We are going to focus our work on the membership, no longer chasing after them forsignatures. At least in building up the organization, we are focusing on going to after
them for contributions, because we have an ambitious program, which was adopted lastyear, but it will be very, very difficult to carry that program out without a serious
financial base to work from, an enlarged secretariat staff, and a broader network ofcontacts internationally.
The external focus will be the recruitment of 2,000 new members in the next eightmonths. This will be absolutely unprecedented in the history of cities. Our record fora single year was, correct me if I am wrong, 900 new members?

Not even that many?

600! (*Note: The record of largest increase in a year was 601 cities in 2005)

23

So, we are taking on an incredible challenge here.

It is going to require a focus anddetermination to reach out to fellow municipalities, leaders, NGOs, etc. to geteverybody working together. We must find new methods and make new inroads
through new contacts to get not twice as many members as we normally do in that
period, but three or four times as many members.
two or three cities a day.

We have cities joining at the rate ofEvery time I open my e-mail, every morning, there is a newcity that has just joined, two new cities or three new cities.
There is a new city coming in everyday.

If we are going to get 2,000 new member

cities by May, I have not done my calculation exactly, but probably more like eight ornine new members everyday from all over the world.
challenge, and I think we can do it.

In terms of financial growth, however, we need tosee that growth continue right through to May 2010.
great deal in six years.

It is a great task, but a wonderfulCampaign has accomplished a

It is very hard to know how much credit to take for the fact thatjust about everybody and not just President Obama but many different individuals
around the world, prominent or otherwise, are now talking about the vision of a nuclearfree world.
When we started the Campaign, nobody was talking about it.

People who had beentalking about it were exhausted, and those who had not thought about it, did not havethat idea enter their heads.
we still have a way to go on.

It is now everywhere you look.

But the 2020 part of it,

This is a real challenge, because the vision can serve formany purposes. But if that is to be realized, people have to commit themselves towork on a sustained and focused manner to achieve the result at the time ascertained.
Otherwise, they will just kind of waffling and mucking the way forward.

This is achallenge that requires focus and determination and nothing concentrates the mind morethan a deadline.
So our challenge leading up to the NPT Review Conference next year is to get people toappreciate the importance of accepting the deadline.

And I was so pleased to hear that

the President of the General Assembly articulated and supported that so strongly in frontof the whole world this morning. And he is not the only one. We are getting support
from many different quarters for this now.
In the Action Plan, we are developing plans to build a momentum into the NPT Review
Conference and we are also developing plans for the disarmament decade.
24Because the NPT Review Conference may be the beginning of what we are reallyhoping for. And that will be terrific.

But even if it is, starting the process does notguarantee the process completion. We are going to need 10 years of hard work.
We have the English expression of bird-dogging the process, that is, staying after it,
criticizing it, finding out where the weak links are, finding out who is dragging their feet,going after them and not letting anything slow down the process of achieving our goalby 2020.
We have a plan that literally starts from next month. Mayor Akiba was invited to deliver
keynote speech in Mexico City at the 62nd annual meeting of the Department of PublicInformation of United Nations, where they bring together NGOs from all over the world.
That conference, we are hoping and expecting, will endorse a united work of all kindsof NGOs toward the successful Decade for Disarmament, which the UN is in theprocess of declaring. We will then be going to the UN Disarmament Commission,
which is drafting that declaration, and the UN General Assembly, which will be
adopting it.

The best way to make that Decade successful will be a successful NPT

Review Conference.
So, all of these are converging. We need the involvement of each and every city, themembers of Mayors for Peace. We need the involvement of cities that are not yet
members of Mayors for Peace, but will be by May.
I hope you will all leave here knowing that the Secretariat in Ypres Belgium is there tohelp you contribute to this Campaign, so that all of our efforts will synergize into a very
powerful force, one that other groups can look to for leadership and inspiration, and also
for cooperation and partnership.

Thank you very much.

Mayor Dehaene
Thank you, Aaron, for beautifully supporting us.

The last speaker on my list is Mr. PolD‟Huyvetter. Pol, please.
Pol D’Huyvetter
International Secretariat Staff, Mayors for Peace 2020 Vision Campaign
Executive Advisor, Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation
Good afternoon.

I am very happy to be here with all of you.
25

It is an honor andprivilege to work on this campaign.

I am the Director of the International Campaign

Secretariat based in Ypres, and I am also the Executive Advisor for the Hiroshima Peace
Culture Foundation.
I first met Mayor Akiba in 2003 at the NPT PrepCom in Geneva, and I must say eversince that first speech, I was very inspired.
working with mayors.

It made me go back to Belgium and to start

It has been a very inspirational journey. His leadership is very

important to our network and I look forward to working with him and with all of you
toward the 2020 Vision.
I would also like to thank Mayor Luc Dehaene, and Mr. Filip Deheegher, the treasurer,
who is here, for also doing a lot of hard work.
a challenge.

I think it has been said how much it was

And finally I would like to thank the staff of the Mayors for Peace offices

in Hiroshima and Ypres, because I know how much we are under-staffed, we have somuch work to do with only a little funds, so I would like to acknowledge that here inthis introduction.
I was also very inspired by Professor Mogami, especially about the link between
Auschwitz and Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The first time I read about that link was in anarticle by Dr. David Krieger of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation in the Bulletin of theAtomic Scientists.

I was shaken to see that today in Belgium we have, for example, 20

US nuclear weapons and to realize that these weapons, and more than 20,000 of themon this planet today, are dormant mobile incinerators. This is not only immoral but it
is also illegal.
Dr. Krieger continued that under the Nuremberg principles, it is not only our right but
also our duty to do everything that we can to stop another Hiroshima or Nagasaki fromhappening.

I joined Mayors for Peace and the 2020 Vision Campaign because I

believe that it‟s the best organization for achieving our goals, in particular because it
was setting a deadline.

It is ambitious, but realistic.

Thank you, Aaron, for clarifying

the structure.
What I would like to focus briefly on during this intervention is this ambitious goal, atthe same time, we see that it is a very appealing one, as our membership has tripled
since the last General Conference, which was held four years ago in Hiroshima.

We

are now talking about 5,000 members by the NPT Review Conference in New York,26

which I believe to be, again, ambitious but realistic if we all work together.
Let me give you an example. As I said, I come from Belgium.

I have been working

a lot in Belgium with Mayors for Peace ever since I heard Mayor Akiba‟s speech in2003. At that time, there were six member cities in Belgium.

I was working for an

NGO called Friends of the Earth. So when I came back to Belgium, I checked thewebsite and wrote a letter to the six members, and I was very fortunate that the Mayorof Ypres replied. This was the start of cooperation between an NGO and a local
authority.
And it soon evolved in 2005, when we set up a strategy of having cross-party letters,
signed by mayors from different democratic political parties, sent to all the Belgian
mayors, which resulted in 250 Belgian members in 2005, which is almost half of the589 cities in Belgium. We have continued that strategy, and I mention it here because
it has been used in other countries very successfully. Today Belgium has 337 members,
which is 57% of all Belgium mayors.
beat us.

I want to challenge other people in this room to

Go out there and work. The cross-party letter is a very good tool.

We haveseen that in Germany, Luxemburg and other places.
Now I also want to go back to Belgium for another need that has been mentioned
several times.

If you want us to work in as humane a manner as possible, we needmore funds. Here again, Belgium has shown an example of leadership throughapproaching mayors through cross-party letters.

I hope that the mayors who are here

will also take the initiative to bring in funds so that we can have more staff to help reachthe ambitious goal we have set for ourselves. As Mayor Dehaene has mentioned
before, if every member city would donate just 100 euro, we would be able to run aproper campaign.

So, we hope that you will take home this message.

As a political goal, we have the capacity to build up the influence we need within the
UN. Here again, I will give Belgium as an example.

When we had major

newspapers reporting that cross-party groups of mayors visited the Ministry of Defense
and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, this all led to a Resolution in the Belgian parliament.
Last January, the Belgian Senate approved a Resolution in support of the 2020 Vision
Campaign.
Just to clarify, Belgium is quite conservative when it comes to nuclear disarmament.
27

Not only do we have 20 US nuclear weapons, we also have a NATO Headquarters, andthe supreme military headquarters in Belgium as well.

So, mayors and cities haveoffered a lot of leverage to talk with national leaders, and I believe that this is what
Professor Mogami was referring to when he mentioned how NGOs and local authorities
can bring international dynamics towards the 2020 Vision Campaign.
I will end by referring to a document that I want to present here to you today.

It is aprogress report for 2009 of the 2020 Vision Campaign Association, which has a reportof the main activities in 2008 and also has plans for 2009 and beyond.

We are happy

to announce that it is not only in English, but also in French and Spanish.

I think it is atreasure of information, where you will find a lot of inspiring examples.
I have used a lot of examples from Belgium because I take some pride in them, but there
are people doing great things around the world with Mayors for Peace.
this information in here.

Next year we will publish a new one.

You will findI hope that you will

relay your information to Ypres, so that we can include it with pictures.
Chris Pilger will hand out copies of the report, and if you need more, please let us know.
Finally, I hope he is in the room because I met him last evening at the hotel where I am
staying.
room.

He is from Bangladesh.

I don‟t know if Mr. Azmat Ullah Khan is in the

If I could invite you, I would like to give you my speaking time, because I

would prefer for you to share your good news with the audience.
Mayor Dehaene
Mr. Azmat Ullah Khan is the president of the Municipal Association of Bangladesh andhe has brought 13 mayors from Bangladesh to this Conference, which is wonderful
because they had to travel such a long way to be with us.

They are not members yet,so I‟ve been talking with him and I would like him to share with you his plans in
Bangladesh.

I would like to thank you and I look forward to working with you

towards 5,000 members and towards the abolition of nuclear weapons in 2020.
Thank you.
Md. Azmat Ullah Khan, Mayor of Tongi, Bangladesh
President, the Municipal Association of Bangladesh
Mr. President, learned presenters, respected mayors from different cities of the world,
28

organizers, ladies and gentlemen. Assalam alaikum, and good afternoon to all.

I amvery much grateful that although I am not listed as a speaker, the honorable president
has given me the floor.
I would like to say something about my country, because my country is Bangladesh.
We got our independence in 1971 under the dynamic leadership of our great leader, thefather of the nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Bangladesh is a small
country.

Its area is only 140,393 square kilometers having a population of more than

150 million.

Bangladesh is a unitary state.

In Bangladesh we have 309

municipalities.
The Municipal Association of Bangladesh is a leading association.
president of it.

I have been the

We are very much grateful to the President of Mayors for Peace andthe organizers of the Conference for inviting us, and grateful for the warm hospitality by
the mayor and people of Nagasaki.
We, 13 members from different cities of Bangladesh, have joined in the Conferencewith a slogan. The slogan is, “Say „no‟ to nuclear-weapon states” and “no nuclear
weapons.”

In Bangladesh, as I said earlier, the Municipal Association of Bangladesh(MAB) is leading all 309 municipalities in Bangladesh, creating awareness of “Say „no‟to nuclear weapon states” and “no nuclear weapons” through organizing stakeholders
seminars, dialogue and consultation meetings.

MAB is also promoting the solidarityof all municipalities in keeping contributions to the establishment of lasting world peace,focusing on human rights, poverty reduction, and environmental protection.

Westrongly opposed the Cold War between nations, but strongly support the Non-Alliance
Movement.
Mayor of Hiroshima and the President of Mayors for Peace hoped that membershipwould soon increase to 5,000-plus.

Mr. President, we, the 13 members attending theConference from Bangladesh, are sorry to say we are not members of Mayors for Peace.
We intend ourselves to be members of Mayors for Peace.

The Municipality

Association is leading 309 municipalities. So easily, as its President of the MAB,
along with my colleagues from Bangladesh, I will take the initiative to bring moremembers from Bangladesh.

I can assure you that within four months, not less than

100 cities will be members of Mayors for Peace.

29(applause)Lastly, I would like to mention that in Bangladesh, our country, its vision is “2021”.
We are working for the reduction of poverty, peaceful solution of conflicts of tribal
communities, and elimination of terrorism. We think this is the time to make acommitment to a nuclear-free world.

This is our commitment. Thank you all.

Mayor Dehaene
Thank you, thank you very much for this promise.

But Aaron told us that we still have

1,900 cities to go. So, ladies and gentlemen, the microphone is now open to theaudience.

Are there any questions about issues that have been presented by the

speakers: questions, remarks or other proposals?
Khalil bin Ibrahim Hassan, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiaryof the Kingdom of Bahrain in JapanI am Khalil from Bahrain.

Thank you very much for the interesting session.

I would

really like to thank the organizer for this excellent Conference and the efforts being put
to clear the world from nuclear weapons.
Actually, what drew my attention was, on August 6, there was a poll about the bombingsof Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

I found out that in this poll only one fifth of the people

thought that hitting these cities was the wrong decision.
My question is; did you expect that sort of number?

I don‟t want to be verystraightforward, but there were opinion polls in the media, maybe in the United Statesand some other places, talking about whether the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
by nuclear bombs were the right or wrong decision.

I understand from reading thesedifferent opinion polls that not many people around the world feel…
Mayor DehaeneLess people are aware of what happened here and the…
Ambassador Khalil
That‟s right.

I read these polls and it was such to me that there were so many people

not aware of it.
that danger?

My question is what is the problem?

Thank you very much.

Mayor Dehaene
30

Why are people not aware of

I think it is a rather difficult question, but you are right.

And this time, due toeconomic and financial crisis and other lot of things around the world, theconsciousness of the nuclear weapon threat is known by only a few people.

Thatmeans, on the one hand, we have a lot of work to do, which Mayors for Peace and otherorganizations worldwide have to work on.

Aaron, please.

TovishI am willing to let anyone else go before me, since I took more than my share of time
before.

But I think that one part of the problem is the Treaty on the Non-Proliferationof Nuclear Weapons.

It appears to legitimize the existence of five nuclear-weapon

states, and in a sense saying it is okay to have nuclear weapons.
But, in fact the history of the treaty is quite different from the way it is often interpreted.
It was explicit that this was meant only to be a temporary situation, and these five areunder direct responsibility to eliminate nuclear weapons. And that part is what we
think that now, finally in 2010, will become a focus of work. But, unfortunately, it has
taken 40 years, and during these 40 years, people have to somehow accommodate to thefact that there are five countries in the world and perhaps several others, which seemed
to be legitimately possessing these weapons. So the horror of them was glanced overby this apparent seal of approval from the Treaty.

But in fact it is their obligation toeliminate them because of their deadly nature.
Mayor Dehaene
Thank you for that.

I see another question?

Sorry, Mayor Akiba, first.

Please.

Tadatoshi Akiba, Mayor of Hiroshima
President of Mayors for Peace
I don‟t know which poll you are talking about, but, as I mentioned yesterday, the mostrecent international poll taken in over 21 countries, including the nuclear-weapon states,
showed that close to 80% of the people were for the abolition of nuclear weapons.
In the United States, approximately 80% of the people in the fall of 1945 supported theuse of nuclear weapons.

Even that opinion is changing in the United States. They are

decreasing in terms of justifying the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by two
atomic bombs. So I don‟t know which poll you are referring to that only one fifth ofthe people know what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
31

That is contrary to theinformation I have, and also it is contrary to the trend that seems to be happening in theworld.

I hope you will give us the accurate quote of the poll and then, we will startfrom there.

Anyway, that is contrary to what I know.

Mussie Hailu, Ambassador-at-Large, Republic of Burundi
Thank you. Mine is actually a compliment rather than a question, especially to Pol andhis staff, and our brother from Bangladesh.

I had a meeting with Mayor Akiba andalso with Steven.
By the way, my name is Mussie Hailu.
and from Ethiopia.

I work as Ambassador at Large for Burundi,

I also work with the African Union.

I just want to say that building a culture of peace and the abolition of nuclear weapons is
not something we can leave only to a few cities and countries.

We all need to joinhands if we are to achieve the 2020 Vision. With that in mind, we had a meeting with
Aaron and also with the delegates from Kenya and Ambassador of Eritrea today to bringmore African voices to this movement, especially as you know one-eighth of the humanfamily lives in Africa.

Personally, along with my colleagues, we take the initiative to

make sure that all cities in Africa join.
Today I was so happy to hear the Professor saying that we need to see nuclear weapons
as genocides. As someone who has been working in Rwanda, I know what this means.
So, we need really to join hands with all and we are with you. This is something allneed to join hands together to bring true change in the world.

As Mahatma Gandhisaid, if we want to see change in the world, we have to change ourselves first.
Mayors and cities especially must play a bridge-building role to bring policy-makers
and ordinary citizens on board to work together.

The issue of peace is something we

all need to be stakeholders in, not only for a few elite people.
With this in mind, I am going to bring whatever we are discussing today back to Africa.
I really ask also the delegations and whoever is here to bring back home to your regions
and to embrace all humanity and make sure that we can achieve this for the sake of thecoming generations.

If you are about to say No More Hiroshima, No More Nagasaki

and No More Rwanda, it is time for us to move into actions from words.
very much.
32

Thank you

Mayor Dehaene
Thank you very much, Mr. Ambassador.

Someone at the back has some words.

If

you mention your name and city you are representing, it will be easier for the audience.
Mayra Gomez, Senior Programme Officer
Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament (PNND)
My name is Mayra Gomez.

I am here representing a parliamentary organization,

Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament.

I had a sort ofreaction and response to my brother from Africa, because he refers to those of us in
Latin America. Although my organization is worldwide and it represents legislatorsfrom all over the world, what I can say about Latin America is that Latin America was
the first region that created a nuclear-weapon-free zone.
We are going to Mexico in a couple of weeks to have a conference that is organized by
the United Nations.

I think Aaron referred to that.

It is the DPI (the Department of

Public Information) conference.
The subject of the conference precisely addresses us in the Southern hemisphere,
because the subject of the Conference is disarmament for development.

I think lots ofus know there is a great amount of military budget spending that could go to exactly
what our needs in the Southern hemisphere are, education, health, etc. That would be
the subject of Mexico (Conference).

Latin America is full on with the Tlatelolco

Treaty, signed in Mexico originally, and we have an office of OPANAL, which is for anuclear-weapon-free zone.
Now I know in Africa, you are very close to signing the Pelindaba Nuclear Weapon Free
Zone Treaty, and I invite all the delegates here to do your utmost to make that a reality.
Of course, I live in New Zealand and New Zealand is a nuclear free nation, and there is
a South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone as well, so in this South this is what we need to do.
We need to generate more strength from the nuclear-weapon-free zones. And why not
declare space a nuclear-free zone?

We should.

Mayor Dehaene
Thank you. Yes, please.
33

Rania Alhaj Ali, Charge d’Affaires ad interim
the Syrian Arab Republic to Japan
Good afternoon. My name is Rania Alhaj Ali.

I am the Charge d‟Affaires of the

Syrian Arab Republic.
First I want to thank the organizer of this conference.

It is very enriching for us on thegovernmental side to hear about your efforts and campaigns, and we wish you all
success.
I want to give a comment. Since I worked for five years in the UN from 2000 to 2005,
I wasn‟t in the First Committee, which is in charge of disarmament, but I have quite agood idea how the work is conducted there. What I want to highlight is the efforts of
the Arab group in the Middle East.

In 2003, my country Syria was a non-permanent

member of the Security Council, and in the name of the Arab Group, we presented adraft resolution to make the Middle-East a zone free of nuclear weapons and weapons ofmass destruction.

Unfortunately, the draft was not adopted because of the refusal ofcertain powers for reasons everybody knows, that Israel has a nuclear arsenal.
know that.

We all

We want our region to be really nuclear-free, which means we want thewhole world to be free of nuclear weapons.
I want to tell you something.

In the UN, when it comes to disarmament in the First

Committee, NGOs usually are kept at a distance in a very diplomatic way.
but they don‟t take what you say seriously.
role of NGOs are really strong.

They listen,In other committees, the presence and the

They usually have some of their proposals put into UN

documents, which are adopted by member states later on.
I really advise you to keep the pressure on, use the media and don‟t be deterred by any
attempt to turn you away, because you will be shuttered away in a very nice diplomaticway. When it comes to these issues, they don‟t really want the participation of civilsociety.
So I hope that you will not lose momentum.
the luck. Thank you.
Mayor Dehaene
34

I hope you will keep it and wish you allThank you. And thank you for your support.

Jackie?

Jacqueline Cabasso, North American Coordinator, Mayors for Peace
Executive Advisor, Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation
Thank you. My name is Jackie Cabasso.

I am from the United States.

I am an

Executive Advisor to the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation, and I am also the North
American Coordinator of Mayors for Peace.
Since I don‟t see our US Vice President, Mayor Donald Plusquellic of Akron Ohio, here
in the room, nor do I see the representatives from the US Conference of Mayors, I
would like to just give you a brief update on some of the developments in the UnitedStates.
We are slowly growing in the United States.

It is not easy to get U.S. mayors to sign

on. Today we have 155 members and we are continuing to grow. We have verystrong support from the US Conference of Mayors, which is the association of cities
with populations over 30,000. So it is about 1,200 of the biggest cities in the UnitedStates. For the last four or five years, the US Conference of Mayors has consistently
adopted strong resolutions supporting Mayors for Peace at its annual conferences.
This June, they unanimously adopted a resolution commending President Obama for his
remarks in Prague, and also calling on him to make good on his commitments byannouncing at the 2010 NPT Review Conference, the initiation of multi-lateral
good-faith negotiations on the treaty to eliminate nuclear weapons, by 2020. So this is
the whole enchilada, a very strong resolution, and I think it is very important.
Now the challenge I have as an organizer is trying to get mayors to really take on theissue in their local communities, to raise public awareness, which is needed in order tocounteract those kinds of poll numbers that the gentleman was talking about.
some other NGO colleagues, we have been trying some experiments.

So withLast October,we organized a conference in Des Moines, Iowa, in the middle of the country with thesupport of the Mayor of Des Moines, where we linked climate protection and nuclear
abolition, and it was called “Nuclear Abolition, Climate Protection, and our Cities‟
Future.”And this, I think, has some promise, because in the US Conference ofMayors, nearly a thousand of the members have signed onto a climate protection
initiative.
35

And we are following up in Madison, Wisconsin, also in the heartland, with anotherconference again with the support of the Mayor there and Mayors for Peace, called“Future Cities 2009, Local Democracy in Action for a Post-Carbon, Post-Nuclear,
Greener World.”
These are some of the ways in which we are trying to broaden the constituencies whoare supporting the abolition of nuclear weapons, which I think we all agree we need to
do with if we are to bring the campaign to fruition.
But I would like to ask you all to help me in the United States, especially those of youthat have sister cities in the US.

I think it will be really encouraging for you to contact

them, to let them know how important Mayors for Peace and its 2020 Vision Campaign
are to you in your cities, and encourage them to become even more visible in theirlocalities in the United States, and to use their political capital to support President
Obama and really push him to make good on the promises that he has made.
So that is an offer I extend to all of you and if anybody wants to talk to me separately, if
you have any ideas on what we might do in the United States to encourage our mayors, I
would very much welcome your input.

Thank you.

Mayor Dehaene
Thank you, thank you, Jackie. As far as I see, Mr. Cibot is the last one with acomment.
Cibot
I think the problem raised about opinion polls is very complicated, since we come froma country that has nuclear weapons.

So we need to talk about opinion polls.

In anuclear-weapon state, we tend to believe that the direction of the poll is correct
regarding our national policy on the use of nuclear weapons.

But if the questions wereasked in a different way, for example, as Professor Mogami said or the German
philosopher Günther Anders was saying, if you ask “do you know what nuclear
weapons are?” You might get different answers.

Günther Anders asked the samekind of questions before and even after Hiroshima.
Since then, nuclear weapons and new technologies have really changed the human36world.

I think the question should be “do you think nuclear weapons can be used foranything other than genocide?”If we ask the question in that way, that might be more

useful, and public opinion would be against nuclear weapons. Normally media incountries with nuclear weapons do not raise the issue.

That is why we should takeaction through the network of Mayors for Peace.
We have talked about various organizations in the United Nation, but also UNESCO isvery important because they are involved in many educational programs and theorganization exists in France.
Peace in France.

We also have a nationwide organization of Mayors for

So in France, maybe we can work together with UNESCO to letthem take on some actions.

With UNESCO and other international organizations, we

can probably promote education and make collaboration with them on the idea ofMayors for Peace.

Maybe we can have discussions with them, and we may be able tocreate powerful tools out of those collaborations, which may be useful in some othercountries.

As somebody mentioned, the method is important.

involve UNESCO.

It may be good to

By talking with them, we may gain new powers to get moremember cities. These ideas may be useful.

According to my experience, 100 new

mayors can join through these ideas.
So, I would like to appreciate the activities done by Pol and also the members of the
Executive Committee and those involved from the beginning.

I would also thank

Mayor Akiba of Hiroshima and Mayor Taue of Nagasaki for giving us a lot of potentials
for Mayors for Peace.

I think these are useful for other countries. That is why I

really thank you.
Mayor Dehaene
Thank you, Michel.
Final conclusion: first of all, I want to thank everybody for being present here and forthe people who have been with us.

We heard many regional examples, which could

bring us a lot of good ideas to use in our own countries and cities.

I also had theoverview of some national or regional protocol situations, which was also good to hear.
We are reminded of the history of Mayors of Peace and the campaign. That was alsogood.

It is hard for me to repeat the magnificent speech of Professor Mogami.

to thank him again for that.

37

I wantThere are a couple of ideas I have.

First of all, the power of NGOs, like the exampleof the power of the International Red Cross, could inspire us as Mayors for Peace to go
on the same way.
The second idea is that the possession and use of nuclear weapons are formally againstinternational law.

I think this is a very important point to take further.

The last idea is that we are living in an important moment in the history.

Maybe thisyear, we are in a financially and economically difficult situation but the difficult
situations can start new opportunities and give us new hope. We also learned that this21st Century is the era of cities and citizens and no longer of the federal states andfederal governments.
Also, the momentum of the Obama speech gives us a new hope.

Hopefully the Obamaadministration will lead and other national leaders will follow that example.
Ladies and gentlemen, this leads us to the conclusion that as Mayors of Peace, we havea huge responsibility.

It is our duty to do everything in our power to reach our goal,

the abolition of all nuclear weapons in 2020.
It may be a pity for Tokyo, but may I express our hope that all can be present in 2020 at
the Olympic Games in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in a nuclear free world.
for your support.

(Applause)

38

Thank you

The 7th General Conference of Mayors for Peace

Talk with NGOs and Citizens– Efforts by NGOs to eliminate nuclear weapons
at local, national and regional levels
August 10 (Mon), 2009 9:00 – 12:00
Nagasaki Brick Hall (International Conference Hall)
Moderators: Hideo Tsuchiyama, Chairman, Organizing Committee of the Nagasaki Global
Citizens’ Assembly for the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons
Hiromichi Umebayashi, Special Advisor, Peace Depot
Panelists:

Pol D’Huyvetter, Director, International Campaign Secretariat,
Mayors for Peace 2020 Vision Campaign, Belgium
Jackie Cabasso, Mayors for Peace North American Coordinator, USA
Noboru Tasaki, Secretary-General, Organizing Committee of the Nagasaki Global
Citizens’ Assembly for the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons
Akira Kawasaki, Co-Representative, Executive Committee, Peace Boat
Keiko Nakamura, Secretary General, Peace Depot
Franz-Michael Skjold Mellbin, Ambassador of Denmark to Japan
Soran Ali Hasan, Mayor of Khanaqin, Iraq

Speakers:

Michel Cibot, General Manager, City of Malakoff; Association Française desCommunes, Départements et Régions pour la Paix(AFCDRP), France
Yukio Isobe, Director, Solidarity Activities Division,
Japanese Trade Union Confederation (Rengo)
Yoshiha Arichi, Coordinator, Nuclear Abolition Network Kyoto
Tomihisa Taue, Mayor of Nagasaki;
President of National Council of Japan Nuclear Free Local Authorities
Masayoshi Naito, Coordinator, Citizens’ Network for Nuclear Weapons Abolition
Toshihiro Inoue, Deputy Director,
Japan Congress against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs (Gensuikin)
Yasunari Fujimoto, Deputy Secretary General,
Japan Congress against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs (Gensuikin)
Philip Jennings, General Secretary, UNI Global Union, Switzerland
Rafael de la Rubia, President, World without Wars and without Violence
Shigemi Osaki, Manager,
Ward Administrative Section, Community Promotion Department,
Community Development and City Planning Bureau, the City of Sapporo
Tomoko Watanabe, Executive Director,
ANT-Hiroshima (Asian Network of Trust in Hiroshima)
Saori Yuji, the Executive Committee, the 10,000 High School Students Signatures
Campaign to Eliminate All Nuclear Weapons and to Make a Peaceful World;
3rd-year student, Kwassui High School
Hikaru Owatari, the 12th High School Student Peace Ambassador;
3rd-year student, Kwassui High SchoolModerator: Hideo Tsuchiyama, Chairman, Organizing Committee of theNagasaki Global Citizens’ Assembly for the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. We will now start the morning session on thislast day of the Mayors for Peace General Conference. Two of us will serve as
moderators of this session. My name is Hideo Tsuchiyama and my colleague is Mr.
Hiromichi Umebayashi. Thank you very much for coming to this session.
First of all, I would like to explain this morning’s schedule. According to the program,
we have six panelists but we have one more joining. So, there are seven panelists thismorning. I would like to introduce them to you:
From Belgium, Mr. Pol D’Huyvetter; from the US, Ms. Jacqueline Cabasso; next
from Japan, Mr. Noboru Tasaki, Mr. Akira Kawasaki and Ms. Keiko Nakamura;from Denmark, Ambassador of Denmark, His Excellency Mr. Franz-Michael Skjold
Mellbin, and from Iraq, Mayor of Khanaqin, the Honorable Mr. Soran Ali Hasan.
They are seven panelists and each will give a 10-minute speech.
Afterward, we will take questions from the floor, for a 20-minute question and answer
session. Then we will take a 15 minute-break. After the break, we have 10
presenters already registered to speak. Afterward, we will of course welcome
interventions from participants, and additional questions from the floor at the end.
This is a 3-hour session and I hope you will find it enjoyable and useful.
Today the general public has joined us for this session. I hope that everybody
understands the significance of this. Of course Mayors for Peace is a group of therepresentatives of cities and is involved in NGO activities. On the other hand, there
are citizens’ groups and private groups that Mayors for Peace should have connections
with. We need them to share the task of educating the general public and at the sametime lobby their governments. This is an important part of our collaboration. In thepast, each of the Mayors for Peace General Conferences had a session to exchange with
NGOs and the general public. This year, we hope to further enhance such activities bymoving local NGOs and general citizens toward nuclear abolition, we set a theme forthis session ―Efforts by NGOs to eliminate nuclear weapons at local, national andregional levels.‖
First, we would like to hear from the seven panelists. First, I will invite Mr. Pol
D’Huyvetter to talk about strategies of NGOs in Europe, especially the nuclear policies
1

of NATO and Europe.
Pol D’Huyvetter, Director, International Campaign Secretariat
Mayors for Peace 2020 Vision Campaign, Belgium
Good morning. It is a privilege and honor for me to be here with you all. I wish to
thank you for taking the time and efforts to travel to this General Conference and to behere with us. My name is Pol D’huyvetter. I am the Director of the International
Campaign Secretariat of Mayors for Peace 2020 Vision Campaign based in the City
Hall of Ypres in Belgium, and I am also the Executive Advisor for the Hiroshima Peace
Culture Foundation.
When I looked at the title of this session, ―Efforts by NGOs to eliminate nuclear
weapons at local, national and regional levels,‖ I felt I should start by telling something
about my life before I started working with Mayors for Peace. I have been active forthe issue of nuclear disarmament since 1981, when the US and Russia were in the midstof Cold War and planned to deploy cruise missiles in Persia and Europe. Ever sincethen, I have been committed to this cause.
I was working with an organization called For Mother Earth when I first met Mayors for
Peace in UN Geneva in 2003. When I met Mayor Akiba I was very inspired by his
speech. During the NGO session, I talked with Steve Leeper, who is here with us, whois the Chair of the Foundation and, who has also, I think, made very valuable
contributions over the years to link the work of NGOs with local and national
governments. At that time, I was engaged with For Mother Earth, which today is apart of the International Friends of the Earth network federation. Internationally, we
had some reputation to focus on NATO nuclear sharing in Belgium with the US nuclear
base in Kleine Brogel where 20 US bombs were deployed and flown by Belgian pilots.
If you look at the NPT, you can see that this nuclear sharing agreement is in violation of
Article 1 and Article 2 of the NPT, something that is hardly mentioned in our corporate
driven media. We in For Mother Earth at that time were inspired by people like
Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King. And did civil disobedience and were
upholding international law because we felt and we still feel that today that the presenceof US nuclear weapons in Belgium are preparations for crimes against humanity.
From the beginning, with our group, we always thought it was very important to involve
legislators when we engage in our activities, both in civil disobedience and others. So,
2

from the beginning already in the 1990s when we did citizens’ inspections, referring to
the inspections which were happening in Iraq at that time, we had members of theBelgium parliament inspecting the base with us, going inside and exposing the injustice
we felt was done in Belgium. At some point, we can say it were very effective actions,as we were able to draw the attention of Belgian general public and politicians to thefact that we had these weapons in Belgium which nobody, hardly anybody knew about.
At some point we had 1,170 people arrested for entering the base non-violently – wewould not resist the arrest, we would just say the proper reason why we were there. So
this is to give one example an effective action of an NGO. I think a well-respected
NGO, which is often using this kind of non-violent methodology in these days, isGreenpeace.
As we moved on, and continued to do political work with our group, we also helped a
lot to set up a PNND (Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation andDisarmament) section in Belgium. I think we were instrumental and people from the
NGO community can really take these initiatives as I have experienced where we
contacted members of different democratic political parties to make sure that nopolitical party would claim the struggle we have had for the abolition of nuclear
weapons.
After I heard Mayor Akiba’s speak at the UN Geneva Conference in 2003, and met with
Steve Leeper and Aaron Tovish, I found out about Mayors for Peace and the 2020
Vision Campaign which was launched soon afterwards. I went back to Belgium andsaw out that out of 589 mayors in Belgium, at that time only 6 mayors had joined
Mayors for Peace, Ypres being one of them. We contacted with our NGO the 6 mayors
to propose them to cooperate. We were planning a Peace March from NATOheadquarters in Brussels, our capital. And we came up with a plan to do a peacemarch from NATO headquarters to Ypres, which is the city in Belgium completely
destroyed during the First World War. On the territory of Ypres, about half a million
people died between 1914 and 1918, because of war.
So this was the start of a fruitful cooperation between For Mother Earth and the City ofYpres and a growing number of mayors, which soon resulted, again, using thiscross-party approach, where we as an NGO, we felt it was very important to work withmayors from all democratic political parties in our struggle against these NATO nuclear
sharing agreements in Belgium. We involved, for example, Jean-Luc Dehaene, who3was the previous Prime Minister of Belgium and Mayor in Vilvoorde, and Senator
Patrick Vankrunkelsven, I am sure some people have heard about him, who is from the
Liberal Party. We also had people from the Green Party, from the Social Democrats.
For Belgium, it is a little more complicated, because of different regions, as we needed
to make sure we have Flemish speaking and French speaking. So we worked that out
very carefully before sending out letters to involve mayors across Belgium. I knowthat in 2005, soon we saw almost half of Belgian mayors had joined because of thesecross-party appeals. Today I can say that 337 of the 589 Belgian mayors have joined
Mayors for Peace, which is almost 60%. And we are working to have more this year,
especially with perspective to have 5,000 members by the NPT Review Conference.
I believe that my training with this NGO to make sure we have this cross-party
approach was very important and I know it is a policy as well of Mayors for Peace inBelgium which is now well-established group, a structure. We have a Mayors for
Peace Belgium Council, which again we have 4 mayors from the North of Belgium:
Flanders, 4 from the South: Wallonia and then we also have the Brussels region. In
this Council of 9 mayors, again, we make sure all political parties are represented. It is
example of our work in Europe that has resulted in several resolutions both in the lower
house and the upper house, by members of parliaments, cooperation between NGOs,
PNND, Mayors for Peace, asking for the withdrawal of US nuclear weapons from
Europe, and asking the de-nuclearisation of NATO. This has been very significant. I
hope this example from Belgium gives you a methodology that we use very successfully,
and we see that some of our colleagues across Europe are also using.
The latest development which in a way was still confidential as we were working with,again Mayors for Peace took the initiative after the NPT PrepCom in New York last
May to invite our Council of the mayors in Belgium to work with a cross-party group of
PNND members to introduce a Belgian law to ban nuclear weapons. Because Belgium
has, as you might know, quite a tradition. We were the first country to ban cluster
munitions, to ban weapons with depleted uranium, and to ban landmines. So now withthe members of parliament, we take up this new and bigger challenge, I am sure you
know, to ban nuclear weapons in Belgium. Because we keep believing that will giveenormous leverage both internationally and within the NATO alliance.
I will end by saying that as an NGO as well and now with Mayors for Peace we are also
very active on the level of the European Parliament, where we have been successful to4

have several resolutions adopted. Again very carefully, before we launch the initiative
we make sure we have all political parties on board. That is our formula and I believe
it is very important. I cannot stress it enough.
Also, before the NPT PrepCom last April, the European Parliament adopted a resolution
with majority in Strasburg, which was very important, for the first time referring to theHiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol, the 2020 Vision, and the support for the Nuclear Weapon
Convention.
I hope that this very short intervention will be inspiring for young people I see there,
because we can, as citizens, make a whole lot of difference, and we really need to havefaith and cooperate with people on the different levels. Local level NGOs and I think
local governments now, we have a very important role to play, and I think we areplaying it, to get leverage to the national government, and eventually the UN.
So, thank you very much for giving me this word. Just to make a final announcement.
If you have not received this report from the Mayors for Peace 2020 Vision Campaign,
it has a lot of information of the work of NGOs and mayors across the world. You canreceive it here today, if you find me, Chris or Aaron. Chris is there and the reports are
there on the table I see. Thank you very much.
Tsuchiyama
Thank you very much, Mr. Pol D’Huyvetter. Next, we would like to invite Ms.
Jacqueline Cabasso, talking about ―NGO Challenges and Opportunities under the
Obama Administration.‖
Jackie Cabasso, Mayors for Peace North American Coordinator, USA
Mayor Taue, Mayor Akiba, distinguished Mayors for Peace delegates and fellow
citizens, thank you for inviting me to speak here today. It is a great honor.
Since arriving in Nagasaki, I have been struck by the fact that in every speech I haveheard, whether at the Mayors for Peace Conference, the Gensuikyo rally, or the
Women’s Forum, President Obama’s April 5th Prague speech has been praised as aworld changing event. In part, I think this reflects our collective sense of relief that theBush era is over, as well as our desperate desire for a real breakthrough on nuclear
disarmament. One thing is certain, Obama’s Prague speech has inspired a tidal waveof hope and opened up the space for a badly needed renewal of advocacy and action to5abolish nuclear weapons.
Some speakers have characterized Obama’s pledge to seek the peace and security of aworld without nuclear weapons as unprecedented. Yet as UN General Assembly
President Miguel d’Escoto reminded us on Saturday, in the NPT itself the US and otheroriginal nuclear weapon states pledged to negotiate the elimination of their nuclear
arsenals. So 40 years later and 20 years after the end of the Cold War and thedissolution of the Soviet Union, why are nuclear weapons still with us; who benefits
from them? I think we need to do a much deeper analysis in order to figure out where
the real pressure points are. And I think this requires openness to the possibility of
doing things differently than we have done before.
My main conclusion, as I will explain, is that we can no longer approach nuclear
weapons as a single issue. In order to win we must address the interconnected issuesof militarization, globalization and the economy and we must build a new movementthat brings together the various constituencies that together make up the vast majority of
the world’s population that does not benefit from the permanent war system.
In order to attract these constituencies we need to promote an alternative vision of
security. We must put universal human security and ecological sustainability at theheart of conflict resolution and prevention. We must divest precious resources frommilitarism and invest them instead in this new security paradigm. This is what Mayors
for Peace is ultimately working for.
In his Prague speech, President Obama made an historic admission that as the only
nuclear power to have used a nuclear weapon, the United States has a moral
responsibility to act for their elimination. This is a welcome acknowledgement but weshould not be naïve. While Obama has repeatedly said that he will pursue the goal of aworld without nuclear weapons, this statement is invariably followed by a disclaimer
that as long as nuclear weapons exist, the US will maintain a strong nuclear deterrent.
This disclaimer reflects the influence of a massive and powerful military industrial
complex, which has successfully perpetuated the role of nuclear weapons as thecornerstone of US national security policy for 64 years. I would like to give President
Obama the benefit of the doubt, but if he is serious about getting rid of nuclear weapons,
he is going to have to make a major break with the policies of all Administrations since1945, whether Republican or Democrat, and take on some of the most powerful and6entrenched forces on earth. President Obama needs our help. It is up to us to create
the political pressure that will make meaningful progress on disarmament possible.
It is important for Japanese people to understand that while the personality at the top of
the US government has changed, the architecture and special interests that underpin it
have not. The US continues to spend nearly as much as the rest of the world’s
countries combined on its military. In 2008, the United States spent 52.4 billion
dollars on nuclear weapons-related programs alone. This staggering amount is a dropin the bucket compared to overall US military spending that year, which was 711 billion
dollars, but it exceeds the entire military budgets of nearly every other country. In
2006, only China, Russia, the United Kingdom and France spent more on theirmilitaries than the US spent on its nuclear weapons-related programs.
When he presented his military budget for 2010, this is what President Obama said,―Going forward, we will continue to make the investments necessary to strengthen our
military and increase our ground forces to defeat the threats of the 21st century.‖ Morethan a quarter of a million US personnel are already serving at more than 1,000 militarybases around the world. And the US is the only country that deploys nuclear weapons
on foreign soil.
Since the Prague speech, there has been a disturbing wave of editorials ridiculing
President Obama, accusing him of being naïve, and declaring that nuclear abolition is
impossible or even a bad idea. Former government officials, generals, and otherinfluential members of the nuclear establishment are engaged in a full court press toensure that even the modest first steps taken by President Obama to reestablish
traditional arms control are doomed to fail. For example, the Commission establishedby Congress to give advice on the forthcoming Nuclear Posture Review reported inMay,―the United States requires a stockpile of nuclear weapons that is safe, secure, andreliable, and whose threatened use in military conflict would be credible … The
conditions that might make the elimination of nuclear weapons possible are notpresent today and establishing such conditions would require a fundamental
transformation of the world political order.‖Almost as if to ensure that such conditions are not created, the Senate recently adopted aseries of amendments to the 2010 Defense Authorization Bill. One of these7amendments calls on the President to make sure that the US-Russia START follow-on
treaty does not limit US ballistic missile defense systems, space capabilities, oradvanced conventional weapons systems.
A second amendment expresses support for a US ground-based missile defense system
in Poland and the Czech Republic. These are precisely the issues that Russia hasraised as impediments to deeper nuclear arms reductions. Yet another amendment
requires the President to deliver a plan to modernize the US nuclear deterrent. These
amendments were introduced by Republican Senators, but their adoption was aided by
Democrats.
One of the most alarming trends is the renewed importance being given to the conceptof ―extended deterrence.‖ In response to developments in North Korea, the US andJapan have begun official talks on ways to enhance the nuclear threat to others that theUnited States provides for Japan. As an alternative, some Japanese politicians haveargued that Tokyo should develop its own nuclear weapons to protect itself. This isappalling.
As the only country thus far to have experienced the trauma and devastation of a nuclear
attack, Japan has a unique moral stature. As Japanese citizens, I urge you to press yourgovernment hard to reject the fallacy of nuclear deterrence, to withdraw from the US
nuclear umbrella, to forswear all nuclear weapons altogether and to model a new
security paradigm based on diplomacy, cooperation and the rule of law.
It is becoming clearer every day that the problem of nuclear weapons cannot be solved
in isolation. In his keynote speech on Saturday, Bruce Gagnon was eloquent on thispoint. As United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recently explained,―progress in eliminating other weapons of mass destruction and limiting missiles,
space weapons and conventional arms – all… are needed for a nuclear-weapon-freeworld. Disarmament must anticipate emerging dangers from other weapons … Of
course, strategic stability, trust among nations, and the settlement of regional
conflicts would all help to advance the process of disarmament. Yet disarmament
has its own contributions to make in serving these goals and should not be
postponed.‖
It is therefore more important than ever that we, the ordinary people of the world, join
8

together to demand the elimination of nuclear weapons before the last hibakusha isgone.
Inspired by Japanese NGOs, a growing international petition campaign is underway
calling on the leaders of governmental to agree at the 2010 NPT Review Conference tocommence and conclude negotiation of a treaty to ban and eliminate nuclear weapons.
The US version of the petition calls on President Obama to make good on his Praguecommitment by announcing at the Review Conference his initiation of good faithmultilateral negotiations on an international agreement to abolish nuclear weapons,within our lifetimes. In June, the US Conference of Mayors unanimously adopted a
Mayors for Peace resolution calling on President Obama to conclude the negotiations by
2020. Millions of signatures collected in Japan, the US, UK, France and elsewhere
will be delivered to the NPT Review Conference.
American organizers are excited that as many as 1,000 Japanese activists will come to
New York next May to personally deliver their appeal for a peaceful world free of
nuclear weapons. With United for Peace and Justice and Abolition 2000, we areorganizing a march and rally on Sunday May 2, the day before the Review Conference
opens, and an international conference on Nuclear Weapons Abolition, Peace andDisarmament on May 1. As in 2005, we anticipate that the march will be led byhibakusha and Mayors for Peace, followed by Japanese and other international peace
activists.
I want to say a few words about time-bound frameworks. In his Prague speech
President Obama said that the goal of a world free of nuclear weapons ―will not bereached quickly – perhaps not in my lifetime.‖
However, governments set milestones all the time. Paradoxically, on May 8, during
the NPT Preparatory Committee meeting, President Obama announced the US goal by2020 of having the highest college graduation rates of any country on earth. And
during his recent campaign for health care legislation he told reporters ―if there are no
deadlines, nothing gets done in this town.‖ So why not set a goal of eliminating
nuclear weapons by 2020?
In a time of twin global [financial] and environmental crises and growing competition
over natural resources, the dangers of conflicts among nuclear-armed states are9increasing. We cannot afford to wait decades more for the elimination of nuclear
weapons. Nuclear disarmament cannot be contingent on solving all of the world’s
other problems, but we cannot avoid the connections either. That’s why theorganizations that have initiated the campaign in a run up to the 2010 NPT Review
Conference have adopted the following mission statement:―nuclear disarmament should serve as the leading edge of a global trend towards
demilitarization and redirection of resources to meet human needs and restore theenvironment.‖
With the worldwide surge of hope in response to the election of Barack Obama as US
President, the time is ripe for another massive stage of public opinion calling for theabolition of nuclear weapons. As Ban Ki-moon put it, nuclear disarmament ―will
restore hope for a more peaceful, secure and prosperous future. It deserves
everybody’s support.‖ Thank you.
Tsuchiyama
Ms. Cabasso, thank you very much. In Nagasaki, the Nagasaki Global Citizens'
Assembly for the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons has come together three times in thepast, with the attendance of many leaders from Japan and around the world. Now, weare planning to hold a fourth assembly in February next year. Mr. Tasaki will further
explain this point.
Noboru Tasaki, Secretary-General, Organizing Committee of the Nagasaki
Global Citizens’ Assembly for the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons
Good morning everybody. As introduced, I am Secretary-General of the Organizing
Committee for the Nagasaki Global Citizens’ Assembly for the Elimination of Nuclear
Weapons. As it is a very long name, I would like to refer to it as the Organizing
Committee.
This Committee is organized in Nagasaki with the collaboration of citizens, thePrefectural government, and the city government of Nagasaki, and is working toward
the elimination of nuclear weapons. As mentioned already, we have invitedinternational guests to the global assembly three times in the past four years. Next
February, we will hold the fourth assembly.
In Japan, at least, it is quite rare for there to be collaboration between the public sector
10and citizens, except maybe in the welfare and environmental protection fields. It isparticularly rare in the field of peace-related activities, but we do have this organizationof citizens and municipalities working together for almost 10 years in Nagasaki.
This committee was started from a citizens’ conference in Nagasaki for the abolition of
nuclear weapons that was established to convey the voices of Nagasaki citizens to theTokyo Forum for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament, which was organized in
1999 by the government of Japan to propose statements for the abolition of nuclear
weapons. We wanted to have voices from the citizens of Nagasaki reflected in theTokyo Forum. Mr. Tsuchiyama, who is a coordinator today, and the late Mr. Sadao
Kamata, the former director of the Nagasaki Peace Institute who unfortunately passed
away five years ago, took the initiative to establish this organization. The citizens’
conference organized various meetings and forums to gather citizens’ opinions andthose opinions became an input at the Tokyo Forum.
Based on these achievements, we requested in 2000 the collaboration with thePrefecture and the City of Nagasaki in inviting experts from around the world to hold aninternational conference. Upon our request, the Prefecture and the City of Nagasaki
along with other organization and citizens established the Organizing Committee for the
Nagasaki Global Citizens’ Assembly for the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons. The
major activity of this Organizing Committee is to hold international assemblies forpeace. But in order to do so, we needed funds, and we asked the Prefecture and theCity of Nagasaki for assistance. We have organized the Global Citizens’ Assembly
three times in the past.
This may be rare in Japan, but Nagasaki Prefecture and Nagasaki City say that they will
provide funds but will not intervene with the activities of the Organizing Committee.
So we can have such gatherings based on our own ideas without any interference fromthe prefectural or the city governments. In this way, we can organize cross-party
activities, and this is made possible because of trusting relationships between our
Organizing Committee and the prefectural and the city governments. This is how we
can get support from citizens and funds from Nagasaki Prefecture and Nagasaki City.
In 2006, we held the third Global Citizens’ Assembly and I prepared slides to show what
we have done, so I would like you to see the slide show.
[Slide1] This is from the Opening Assembly. We have 70 members in our
11Organizing Committee on a voluntary basis, and we conduct the Global Citizens’
Assembly every three years, inviting guests from Japan and around the world.
We would provide economy class tickets, and some other expenses, but we cannot
afford to pay honorarium. This is our logo, the balloon globe, also designed byour volunteer members.
[Slide 2] This is the 10,000 signature campaign by high school students, manyof them are seated on the balcony today. Are you members? They are the highschool students who participated in that 10,000 signature campaign. Thank youvery much for your support. (Applause)[Slide 3] This is a scene from the Workshop 2, "Nuclear-Weapon-Free-Zones
and Nuclear Umbrella"[Slide 4] This is a scene from the Workshop 3, "Nuclear Abolition andMultilateral Negotiations"[Slide 5] This is the Workshop 4, "Peace Education Forum"[Slide 6] This is the Workshop 5 "Forum for Youth"[Slide 7] Workshop 6, "Atomic Bomb Survivors Forum"That’s a part of our Global Citizens’ Assembly from last time. In February of next year,
we are going to hold a fourth assembly and I would like to talk to you about it later.
How do we collaborate between citizens and municipal government?

I think I canpoint out three important factors. The first reason is, ten years ago the nuclear weapon
abolition movement was stalled and citizens and hibakusha were irritated that abolition
was not going smoothly. The second reason is that NGOs and NGO activities arerecognized. Recently, the term non-governmental organizations or NGOs has comeinto use in Japan, which is almost equal to ―civil society‖ in the United Nations, and we
recognize them as such. The third reason is in Nagasaki, collaboration among peace
movement organizations has been promoted. Dr. Tatsuichiro Akizuki, who passed
away 20 years ago, called for the Nagasaki Peace Gathering, in which all the peaceorganizations and citizens were to assemble regardless of minor differences in theiropinions. Dr. Akizuki said let’s get together for a common goal. This means that wehave to overcome the small differences, and get together to show solidarity for thecommon goal of nuclear abolition. Responding to Dr. Akizuki’s call, various groups
and individuals gathered together beyond differences in organizations and daily
activities. That is why we were able to collaborate with each other to form ourOrganizing Committee 10 years ago, enabling the Global Citizens’ Assembly.

12

We are currently implementing two major activities: one is a petition drive to ask
President Obama to visit Nagasaki. Those who have not signed it yet, please sign it at
the NGO booth. The other is the fourth Assembly planned for February 6 to 8 of thenext year. We plan to have four themes. The main aim is in preparation for the NPT
Review Conference in next May, we would like to have citizens, municipalities andinternational society cooperate with each other and get together through the Global
Citizens’ Assembly to make every possible effort to convey the voice from the
A-bombed city to the UN. Thank you very much.
Tsuchiyama
Thank you Mr. Tasaki. I would like to invite Mr. Akira Kawasaki to give a
presentation about the International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation andDisarmament (ICNND), which is a joint initiative of the Australian and Japanese
governments, and is planning to issue a report by the end of this year. As the NGO
Advisor to the ICNND, Mr. Kawasaki is coordinating talks between NGOs and Japan’s
Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the process of drafting the report. We would like to hear
about that point. Mr. Kawasaki, please.
Akira Kawasaki, Co-Representative, Executive Committee, Peace Boat
Thank you very much. As introduced, my name is Akira Kawasaki. Before going
into the main theme of ICNND, the joint initiative of Australia and Japan, I would liketo talk about my experiences as the Co-Representative of the NGO Peace Boat, in thehope that my talk will be something of interest to the citizens and representatives from
Mayors for Peace member cities.
Peace Boat is a project that navigates around the world to nurture mutual trust andunderstanding. In the four months from September 2008 to January 2009, we traveledaround the world with 103 hibakusha. Those hibakusha shared their experiences in 23
countries, which was quite unprecedented. We were very impressed with theenthusiastic responses we received. At each port, a huge number of citizens and media
keenly listened to the storytelling of the hibakusha. For many of those hibakusha, thatwas the first overseas trips in which they shared their stories with people around theworld, and some of those who went there are here today.
I have carried out activities toward the abolition of nuclear weapons for many years, but
I strongly feel that listening to hibakusha testimonies is very, very important for the13

world today. It is not a mere storytelling of what happened in the past. Today, atevery corner of the world in their own circumstances, people are feeling that the worldis drastically changing. For example, the inauguration of President Obama in the US,
economic crisis and poverty, and countries thinking that they should not spend so muchmoney on the military. In this changing world, it is very important to listen to thevoices of hibakusha and it is taken as a real problem today.
During our cruise, 27 cities in 4 countries announced that they would join Mayors for
Peace and support the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol. We are happy that, through ouractivities, the number of member cities of Mayors for Peace and cities with interest in it
has been increasing. For these newly joined member cities of Mayors for Peace, there
is a huge potential as more opportunities are provided to learn deeper the reality of the
A-bombings and current status of nuclear weapons as many groups will approach themin various forms of international exchanges including NGOs like us visiting them byship. Through these exchanges, new members of Mayors for Peace should be given
direction on how we are to seek nuclear abolition.
This is the example of the Peace Boat, and I believe that Mayors for Peace needs toexpand exchanges with NGOs. In addition to these grass-root activities, we, citizens,should put pressure our governments to adopt a firm policy toward the elimination of
nuclear weapons. An example of this would be the bilateral collaboration between
Japan and Australia, International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation andDisarmament (ICNND), which was established in 2008. Prior to the 2010 NPT
Review Conference, this ICNND is preparing to announce a new appeal toward a
nuclear free world. This is a very good initiative, but if people keep silent, the issue
will be discussed only among a limited number of people, who are government officials
and experts supporting government policies. Then, they would end up missing avaluable chance, not even taking a step forward to solve the issue and conclude with areport just confirming the current situations. We have many many experiences likethat. It might happen at this ICNND.
So, this ICNND is headed by former foreign ministers of Australia and Japan, namely
Mr. Gareth Evans and Ms. Yoriko Kawaguchi. Under the two co-chairs, 15commissioners gathered.
According to their estimate, nuclear weapons abolition will take place in three stages:
14

at the first stage, during the Obama Administration, the US and Russia will agree toreduce their nuclear stockpiles to some extent. At the second stage by around 2025,
we will almost reach the goal of nuclear abolition, with a goal set to reduce nuclear
weapons to several hundreds or a thousand, or so.
On the other hand, Mayors for Peace is currently promoting the 2020 Vision Campaign
and the mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki announced in their Peace Declaration thatthe nuclear weapons should be abolished by the year 2020. In this sense, the plan of
the ICNND is rather slow and irritatingly too careful.
So we established a network of NGOs in Japan that would approach commissioners andexperts of the ICNND to expedite the process and aim for the true conclusion of a
nuclear weapons convention. I will hand out the materials about that NGO network
later.
Among the 15 commissioners of ICNND, there are commissioners from such countries
as India, Pakistan, Germany, Indonesia, Mexico and so on, in addition to the original
five nuclear weapon states. Honorable mayors participating here, I think you, Mayors
for Peace, should meet with these commissioners of ICNND from your countries, if
there is one, so that you, as a mayor who represents the citizens, could pressure thecommissioners on what kind of report they are compiling.
In view of expectations from citizens and NGOs, not only the ICNND meetings, butalso the UN General Assembly this fall and the NPT Review Conference next May canprovide good opportunities to capitalize on in terms of the elimination of nuclear
weapons. Please don’t take these events to be held somewhere far away from us. As
these conferences are scheduled, why don’t we start campaigning in each country sothat citizens and the mayors can meet ambassadors, government officials etc. to pressure
each government to take a concrete step forward. That kind of collaboration between
national level diplomacy and grass-roots diplomacy will be needed. Without suchinitiatives, we cannot make the NPT Review Conference next year as truly a good
opportunity.
We have something to do in Japan. While appealing to abolish nuclear weapons, Japanis actually quite dependent on nuclear deterrence. The Japanese government opposes
the idea of mitigating nuclear deterrence. This is very important and a serious problem
15

for the international community, and the commissioners of the ICNND and otherexperts are very concerned about this. So, Mayors for Peace can provide a good forum
for the mayors and citizens of Japan to discuss the issue of nuclear deterrence and tellthe Japanese government the international impact of the issue and ask them to change
their attitude.
In conclusion, both the mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki pointed out in their Peace
Declarations that we should spread the message of acquiring peace without the use ofwars and violence, based on the Japanese ―peace‖ constitution. This is a very
important message. This is the opposite of nuclear deterrence. To maintain peaceand security in the world, weapons and violence should not be used. I think general
citizens, mayors and others are the ones who can advocate that. We can create peace
without using weapons or violence. Let’s convey these voices to the nations andinternational communities. Thank you very much.
Tsuchiyama
Thank you very much Mr. Kawasaki. As he mentioned, the current Japanese
government clings to the policy of strengthening nuclear deterrence. They seem tostill dwell on the idea of a Cold War mindset that is violence versus violence. In
opposition, we can present an alternative idea of diplomacy in a more peaceful way,
which is the Northeast Asian Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone. As Ms. Keiko Nakamura ismaking efforts for this peace diplomacy day and night, I would like to ask her to present
her report on these activities. Ms. Nakamura, please.
Keiko Nakamura, Secretary General, Peace Depot
Good morning everyone, my name is Keiko Nakamura and I work at the Peace Depot.
As Mr. Tsuchiyama and Mr. Kawasaki mentioned, the Japanese agenda should be
elaborated further. I would like to explain the details of the challenges in Japan.
There are many issues, but at least what I can say is that currently, international
momentum has been aroused for a nuclear-free world, and indeed there is an
unprecedented momentum in that direction.
Under such circumstances, the issue of the nuclear umbrella or nuclear deterrence
extended to Japan and allied countries became a focal point with an unprecedentedly
intensive manner. Several days ago, Prime Minister Aso mentioned in Hiroshima that
it is necessary to have a nuclear umbrella in Japan. His words generated strong
16

criticism. There is a great debate on that issue.
The attitude of the Japanese government is fundamentally contradictory. Even though
we are saying we are the victims of nuclear weapons, we also say we support having a
nuclear umbrella. The Japanese government is not actively promoting a nuclear
weapons convention, and is not even willing to act for reducing the role of nuclear
weapons. For example, the Japanese government even opposed asking the UnitedStates to declare no first use of nuclear weapons. The Japanese government is still
heavily dependant on the nuclear umbrella. Under such circumstances, researchersand NGOs in the United States have been raising their voices one after another, saying
the Japanese government’s attitude is a problem.
So the Japanese government has adhered to a nuclear umbrella for a long time and evenin extreme cases called for nuclear armament. They only find security assurance innuclear umbrellas or nuclear armaments. In other words, they are dependent on
nuclear deterrence for national security and do not even think about another option.
However, there is a third way to independence from nuclear weapons, while stillassuring safety. This has been suggested by peace activists including Peace Depot for
more than a decade. NGOs, citizens, civil societies are calling for such a path tosecure safety without nuclear deterrence.
Mayor Taue was also referring to the establishment of a Northeast Asian Nuclear
Weapon-Free Zone, in his Peace Declaration announced yesterday at the ceremony.
There are five nuclear-weapon-free zones in the world, in which several countries
concluded a treaty to establish nuclear-weapon-free zones where production, possession
and deployment of nuclear weapons are prohibited. At the same time, so-called―modest security assurance,‖ or assurances of nuclear weapon states not to attack
non-nuclear countries within the nuclear-weapon-free zones is important point.
Instead of the threat by nuclear umbrella, nuclear-free zones can be described as―Non-nuclear umbrella‖ based on international laws. Many countries in the world aretrying to secure safety without nuclear weapons in this way.
A nuclear-weapon-free zone is not a final goal and it is not a panacea, however, it is arealistic first step we can take. To establish a nuclear-free zone is a first step to go
beyond and overcome the culture of threat backed by military power, a principle of the17Cold War.
For the Northeast Asian region, the Peace Depot has long advocated the ―three plus
three initiative,‖ meaning Japan, Korea, and North Korea have to establish a
nuclear-weapon-free zone together, and the US, China and Russia are to offer
assurances of their safety. That is the ―three plus three initiative‖ the Peace Depot is
proposing, which has been supported by various people as a realistic plan.
What is needed in Northeast Asia can be described as ―My safety is your safety.‖ Thiskind of common security assurance should be established. But currently we areplaying a zero-sum game—if one country became safe, that would impact the neighbors.
Because of these reasons, the six-party talks have difficulty in proceeding smoothly.
What we learned so far from history is, with distrust, unfairness, inequality, and threatby power, you cannot get the assurance of safety for a long time.
This idea of Northeast Asian Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone is gaining support fromvarious sectors. The mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are supporting this. I
assume many municipalities participating here are also members of the National
Council of Japan Nuclear Free Local Authorities, of which the Mayor of Nagasaki
serves as the President. This National Council has 245 city members in Japan as ofMarch 2009. This Council adopted a resolution to call on the Japanese government for
the establishment of a Northeast Asian Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone.
In March 2009, they published this booklet for citizens and municipalities in Japan
illustrated in easy-to-follow format about a Northeast Asian Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone.
You can find this booklet on the website of the National Council of Japan Nuclear Free
Local Authorities. I wanted to share this information with you that you can utilize it asa tool in promoting the Northeast Asian Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone in yourcommunities.
Nuclear free is in our mind, but we may tend to think that this is an issue of the nuclear
weapon states. However, it is not a problem only for the nuclear weapon states, butalso for Japan, as the A-bombed country, which has a moral responsibility to step
forward. A nuclear-weapon-free zone could be the first concrete step.
As my time is limited, I would like to present a specific proposal to you.
18

First,

representatives of municipalities and citizens of Japan who are here today, please workon the Japanese government to establish a Northeast Asian Nuclear-Free Zone. Maybe
you can work on by various means including adopting a resolution at your municipal
council, sending opinion statements, declarations from your region or collect signatures.
In this way, we can make an impact on the national government. We have to raise our
voices.
80% of Japanese cities have declared themselves to be nuclear free. A Northeast Asian
Nuclear-Free Zone can be a common topic and a way to show solidarity among thesecities. The National Council and NGOs like us would like to support that initiative.
For the mayors of other countries, please also support the Northeast Asian Nuclear-Free
Zone, and raise your voices. This initiative is not exclusive to Northeast Asia or Japan.
The five nuclear-free zones around the world consist of 118 countries. As Mayor
Akiba said, nuclear-weapon-free zones are actually the majority, and that is the
Obamajority. Together, we can create a wave to make a nuclear-free world. I would
like you to join us. I went over time by one minute, but I would like your support forthis. NGOs are also supporting this initiative. Thank you very much for yourattention.
Tsuchiyama
Thank you very much Ms. Nakamura for your presentation. Now I would like to callupon His Excellency Mr. Franz-Michael Skjold Mellbin, the Ambassador to Japan from
Denmark. Before he became the Ambassador to Japan, he worked in Kabul,
Afghanistan, so he has been very interested in peace issues. Recently, he climbed Mt.
Fuji wishing for peace. Ambassador Mellbin, please.
“Have a Nice Doomsday!”Franz-Michael Skjold Mellbin, Ambassador of Denmark to Japan
Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, it is an honor and privilege to be able tospeak to you today.
On August 6, at 8:15 exactly, I held one minute silence together with a group ofJapanese and international supporters at the summit of Mt. Fuji to commemorate thevictims of Hiroshima. It was the culmination of a symbolic march to protest nuclear
proliferation and to call for action. I thank each and every one who marched with me,19just as I thank all those who wrote to encourage and support the protest.
The slogan for our march was ―Have a nice Doomsday!‖ A symbolic and ironic
reference to the day, where we supposedly are going to be asked what we did – or did
not do – during our lives. I fear the answer when it comes to nuclear proliferation isthat we waited too long and we did too little.
The shadow of Pyongyang’s rocket over Japan was a rude awakening to all of us.
Preparing, testing and threatening to use nuclear weapons increasingly challenges world
peace. Sixty years after Hiroshima and Nagasaki, this is suddenly no longer about ourpast, but very much about our future.
Going nuclear seems to be a dream-come-true for every undemocratic regime. Theirgoal is to keep themselves in power by taking the rest of the world as their hostages.
By playing the card of destruction, their leaders feign legitimacy where there is only
corruption.
Thus, the very people of countries such as North Korea and Iran are the first victims of
nuclear ambition as they suffer immense humanitarian hardships from starvation todespotism.
It sounds comical when North Korea says, and I quote, ―will not miss the chance tomercilessly wipe out the United States.‖ But a government that lets its people starve isunlikely to joke about mass murder. And the fact that North Korea relentlessly has
pursued its nuclear weapons program underlines that it means business.
I personally have visited North Korea several times. If a poor – even desolate –country such as North Korea can develop a nuclear bomb, it is only a question of time
before every nation can.
And in fact, the knowledge, ability and opportunity to build nuclear weapons will
increase dramatically, as lots of new countries will build nuclear power plants in the
coming years. As a fact, I can mention that it will only take a highly developed
industrialized country today 30 days to build a successful nuclear device. 30 days. A
country like Denmark who has not prepared anything, 30 days.

20

We now desperately need to find new answers on how to stop nuclear proliferation.
Time is short, and it is not on our side.
Governments will have to play a leading role in making sure that the international
system is remodeled and made efficient. And fortunately, there are promising signs
that the world community recognizes that the NPT is a dinosaur that must evolve inorder to survive. Also the United States has recently taken several positive steps thatamongst others may pave the way for a comprehensive test ban treaty.
But after pointing a finger at government, we also need to look toward ourselves ascitizens. Here, it is essential that people all over the world say ―no‖ to nuclear
weapons. Because only self-restraint can ensure that nuclear proliferation does notcontinue. Thus, no government should feel comfortable or confident about pursuing a
nuclear weapons program, because it will not increase the safety of anyone, but instead
put all of us at risk.
A first step is to focus on the current root cause of nuclear ambition: the desire ofundemocratic regimes to cling to power regardless of any cost of its citizens.
Democracy, freedom and self-determination could easily prove our best protection
against nuclear proliferation.
Here, non-state actors such as municipalities, NGOs, and civilians can and should play
an important role by upholding, supporting and spreading democracy and freedom.
Freedom and democracy are not just ideals, but are reflected in the reality of our actions
every day. For some of us it is easy, for others more difficult or even a struggle. But
it is always important. And it is one area where civil actors often can and do achieve
more than governments.
When it comes to the peaceful use of nuclear energy, I also believe local municipalities,
NGOs and civilians can play an important role by critically examining and questioning
governments, industry and power companies about how nuclear fuel is used andhandled.
Finally, let me suggest that the nuclear industry, from the mining industry, over thecontractors to the operators, all have a responsibility and a strong self-interest in
engaging themselves actively in the question of how best to avoid building up new21

bomb materials. Again, municipalities, NGOs and civilians can play an important roleby critically challenging industry policies.
I know that many of you here today feel very strongly about total nuclear disarmament,
and rightly so. However, it is important to not lose sight of the fact that nuclear
disarmament cannot happen before we have an efficient way to stop nuclear
proliferation. It will have to be the first step on the way.
After the march to the summit of Mt. Fuji, I continued directly to Hiroshima the sameday, to meet with the Hidankyo (nuclear attack survivors) group there, and to participate
with them in the Lantern Ceremony. It was a strong reminder to me of why we should
never lose sight of the need to make sure that nuclear weapons are never used again.
So finally, let me quote a South African civil rights activist Steve Biko, who inspired me
to call for the protest march to the summit of Mt. Fuji:―Ask nothing, blame no one, do something.‖
Have a nice Doomsday!
Tsuchiyama
Thank you very much, Ambassador Mellbin. Next, I would like to invite Mr. SoranAli Hasan, Mayor of Khanaqin, Iraq. There are several participants from Iraq
accompanying him who are at the floor. So during his speech, he would like tointroduce the participants from Iraq. Now, Mayor Hasan, please.
Soran Ali Hasan, Mayor of Khanaqin, Iraq
Thank you Mr. Chairman. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. In the beginning ofmy speech, I would like to thank the honorable Mr. Akiba, Mayor of Hiroshima, and the
Honorable Mr. Taue, Mayor of Nagasaki, Vice President, Mr. Chairman, all executive
members of Mayors for Peace, and all attendants to let me have this speech. It is agreat honor for me to attend and have a speech in this conference, the 7th General
Conference of Mayors for Peace. Maybe my speech has no direct relation with thesubject of this section of meeting, but I would like you to know something about thecity I came from.
Khanaqin City has 168,000 population, located in the middle east of Iraq, has more than22

8 big fields of petrol, which was discovered by the United Kingdom in 1921, where dug
34 wells in one field named Nfutkhana. These wells have been neglected by Iraqi
government, because it is in Kurdish area.
For your notice, we have in Khanaqin more than 450 engineers, 200 doctors, 10,000
teachers, more than 50,000 persons who get bachelor’s degree in different fields, morethan 1,000 people with master and doctor degrees. Also we have good soil for
agriculture and industry.
Also I would like you to know something about other cities like Qaladiza, Dokan andGarmiyan State, which you may have no idea about them. I feel proud when I speak
on behalf of those cities, which I mentioned above. Two of their mayors are here rightnow, Mr. Dalawer Qabad, Mayor of Qaladiza and Mr. Fraidoon Hama Ameen, Mayor of
Dokan. We came to know about Mayors for Peace from Mr. Khder Kareem, Mayor of
Halabja. Thankfully, he helped us to be a member in such great organization.
We are Kurdish people, citizens of Kurdistan region of Iraq. We have our own
language, culture, and history. We have been known through history as folks who likepeace and assist all democratic and freedom movement. Many times throughout thehistory, we have faced genocide and attacked by weapons of mass destruction by theseries of Iraqi governments who ruled Iraq since 1921, especially by Baath regime andSaddam’s regime from 1968 till 2003. And the effects are left on us till now. They
used all kinds of terror and weapons against us like genocide, replacement, burial
ground, and chemical weapons, as follows.
1. Qaladiza CityIn 1893, the town was burned by soldiers of the Ottoman Empire. In 1922, the town
was bombarded and damaged by the English fighter planes. In 1961 the town was
bombarded by the Iraqi armies.
In 1974, the town was again bombarded by illegal weapons ―napalm‖ by the Iraqi
regime and more than 350 civilians were killed and injured.
In 1978, all the villages of Qaladiza City were destroyed and all the villagers weredisplaced and deported by Iraqi regime.

23

In 1988, Qaladiza town was completely damaged and all the buildings were exploded
by TNT and all the population were deported for servitude. Even now some civilians
suffer the effect of this great tragedy.
2. Khanaqin CityIn 1955, Khanaqin was the biggest city in Iraq and it was planned to be a state but theyneglected that because it was a Kurdish city. Therefore they cut a large area from
Khanaqin for this purpose.
In 1974, big part of Khanaqin and more than 30 villages were exploded and destroyed
their furniture by Iraqi regime and all people, more than 4,000 families, were displacedand deported into camps in south and middle-west of Iraq without any goods orfurniture.
In 1991, the city was attacked by Iraqi army and more than 200 Khanaqin young people
were killed by shot and buried in dark place.
In 1992, 500 families were displaced and deported into camps in south and middle-westof Iraq.
In 1998, 700 families were displaced and deported into camps in south and middle-westof Iraq.
Through the displacements, the Iraqi government brought Arab people to Khanaqin inorder to change the demography of the city. And it is a big inequity against Khanaqin,
Kurdistan and its citizens.
3. Dokan CityIn 1988, the whole city was damaged by Iraqi army and part of the landmark damages isstill there. 100 families were displaced and deported to camps near Sulaimaniya State.
In the same year, all Dokan’s villages were destroyed and exploded by TNT and bombs.
Most of families were escaped and the others were captured by Iraqi army. They were
killed and buried in the desert in south of Iraq, in Anfal Operations.
In 2008, in a desert near Najaf City they found remains of 258 people of Dokan who
were captured in 1988 by Iraqi army. The government of Kurdistan region brought24

back those remains and buried them in Dokan graveyard, made a new graveyard to themand named Doli Jafayaties Anfal Graveyard with monument for them.
4. Garmiyan State
This state was terribly attacked by Iraqi Army in 1988 where more than 182,000 people
were captured and displaced into the desert in south of Iraq, where they have been killed
and buried. Until now, we do not know where they were buried exactly. Nobody
talks about this genocide. Do you estimate this huge number? 182,000 old men,
women and children are killed. 8,000 villages were damaged also. Also in Doli
Balisan, Shekh, Askar, Goptapa were attacked by chemical weapons.
Lastly, you know about Halabja and what happened there. Till when we will beconsidered second degree people? Don’t we have rights to live in peace on thisplanet? Aren’t we human beings? I will let you answer these questions.
Dears, we came here to declare to you that all citizens in Kurdistan, especially Khanaqin
citizens assist you in your campaign, because we are the nation who faced genocide andbombarded by illegal weapons of mass destruction, so we recognize the importance of
this association and feel tired of destruction.
After 2003, after the Operation of Iraqi Freedom, Mr. Jalal Talabani, President of
Republic of Iraq and Mr. Masoud Barzani, President of Kurdistan region have agreed on
rules to make peace in Iraq and approaching all religions, nations and political forces
together. All Iraqi citizens and politicians call Mr. Jalal Talabani, a peace maker.
That is referring to that Kurdish people love peace and want to live together with othernations in peace.
Dear NGOs, thank you for your being here and thank you for listening to me. I hopethat I didn’t bother you. There are several NGOs working in Kurdistan, like Child
Care, Mercy Corps, Red Cross and US AID. They are working and offering good
assistance to Iraqi people but we need more NGOs to work in Iraq, especially in
Kurdistan. And I assure you that Kurdistan is safer place in Iraq. We need yourassistance to rebuild Kurdistan society and underground services.
Here now I would like to demand several things from you and all participants,
ambassadors and mayors to help Kurdistan and Iraq:
25

1. Demand your government to send companies to have investment in Kurdistan.
2. Demand your government to erase their loans on Iraq to help it rebuild and grow.
3. Help Iraq to break the blockage put by FIFA and International Olympic Union
against Iraqi sports since 1990 and allow Iraqi national teams to play their gamesin Kurdistan of Iraq.
Lastly, I would like to thank Ms. Nazanin Muhammad Waso, Minister for
Municipalities of Kurdistan, Mr. Khasro Qamar Ahmad Jingrader, Municipality of
Sulaimaniya, Kurdistan, for helping us to get to this conference. Thank you very muchfor listening. Thank you.
Tsuchiyama
Thank you very much, Mr. Hassan. Well, I discussed the time schedule with Mr.
Umebayashi. We would like to change the way we precede the program. We would
like to take 10 minutes break from now. Afterward, we would like to invite 10
speakers. After their presentations, we would like to receive your questions to theseven panelists. Let us break for coffee.
[Break]Moderator: Hiromichi Umebayashi, Special Advisor, Peace Depot
Now we would like to start the second half. My name is Hiromichi Umabayashi, and I
will be a moderator for the second half of this session. I am a special advisor to Peace
Depot Japan. I would like to say something about Peace Depot. In seeking a nuclear
free world, bipartisan efforts are required, in which many people are engaged in
activities. We also need to be united, based on accurate information shared by all.
Especially in Japan, we need to provide information in Japanese that can be shared by
all in Japan. Peace Depot issues such information twice a month, with ―Nuclear
Weapon and Nuclear Test Monitor.‖ For example, when four American senior officials
wrote an article on ―A World Free of Nuclear Weapons‖ in the Wall Street Journal, we
translated the full article into Japanese and distributed it to Japanese people as soon as
possible.
In the second half of this session, we would like to hear presentations registered inadvance. There are already 11 of them, so I would like to limit the time to 5 minutes
for each, and ask them to do the presentation while seated. We will pass around the26wireless microphone.
The presenters are:
Mr. Michel Cibot, General Manager, City of Malakoff; Association Française desCommunes, Départements et Régions pour la Paix (AFCDRP), France;
Mr. Yukio Isobe, Director, from the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (Rengo);
Ms. Yoshiha Arichi, Coordinator, Nuclear Abolition Network Kyoto;
Mr. Tomihisa Taue, Mayor of Nagasaki; President of National Council of Japan
Nuclear Free Local Authorities;
Mr. Masayoshi Naito, Coordinator, Citizens’ Network for Nuclear WeaponsAbolition;
Mr. Toshihiro Inoue, Deputy Director, Japan Congress against Atomic andHydrogen Bombs (Gensuikin);
Mr. Yasunari Fujimoto, Deputy Secretary General, Japan Congress against Atomic
and Hydrogen Bombs (Gensuikin);
Mr. Philip Jennings, General Secretary, UNI Global Union, Switzerland;
Mr. Rafael de la Rubia, President of World without Wars and without Violence;
Mr. Hiroyuki Nakata, Vice Mayor of Sapporo, Japan, and
Ms. Tomoko Watanabe, Executive Director of ANT-Hiroshima.
After that, we would like to have a question and answer session. We would like to ask
the speakers and those who have questions to try to make your speech or question
related to what have been discussed during the first half of the session. First, I would
like to invite Mr. Michel Cibot.
Michel Cibot, General Manager, City of Malakoff; Association Française desCommunes, Départements et Régions pour la Paix (AFCDRP), France
Thank you very much for giving me a chance to speak. I would like to be very brief.
It is about how cities and NGOs are working in France. It is very hard to get people
together as Mr. Pol D’Huyvetter said, but it is very important to get as many people aspossible. France is a nuclear weapon state and many political parties support
possessing nuclear weapons. It is a special situation in France, and we have to takethat into account.
In 1985, several cities from France first participated in Mayors for Peace. As it was
better to have as many cities as possible participating, we were carrying out a campaign
27

to increase the number of member cities. In this complicated world, we need to beclose to citizens. As mayors are responsible in providing services to citizens, they arevery close to ordinary citizens. We can utilize such positions, and closely cooperatewith local citizens. In this way, mayors can make special contributions.
Each city has local NGOs with their own rules and goals, and mayors can play acomplimentary role connecting with NGOs. Our AFCDRP is setting the rules tofacilitate collaboration between cities and NGOs.
There is also the financial concern. Sometimes the national government provides
subsidies to municipalities, which may weaken the power of municipalities, so weshould be careful about that.
Now that we are facing nuclear threat, I hope you will read the books written by aphilosopher Gunther Anders. He says: human beings are good at destroying
everything, and we have to wonder what the human wisdom is now.
Umebayashi
Thank you very much. We would like to ask each presenter to introduce theirorganization first. Next, Mr. Isobe from the Japanese Trade Union Confederation(Rengo).
Yukio Isobe, Director, Solidarity Activities Division,
Japanese Trade Union Confederation (Rengo)
I am from the Headquarters of Rengo, the Japanese Trade Union Confederation. I am
in charge of peace-related activities. Rengo is the largest labor union center in Japan
with 6.75 million members. Thank you very much for giving me an opportunity to
express opinion today.
In order to make the 2010 NPT Review Conference successful, Rengo is promoting
joint activities with two other major peace NGOs, the Japan Congress Against A- and
H- Bombs (Gensuikin), and the National Council for Peace and Against Nuclear
Weapons (Kakkin), to arouse public awareness in Japan and the world. The threepeace groups organized a joint peace assembly in Hiroshima on August 4 and 7,000
people attended, and 4,000 people attended another peace assembly in Nagasaki on
August 7. Together, we have just appealed for strengthening activities for abolition of
nuclear weapons and support for the A-bomb survivors, and realization for lasting world28

peace.
We also collaborate with Mayors for Peace. Rengo representatives had a discussion
with President, Mayor Akiba, and Vice President, Mayor Taue, and expressed our
support for the 2020 Vision Campaign, aiming to abolish nuclear weapons by the year
2020. We are also undertaking a nationwide petition drive seeking nuclear abolition,
targeting to collect 10 million signatures. We incorporated the idea of 2020 Vision
Campaign into the petition form.
We also cooperate with other campaign activities including fund-raising efforts to
support the 2020 Vision Campaign, and Orizuru Night Game (paper crane baseballgame) at Hiroshima Mazda Stadium to promote the abolition of nuclear weapons.
In order to attract more people’s participation, and to promote a Northeast Asian
Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone, as a representative from Peace Depot mentioned earlier, thethree peace groups are requesting to adopt statements and resolutions at municipal
councils, to call for the Japanese government actively work in diplomacy for nuclear
disarmament and non-proliferation. This initiative started last June and we are making
efforts to ask municipal councils to promote their efforts for peace during the regularmunicipal council session in this coming autumn. In addition, we are encouraging
municipalities to join Mayors for Peace.
As for international activities, we do belong to the International Trade Union
Confederation (ITUC), and through the ITUC, we are trying to collaborate with other
cities and trade unions in the world. Through the Internet, we are collecting signaturesfrom the world to be combined with the 10 million signature campaign in Japan tosubmit it to the UN at the NPT Review Conference in May 2010. ―No more
Hiroshima, no more Nagasaki, no more hibakusha‖ is a heartfelt cry of Japanesecitizens who are wishing for a peaceful world without nuclear weapons. As therepresentative of labor unions, we are committed to make solidarity with you and otherpeace-related organizations to continue our efforts for abolition of nuclear weapons andestablishing lasting world peace. Thank you very much.
Umebayashi
Thank you for your talk.
Network Kyoto.

Next is Ms. Yoshiha Arichi, representing Nuclear Abolition

29

Yoshiha Arichi, Coordinator, Nuclear Abolition Network Kyoto
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you very much for giving me an
opportunity to speak. This morning, I will make a presentation on the network in
Kyoto for abolition of nuclear weapons. I am a coordinator for this network.
This network is a loose association of organizations based in Kyoto that are regularly
conducting international activities toward elimination of nuclear weapons, aiming tomeet monthly to exchange information among these organizations. The following
organizations are participating in this network:
Kyoto Branches of the IPPNW, the Japan Scientists' Association and the Japan
Council Against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs (Gensuikyo); Kyoto businessmen’sgroup against nuclear weapons (Hankaku Kyoto Sangyojin no Kai), peace councilof religious people in Kyoto (Kyoto Shukyosha Heiwa Kyogikai), and Kyoto
A-bomb survivor’s forum (Kyoto Gensuibaku Hisaisha Kondankai).
Let me introduce our activities. We invited Mr. Steve Leeper, Chairman of theHiroshima Peace Culture Foundation, to our meeting in August last year and he talked
about the 2020 Vision Campaign. We also had a small meeting with Mr. Pol
D’Huyvetter from the International Secretariat of 2020 Vision Campaign, who visited us
at the end of last summer, and discussed how we can pass the letter from Mayor Akiba
to our mayors. In last December, we invited Mr. Masato Honda, Executive Director of
the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation as a lecturer and organized a study meeting on
the 2020 Vision Campaign, informing broadly to various organizations in Kyoto that are
involved in the movement for the abolition of nuclear weapons.
So we had many meetings with Mayors for Peace, and on June 18, we established anorganizing committee to realize a lecture meeting with Mayor Akiba. We asked Dr.
Ryuro Takagi, IPPNW Kyoto, to chair the organizing committee, and the Kyoto Medical
Practitioners Association provided an office for us.
This organizing committee has two goals. One is to foster a campaign in Kyoto for the
NPT Review Conference in May 2010. The other is that, when Mayor Akiba visits
Kyoto for the lecture, we would like to invite all mayors in Kyoto Prefecture to come tothe lecture meeting and join Mayors for Peace, and offer them an opportunity to
exchange ideas on their peace policies or efforts for abolition of nuclear weapons.
30

In Kyoto Prefecture, there are various peace groups, and each of them supports different
political parties. It was very difficult to coordinate those groups as some groups
actually support opposite candidates against incumbent mayor of the city when it comesto the mayoral election. However, regardless of such differences, it was verysignificant that a variety of NGOs participated in the committee meeting to realize thelecture of Mayor Akiba. At the lecture meeting, we, citizens and NGOs would like toencourage and applaud the mayors of cities of Kyoto, Uji, Nagaokakyo, Muko,
Oyamazaki, and Kyo-Tango, who recently joined Mayors for Peace and started
activities for peace and abolition of nuclear weapons.
We have received confirmation from Mayor Akiba that he would come to Kyoto in theevening of November 25 for the lecture. So we booked the Silk Hall in Kawaramachi,
most lively downtown in Kyoto for the venue.
In preparation for the lecture on November 25, we will visit municipalities to increase
the number of member cities of Mayors for Peace. When we visit each city hall, we
would like to raise this question, ―Mayors are to protect welfare and health of thecitizens. Don’t you think it is also the mayors’ job to protect your citizens from
nuclear attacks?‖
Actually Kyoto was one of the targets of the A-bombing, along with Hiroshima andNagasaki. But thanks to the consideration for the cultural assets and tradition we had,
Kyoto was luckily delisted from the targets and no A-bomb was dropped. Because ofthis, it is important for Kyoto people to participate in the activities against nuclear
weapons. As mayors are closer to citizens, it will be very significant if mayors will
work against nuclear weapons as well as NGOs. Now, it is important for citizens andNGOs to encourage and support our own mayors who are acting for the abolition of
nuclear weapons, regardless of your political stance. Thank you for your kindattention.
Umebayashi
Thank you very much.

Mayor Taue, can I ask for your comment?

Tomihisa Taue, Mayor of Nagasaki;
President of the National Council of Japan Nuclear Free Local Authorities
31

I am Tomihisa Taue, Mayor of Nagasaki. I also serve as a Vice President of Mayors
for Peace, but now, as Ms. Keiko Nakamura introduced earlier, let me speak as the
President of the National Council of Japan Nuclear Free Local Authorities (NCJNFLA).
About 1,500 municipalities, which are about 81% of all 1,800 plus municipalities inJapan, have declared to be nuclear-free local authorities. Among them, about 250
municipalities are members of the NCJNFLA. There are various activities going on,
but I think there are three vectors. One vector directs toward citizens, trying todisseminate information to the citizens, the second vector directs toward national
governments and the world including nuclear weapon states, trying to act on them, andthe third vector directs toward colleagues, trying to expand further in collaboration withlike-minded cities and municipalities as well as NGOs.
Among the three vectors, NCJNFLA is now focusing on the first vector directing
toward citizens. It is truly necessary to reach out to cooperate with citizens. One
example of our activities is tree planting. We send out A-bombed trees such as
Chinese parasol tree (Aogiri) or camphor tree upon request to be planted in theircommunities.
Another example is a program called ―parents-children reporters‖ to invite family withchildren to come to Nagasaki around August 9 and let them see and experience thesituation here. They also meet and interview various people and write a newspaper.
This year is the second time, and we invited nine families from all over Japan. And
the day before yesterday, a group of them participated in the press conference ofPresident d’Escoto of the UN General Assembly, and they directly asked somequestions to President d’Escoto. He seemed to be surprised, but responded politely
and took a commemorative photo with them. The ―parents-children reporters‖ would
make their own newspapers and bring it back to their home. Last year, I heard thatonce they went back, they talked about their experiences through local radio program orat their school, etc. Through these activities, we are trying to disseminate information
on nuclear-free campaign to each town in Japan.
Starting from this year, we created a unit of the A-bomb photo poster exhibition, which
can be easily lent out to those who wishing to organize such exhibition, for example, attheir community hall. Now we are preparing for another type of unit good for lending
our sister cities overseas. In this way, we can increase the knowledge about the32

A-bombing among people in Japan and in our sister cities in the world.
The stagnation in nuclear abolition would be based on the insufficient knowledge andinformation about what nuclear weapons would bring about and the terrible damage
nuclear weapons could inflict on people. To cope with this situation, the NCJNFLA
would like to increase citizens’ awareness through these activities.
In regards to the vector of expanding our colleagues, we are calling for other cities tojoin us. At the same time, we are collaborating with Mr. Umebayashi and Ms.
Nakamura of Peace Depot, to complement our capacity in the field of research andcollecting information. I think this kind of collaboration between cities and NGOs isvery important, as it can bring synergy effects. Working together, we can fully utilize
each other’s strengths and get much better outcome than working alone. We should bealways happy to work together if that would make our activities more effective.
In terms of the other vector directing toward national governments, we have been
sending letters of protest to the country that conducted nuclear tests, and sending ourmembers to attend every NPT Review Conference. The NCJNFLA should strengthensuch types of activities. Also we need to further organize the way to cooperate with
Mayors for Peace.
The history of nuclear weapons started from the development of A-bomb by the US.
The US finished the A-bomb development ahead of Germany, in fear of they might use
it first. After that, more nations came to possess nuclear weapons and the numbers innuclear arsenals have also increased. That has brought a sort of negative spiral effect,
increasing threats derived from distrust of each other. On the other hand, ourcollaboration among local authorities, citizens and NGOs could generate a positive
spiral effect, increasing trust of each other.
We know that there are many NGOs, medical doctors’ associations and citizens groups
engaged in various activities. We would like to work with you, whenever we cancollaborate. By strengthening the collaboration with you, we can further promote ouractivities. As Mr. Tasaki, Secretary-General of the Organizing Committee of theNagasaki Global Citizens’ Assembly quoted from Dr. Tatsuichiro Akizuki’s word, weneed to overcome small differences and get together. Based on that idea, we canalways focus on our common goal, not on small differences. I believe Dr. Akizuki’s
33

words show the direction where we, various sectors in Nagasaki, should move forward.
Thank you very much.
Umebayashi
Thank you very much. Now I would like to call Mr. Masayoshi Naito, representing
the Citizens’ Network for Nuclear Weapons Abolition.
Masayoshi Naito, Coordinator, Citizens’ Network for Nuclear Weapons Abolition
Thank you very much for the opportunity to speak. My name is Masayoshi Naito.
My profession is a lawyer. I am responsible for the liaison activities as the
Coordinator for the Citizen’s Network for Nuclear Weapons Abolition. This is a rather
loose network embracing many different groups in Tokyo, including Peace Depot, Peace
Boat, the Japan Congress Against A- and H-Bombs (Gensuikin), the Japan Council
Against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs (Gensuikyo), the Japan Confederation of A- and
H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo) and Japan Association of Lawyers
Against Nuclear Arms (JALANA) in which I belong. These groups worked on the
Nagasaki Global Citizens’ Assembly for the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons and theTokyo Forum for Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament, along with like-mindedgroups in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Today, I would like to talk about two points: the first point is that President Obama
delivered a great speech in Prague, but we feel that Japan could be the biggest obstacle
against him to change the US nuclear policy. The other point is, to overcome thissituation, Japan can play an important role in talking to the world about human tragedies
caused by nuclear weapons.
Let me elaborate the first point. President Obama’s speech was a turning point forhuman history, and we must make it so. However, it is said that Japan is the biggest
obstacle against the progress in changing the US nuclear policy. Now, until December,the Nuclear Posture Review, or fundamental policy making on nuclear weapons in theUS, is ongoing. In this process, there is an argument that the role of nuclear weapons
should be reduced, and more specifically, they should not be used unless first attacked
by nuclear weapons. In other word, the US would be the first country to implement a
so-called ―no-first-use‖ policy.
However, Japanese government is against the US implementation of such policy.
34

Even

if nuclear weapons are not used, there is a possibility that North Korea, China, or others
might use chemical, biological, or conventional weapons against Japan. In thatsituation, the Japanese government argues for the need of nuclear umbrella, without theoption of nuclear counter attacks, Japan’s security cannot be guaranteed. Thus
Japanese government is against the US ―no-first-use‖ policy.
However, we still believe that nuclear weapons should not be used against conventional
weapon attacks. If we admit using nuclear weapons against non-nuclear attacks, wecannot say to others not to possess nuclear weapons. I understand your stance fornuclear issue would differ, but at least, as the A-bombed country, Japan should not stopthe ―no-first-use‖ policy.
No use of nuclear weapons unless first attacked by nuclear weapons is the modest
security assurance and starting point of the nuclear-weapon-free zones. For example,
if China should declare ―no-first-use‖ and US would declare the same, they could
conclude an agreement for ―no-first-use‖ with each other. Then, theoretically there
will be no nuclear attack between China and the US. I think it is absolutely irrationalthat Japan opposes that idea of the ―no-first-use‖ policy.
However, ―no-first-use‖ is just a starting point. Nuclear-weapon-free zones are also a
start for the total elimination of nuclear weapons. Important thing is to let people
know what will happen to human beings if attacked by nuclear weapons.
Here comes the second point. As a lawyer, I have had many occasions for
consultations with hibakusha over the past 30 years. They are still suffering fromvarious things. Some would vomit whenever they talk about or remember the A-bomb
experience, others are still fearful of lights, even when turning on ordinary electric
lights at home. Others cannot go out of the room except for to the restroom andalways close the door of the room. Many of them felt fearful of giving birth tochildren, and gave up their marriage or married with serious anxieties. There are manyother symptoms and many hibakusha are still suffering.
As a lawyer, I serve as a procedural attorney advocating the hibakusha in the collective
lawsuits against the Japanese government seeking to officially recognize them assufferers of A-bomb diseases, which continued on for many years. Recently, we havecome to a certain agreement. The plaintiff of the Collective Lawsuit for the35

Recognition of Atomic-bomb Diseases are said to be 306 A-bomb survivors, but please
note that still there are so many hibakusha who have not joined the lawsuit. To
become a plaintiff is a very big deal for those hibakusha. There have been a sort ofdiscrimination against patients of A-bomb related diseases and it is a heavyweightdecision for a hibakusha to talk about it.
Let me introduce to you some findings that have become clear through the process of
the Collective Lawsuit for the Recognition of A-bomb Diseases. The Japanese
government only designates cancer and leukemia that developed later for those who
were exposed directly to the A-bombing at close range as the effect of radiation.
However, through the process of the lawsuit, it turned out that whole city wasradioactively contaminated by the residual radioactive substances and many of those
who stayed there had been continuously exposed to a huge amount of radiation, at least
until a big typhoon washed out those radioactive substances a month later. Anotherfact found through the lawsuit process is that radiation can cause many other symptoms
before developing into cancer, such as fatigue, susceptibility to colds or bleeding. So
cancer is not suddenly developed. The radioactive exposure can cause not only cancer
and leukemia, but also heart attack and other various diseases. We have been asking
the Japanese government to change the policy and recognize many other symptoms anddiseases as the effect of the A-bombings.
Please remember that there are many hibakusha who cannot talk about their own
symptoms and sufferings, and there are various facts that have been revealed throughthe process of the Collective Lawsuit for the Recognition of Atomic-bomb Diseases. I
ask you to think about the issue of nuclear weapons based on the facts and suffering of
the survivors.
I am not sure whether or not the Japanese government is aware of these facts, but they
depend on the nuclear umbrella. We must change the Japanese government’s policy.
Today, we have representatives from the National Council of Japan Nuclear Free Local
Authorities, and I know your stance might differ, but I hope you will support us ingetting together and appealing to the national government to change their policies.
Thank you very much.
Umebayashi
Thank you very much.

Now I would like to invite Mr. Toshihiro Inoue from the Japan36

Congress Against A- and H- Bombs.
Toshihiro Inoue, Deputy Director
Japan Congress Against A- and H- Bombs (Gensuikin)
As introduced, my name is Toshihiro Inoue. I am serving as Deputy Director of theJapan Congress against A- and H- Bombs. Thank you for giving me this opportunity
to speak.
Let me introduce you to our organization. Under the principle of ―Humankind andNuclear Technology Cannot Coexist,‖ we are trying to abolish nuclear weapons and totry to support the hibakusha as well as to make solidarity with them.
working on stopping nuclear power generation.

We are also

From August 4 to 9, we organized the World Congress Against A- and H- Bombs in
Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We are also collaborating with Japanese Trade Union
Confederation (JTUC-Rengo), Mr. Isobe’s organization, as well as National Council for
Peace and Against Nuclear Weapons (Kakkin), to collect 10 million signatures for theabolition of nuclear weapons and co-organized Peace Conventions in Hiroshima andNagasaki.
As Ms. Nakamura mentioned earlier, we are also promoting the Northeast Asian
Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone. I would like to introduce what kind of activities we aretaking for this purpose.
With President Obama’s words, the trend of nuclear abolition shifted. Yet in Northeast
Asia with North Korea and South Korea, we still find a Cold War situation continuing.
In order to make North Korea, South Korea and Japan a nuclear-free zone, the Peace
Depot initiated the idea of ―three plus three,‖ which was started in 1990s by Mr.
Umebayashi and others, and our organization has been actively supporting it since
1990s and discussed in our world congress.
Now, discussions on this idea have almost been finalized, and we are entering into thephase of concrete actions. To change the idea into actions, it is important for us topromote such activities to make nuclear-weapon-free zones integrated into the current
trend for nuclear disarmament.

37

At the end of this month, we have general election and it could lead to regime change.
According to the manifestos of several political parties, all the opposition parties’
manifestoes indicated that they support for the nuclear-weapon-free zones, including the
Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP). According
to today’s newspaper, Mr. Hatoyama of the DPJ spoke on legislation of the Three
Non-Nuclear Principles. Under such momentum, realization of the Northeast Asian
Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone is desperately wanted.
However, the current Japanese administration is largely depending on the nuclear
umbrella, with the contradictory policy of calling for nuclear abolition while depending
on nuclear umbrella, and not really supporting the ―no first use‖ policy. In order tomake a Northeast Asian Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone, Japan has to change and at thesame time it needs to work on its neighbors. This is because we cannot establish sucha zone without the cooperation of our neighbors, including North Korea. Japan should
first make efforts to normalize diplomatic relations with North Korea to make thisregion nuclear free.
Japan inflicted a lot of sufferings on so many Asian people during the World War II. In
regards to the issue of compensation after the World War II, we have not reallycompleted the compensation for Asian people yet, even for South Koreans. For North
Korean, no compensation was given at all. In regards to the hibakusha in North Korea,
there are 382 of them right now, but 64 years ago, the number was 1,911. Even though
they are the same hibakusha, they have not received any assistance or compensation.
So, they are discriminated against. Even though it was due to lack of diplomatic
relations between the two countries and because of complicated historical background,hibakusha assistance and compensation policy has to be changed based on ahumanitarian standpoint and should be extended for North Korean hibakusha. By
fulfilling Japan’s compensation for those war victims, mutual trust could be built and it
may lead to the successful establishment of the Northeast Asian Nuclear Weapon-Free
Zone.
Gensuikin will work on the promotion of the Northeast Asian Nuclear Weapon-Free
Zone, as well as legislation of the Three Non-Nuclear Principles, war compensation andassistance for North Korean hibakusha and restoration of diplomatic relations between
Japan and North Korea. We will continue to deal with these issues comprehensively torealize the Northeast Asian Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone.
38

Finally, let me mention the issue of nuclear proliferation. There are about 44 tons ofplutonium in Japan, of which more than 30 tons are fissionable plutonium. In otherwords, Japan has more than 30 tons of plutonium that can be used to make nuclear
weapons. Once Rokkasho nuclear fuel reprocessing plant in northern Japan is inoperation, more and more plutonium will be generated. In view of nuclear
proliferation as well as in order to make Japan nuclear free, the plutonium issue alongwith nuclear fuel reprocessing issue needs to be addressed further. I would like toconclude my talk by raising this point. Thank you very much.
Umebayashi
Thank you very much. From the same organization, to talk about a different topic, Mr.
Yasunari Fujimoto of the Japan Congress Against A- and H-Bombs, please.
Yasunari Fujimoto, Deputy Secretary General,
Japan Congress against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs (Gensuikin)
Thank you for your kind introduction. I am Yasunari Fujimoto from the Japan
Congress Against A- and H-bombs (Gensuikin), and also from the Forum for Peace,
Human Rights and Environment, a network in which Gensuikin affiliate as a member.
Upon this occasion of the 7th General Conference of Mayors for Peace, I would like totalk about our activities in support of the 2020 Vision Campaign and related efforts ofMayors for Peace, as well as our own peace building efforts, representing the Forum for
Peace, Human Rights and Environment.
September 25, last year, the US Navy nuclear-powered aircraft carrier George
Washington arrived at the Yokosuka Port, where I live. This is due to the retirement of
the conventionally powered aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. We are heavily concerned
about the safety of that nuclear carrier, as well as the deployment of the nuclear carrier
would strengthen the attack capability of Task Force of the US Navy’s Seventh Fleet.
The carriers could be deployed to the East China Sea, Sea of Japan, up to Persian Gulfin the Middle-East, so I think it is a big problem.
Washington is starting military reorganization worldwide. 70% of all US bases inJapan are located in Okinawa. There is an argument to move some of the US Marine
Corps in Okinawa to Guam. Originally, the idea of transferring them to Guam wasconsidered to solve the problem of US bases in Okinawa and minimize the burden on
39

Okinawa. However, as conventional Futenma US Marine Corps Air Station Base willbe transferred to Henoko, another area in Okinawa, a new base is planned to beconstructed there and the burden on Okinawa will not be alleviated. In addition, theUS Army 1st Corps opened its new headquarters in Camp Zama, Kanagawa Prefecturenear Tokyo. At the same time, the Central Readiness Forces’ headquarters of the Japan
Ground Self-Defense Forces relocated to Camp Zama. The direction for coalition of
the US-Japan military affairs has been shown clearly through this process, and we
started to see strengthening military expansion.
We, citizens and the Forum for Peace, oppose these military activities.

In Yokosuka

City, we sought a referendum on citizens’ idea on deployment of the nuclear-powered
aircraft carrier and questioning security and safety of such carrier. 15,000 people fromthe Forum for Peace and Gensuikin gathered in Yokosuka and demonstrated to oppose
the deployment of nuclear carrier, but our voices were rejected by the City Council andthe Mayor of Yokosuka, who support the deployment.
Despite of the citizens’ movements opposing it, these protests were neglected by thenational governments and the US and Japanese governments are building-up militaryforces in East Asia, and it stimulated North Korea, which cannot establish peaceful andfriendly relationships with other countries, and became one of the causes for them tolaunch missiles and conduct nuclear tests. In Japan, such attitude of North Korea iswidely trumpeted as a huge militaristic threat to Japan. It caused controversy on
strengthening nuclear deterrence and expanding nuclear umbrella, even an option to
attack their bases.
We oppose the nuclear umbrella. We think it is necessary to establish national
relationships with North Korea. We organized the National Association forNormalization of Japan-Korea Relations, focusing on the principles that aim to makeNorth Korea not isolated in Northeast Asia, and to guarantee human rights of North
Korean nationals in Japan, who have to live in Japan due to the complicated historicalbackground. As Mr. Inoue mentioned earlier, talks for normalization of diplomatic
relationships will be the first priority to solve problems between Japan and North Korea.
During World War II, Japan had much impacted East Asia, invaded their countries andinflicted terrible atrocities to people there. However, a historical perspective isbecoming conspicuous that glamorizes the war as a means of national defense and40

releasing Asia from colonization by the Great Powers of Europe and the US. Some
textbooks of our schools are based on this historical perspective and say that the war
was for the protection of our country. Even though that interpretation was protested bypeople in neighboring countries including China and the Koreas, the Japanese
government approved some of those textbooks. This historical view is contrary toformer Prime Minister Murayama’s words regretting the Japanese war of aggression andestablishing new friendships with Asian countries that still remain as the official
perspective of the Japanese government. On August 4, Yokohama City’s Board of
Education adopted such textbooks for their junior high schools in 8 school districts outof their 18 districts.
This attitude of national government and educational board is encouraging extreme
nationalistic groups and leads to the movement to amend the pacifist constitution.
These movements support nuclear umbrella and even admit an idea of attacking enemy
bases. We have to oppose this kind of narrow-minded nationalism.
We have listened to a lot of argument in Hiroshima and Nagasaki as well as during thisconference of Mayors for Peace. I believe that intertwining various efforts for peaceand nuclear abolition, as well as people’s desire for peace will lead to realization ofworld peace. With these remarks, I conclude my speech. Thank you.
Umebayashi
Thank you very much.

I would like to invite Mr. Philip Jennings, UNI Global Union.

Philip Jennings, General Secretary, UNI Global Union, Switzerland
Good morning everybody. My name is Philip Jennings. I am the General Secretaryof UNI Global Union.
It is normal in the union conferences when your time is running out and someone rings
a bell. So, if there is a minute left in my time, if you could just bung the table, we arevery well accustomed to it, and suddenly sitting down almost like an automatic
response.
So, good morning, everybody. It is a pleasure to be here in Nagasaki. This morning I
bring the voice of the global trade union movement to your discussions and to yourdeliberations.
41My organization is UNI Global Union; we represent 20 million workers in 1,000 tradeunions around the world. We have globalized the trade union movement. I am also
speaking this morning, for the International Trade Union Confederation. And we
represent all the trade union centres around the world. If you add all the members andthe family members that we represent, we are talking about a billion people.
Now in our work we know that if you do not try, you don’t succeed. But if you don’t
fight, you don’t win. And if you don’t know the sense of struggle, then you are notgoing to succeed.
When I look back over my years in the trade union movement, and looking forward, it
is clear that we have brought our energy to a whole range of issues that impact the
global economy, but there has been one missing link. And the missing link has been
peace.
We fight for jobs. We fight for fair trade. We fight for ethical trading ofmultinational companies, and succeeded. We change the nature of debate. We foughtchild labour. And now we have international conventions where there were no
conventions before. We fought for trade union rights everywhere. Everyone is awareof the situation in Columbia now, where hundreds of trade unions, if not thousands,
more than two and a half thousand trade unionists were assassinated. The world
knows about the story. The problems in Burma and the trade boycott that we haveorganized. The world knows about the story.
What we are not doing is saying that peace is a worker issue. That nothing that we do– we can’t organize the workers, we can’t negotiate collective agreements, we can’t
bring jobs and a sense of security, and understanding and tolerance into our societies, if
peace isn’t there.
Therefore, we have to bring this energy. We have to bring this energy that we bring toso many other issues into this world, into your world, to Mayors for Peace. That weare the workers for peace.
We received in my union office the peace ambassadors from Nagasaki. And werealized that union members can be peace messengers in their own right. We have42

children the same age as these here. They came to our office. They gave us thepeace cranes. And we saw it and said, ―There is something here, these are children
telling senior union leaders that we are missing something.‖
So now, when the peace messengers come to our office, the next time, in two weeks
time, they will not just meet us, they are going to meet the Mayor of Nyon, where ouroffice is. They are going to meet school children. And they are going to be invited to
speak at a big festival next year, which brings together 250,000 people in Nyon. A
small step: five children came to our office, and the policy of our organization haschanged.
Mayor Taue, five children from your city came to our office, and next year, we arebringing our World Congress to Nagasaki. We realized that we can make brochures,that we can make websites, but unless people come here, unless the people experience
what Nagasaki has to say to the world, so they can listen to the stories of the survivors,
about what it means to live through nuclear Armageddon.
We know that when we are bringing 2,000 leaders to this city from 150 nations acrossthe world, those leaders will not be the same person again. We are going to have 2,000
leaders, making more than 2,000 steps and we are going to say that, before you come toNagasaki, next year, you have to do something on this subject, you have to talk about
this subject with your members, and you have to energize your members on this subject.
Yes, we are helping the signature campaign. Yes, we will be at the NPT Review
Conference next year. Yes, we are organizing a world congress here. And yes, wewant to help Mayors for Peace and your 2020 Vision. So, to our slogan for rights, jobs,
justice, we have to add peace.
And we do take our message to the highest people in the land from the lowest people in
the land, from the working people.
We were at the G-20 Summit. We were at the G-20 Summit in Washington. We wereat the G-20 Summit in London. We are going to be at G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh.
We ask for a meeting with President Obama. He agrees with us that there should be aworker dimension. And I can tell you Mayor Taue when workers of the world meet43with President Obama, we are going to say ―Come to Hiroshima, Come to Nagasaki.‖Let’s see the next step from the Prague speech. Thank you.
Umebayashi
We only have 15 more minutes to go, and there are three people to talk, in addition tothat, we have two more people who want to speak. So I would like to ask each speakerto make your speech within 3 minutes rather than 5 minutes. Next person is from
―World without Wars and without Violence,‖ Mr. Rafael de la Rubia.
Rafael de la Rubia, President of World without Wars and without Violence;
Coordinator of the World March for Peace and Nonviolence, Spain
Firstly, I would like to thank Mayors for Peace, Mayor Akiba of Hiroshima, Mayor Taueof Nagasaki, the mayors of other cities, and everybody with us today, for opening theirdoors to the humanist association World without Wars and the World March for Peaceand Nonviolence.
In order to establish a world free from violence, free from wars, we have conducted amarch. We are here sharing a common interest in which the horrors experienced on
August 6 and 9, 1945 should never again be repeated. For that purpose, we have toraise our voices. This is the intention that moves us to act. We should not repeat that
terrible time again. We have to be capable of transmitting to the world a call so that an
atomic bomb will ―never again‖ be launched on a civil population.
There is no possible justification for it, because to unleash the use of weapons of mass
destruction today in conventional wars could be a direct path towards the abyss. Thatmonstrosity of 1945 has led to a threat much greater of which, with total certainty, youare aware.
The challenge for those of us who are here is to mobilize the population or the
institutions in our reach so that they can pressure governments and the powerful moveto stop this situation. Our challenge is to encourage various organizations and our
citizens work on to change our national governments, so that we can change the world
trend. This is the only real way out that we see. If not, governments alone, far fromputting on the breaks, will continue to feed the race to destruction. Urgently, we haveto create good consciousness in this respect.

44

For that purpose, for the sake of peace, we have to conduct a march. Our contribution
is the call for a World March for Peace and Nonviolence, demanding from decision
makers:- Disarmament in the world and nuclear abolition has to be implemented,- The immediate withdrawal of troops invading occupied territories,- Progressive and proportional reduction in military and conventional weapons,- The signing of non-aggression treaties between countries, and- The renunciation by governments of the use of war as a means to resolve
conflicts.
The World March for Peace and Nonviolence is a call to the personal conscience of eachone of us, it’s the voice that we need to raise together, it’s a moral proposal and it’s what
we need to do in this difficult moment we are going through.
It gives room for all organizations, individuals and institutions who believe that it’s
possible to put a definitive end to the barbarity and for those who want to demonstrate it.
There are more than 2,000 organizations working toward the same goal.
March will start on October 2, and will be finished at the final destination of Argentina,
next year. It will cross almost 100 countries and in its path it will move thousands ofpeople from the whole planet in a single common intention: so that violence ceases as aform of conflicts resolution. More than 1,000 people across the globe are participatingin this march for the purpose of the elimination of violence and not to solve problems
with wars. More than 300 cities are hosting this marching event.
The horror of Hiroshima and Nagasaki has not been left behind in history. We should
not leave Nagasaki as a history. It feeds our most profound aspiration to put adefinitive end to pre-history.
Today we remember the people from Hiroshima and Nagasaki to dignify their memory
and to strengthen a worldwide movement that is open and diverse, which rejects all
forms of violence and affirms the human being as the highest value. We have toencourage the people to move toward total nuclear abolition. Various forms ofviolence should be eliminated and we should bring love to others, instead.
For these purposes, we are conducting a marching event.
45

We have to convey ourwishes to others. The Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol should be introduced to various
national governments. Along with the peace march, we are promoting theHiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol.
Finally, it is my pleasure to share my aspiration and opinions with you all. For all theparticipants, I would like to thank you for your support. Our website is available in 27
languages for your access. Thank you.
Umebayashi
Next is Mr. Hiroyuki Nakata, Vice Mayor of Sapporo, Japan.
Shigemi Osaki, Manager
Ward Administrative Section, Community Promotion Department
Community Development and City Planning Bureau, the City of Sapporo
Good morning, I am Shigemi Osaki, from the City of Sapporo, in charge of peace
activities. I deeply appreciate giving me your valuable time to talk in front of you.
We have Deputy Mayor Nakata who is participating in this Conference, and I
accompanied him. Originally, the deputy mayor was supposed to speak in this session
as well, but he was very generous to give me an opportunity to speak on this wonderfuloccasion. Thus, as a person in charge of peace activities of the City of Sapporo, I
would like to share our efforts.
The City of Sapporo hosted the Winter Olympics in 1972, and also hosted the FIS
Nordic World Ski Championships Sapporo 2007. Our population reached 1.9 million
as of January 2009. Located in the northern part of Japan, depth of snow in wintertime can reach 4 to 6 meters in Sapporo.
Last year, we organized an A-bomb exhibition co-sponsored with the cities ofHiroshima, Nagasaki, and the National Council of Japan Nuclear Free Local Authorities.
It was a good opportunity for the city and many citizens to realize the importance ofpeace education and how various efforts for peace have been prevailed.
I would like to talk about how the activities are going on in Sapporo city, and I would
like to report three major programs of the city that citizens of Sapporo participated in or
jointly organized with citizens.

46

First is the sharing of war experiences. We ask citizens to talk about their war
experiences, by visiting schools, and at programs for children. Lessons from their war
experiences can be conveyed directly to children. They were young when theyexperienced war, and the children of around the same age as they were will listen to
their stories with reality. That makes their stories very impressive for children’s heart
and wishes for peace will be conveyed to future generations.
Second is our activity to render graphic panels of A-bombs produced by Japan
Confederation of A- and H- Bomb Sufferers Organization (Nihon Hidankyo) and thecity bought 11 sets of them. We send them to schools and grassroots organizations.
They do not feature scientific information of the A-bomb itself but its damages andhuman sufferings. So these panels are very good material for peace education in
making each person think deeply on what nuclear weapons would bring about on humanbeings.
Since Sapporo is far from Hiroshima and Nagasaki, peace education that involves
visiting there takes time and cost. So, all these materials are very good for schools andgrassroots organizations working on peace. Sapporo has a plan to ask the City ofHiroshima to permanently render a set of posters and some other materials so we canuse them for supporting peace education of citizens and children.
Third is, in collaboration with the Hokkaido Hibakusha Association, we invite thehibakusha who live in Sapporo City to talk about their experiences. This year, we
asked to share their testimonies with young students in a class at Sapporo City
University. Also at the venue of the A-bomb exhibition held in our city hall, we asked
them to talk about their experiences to visitors to the exhibition. In addition, at the
Hokkaido No More Hibakusha Hall, where the office of the Hokkaido Hibakusha
Association is housed, there is a permanent exhibition of actual mementos of the
A-bombings. This is the only permanent exhibition of A-bombed materials aside from
Hiroshima and Nagasaki. From now on, the City of Sapporo will do our best to widely
publicize these efforts including the No More Hibakusha Hall to inform citizens andchildren of Sapporo about the reality of the A-bombings and provide opportunity tothink about peace.
The collaboration with citizens has just begun, but we hope it will flourish further.
I believe that the city and citizens of Sapporo collaborate together to promote each47

other’s activities will be the best way to arouse momentum for peace with more citizens’
participation. Thank you.
Umebayashi
Thank you very much.
Watanabe.

The next speaker is from ANT-Hiroshima, Ms. Tomoko

Tomoko Watanabe, Executive Director
ANT-Hiroshima (Asian Network of Trust in Hiroshima)
My name is Tomoko Watanabe from Hiroshima. I have been working as therepresentative of a grassroots NGO that has been conducting activities seeking peace foreverybody in the world for more than 20 years. Today, I would like to introduce you
to a joint-project of various peace organizations of Hiroshima. This is called ―Yes!
Campaign,‖ and we have formed the Yes! Campaign Committee.
Please look at this poster. This is a reversed image of an A-bomb and a mushroom
cloud. We have long worked against nuclear wars, saying ―No.‖ However, we got
this unique poster from an artist. So we also changed our point of view, from ―No‖ tobad thing to ―Yes‖ to good thing. We decided to be united under the motto, ―Yes! – toa world without nuclear weapons,‖ ―Yes! – to a world without war‖ and ―Yes! – to theHiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol.‖ So we ought to get together for the same principles.
This is the same idea with the idea of Nagasaki, ―Get together for the greater cause
regardless of small differences.‖ First, we have to get together.
Secondly, the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol should be recognized internationally likethe Kyoto Protocol in the field of environment, as a key document in the process of
elimination of nuclear weapons. So when you talk about abolition of nuclear weapons,
we need to promote the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol.
Thirdly, as we are the only country in the world where A-bombs were dropped, theJapanese government has to take initiatives in the international arena for promoting theabolition of nuclear weapons. In order to convey our voices to Japanese government,
we established this Yes! Campaign Committee.
Unfortunately, however, the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol has not been as well known
as the Kyoto Protocol. The content of the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol is very
difficult for citizens to understand. So, thanks to the cooperation from Mr. Seitaro
48

Kuroda, a famous artist in Japan, we have come up with this ―Yes!‖ picture book that
illustrates the ideas of the Protocol in an easily understood manner. I will circulate thispicture book, so that you can get a feel for it. You will get a better idea about theHiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol when you read through it. I hope those who read thepicture book would say, ―Now I understand the idea of the Hiroshima-Nagasaki
Protocol‖ and support the protocol; saying ―Yes!‖ to it. This is why we published this―Yes!‖ picture book and are promoting it.
We are also starting a significant effort. Many hibakusha who sailed on the Peace
Boat and shared their testimonies around the world are now back in Hiroshima and they
are very enthusiastic to act for the abolition of nuclear weapons. To realize a world
without nuclear weapons by 2020, we must make the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol
adopted in 2010. In order to support this, we will organize a caravan of thesehibakusha to visit cities and towns all over Japan, share their A-bomb testimonies andconvey our voices.
Although we are a small group, we will do our utmost toward the abolition of nuclear
weapons. But we cannot accomplish this alone, so we need your support. Under the
motto of ―Yes! – to a peaceful world without nuclear weapons,‖ I hope we can work
together. In conclusion, I deeply appreciate this opportunity to express my wish towork together with you.

Thank you very much.

Umebayashi
Thank you very much. Now, we would like to hear the voices of young people whoare involved with the 10,000 High School Students Signatures Campaign. They willbe the last speakers in this session.
Saori Yuji, the Executive Committee, the 10,000 High School Students
Signatures Campaign to Eliminate All Nuclear Weapons and to Make a PeacefulWorld; 3rd-year student, Kwassui High School
Good morning everyone. As Mr. Tasaki mentioned a short while ago, we are theexecutive committee of the 10,000 High School Students Signatures Campaign to
Eliminate All Nuclear Weapons, and to Make a Peaceful World. My name is Saori
Yuji, a third-year student at Kwassui High School.
We have been doing these activities for nine years, mainly conducting a petition drive49

seeking for abolition of nuclear weapons. So far, we have collected 450,000 signatures.
On August 12, we are going to have our meeting and at which we will consolidate
collected signatures for the past one year. The collected signatures will be directly
taken to the United Nations by our High School Student Peace Ambassador.
Hikaru Owatari, the 12th High School Student Peace Ambassador;
3rd-year student, Kwassui High School
I am one of the 12th High School Student Peace Ambassadors in Nagasaki. My nameis Hikaru Owatari. I am a third-year student at Kwassui High School. High SchoolStudent Peace Ambassadors from Nagasaki have been visiting the UN every year since1988. So I will leave on August 17 with the signatures we collected. In Switzerland
we are going to the offices of the UNI Global Union and the World YWCA. We will
also visit Ypres, where the 2020 Vision Campaign Secretariat is located. As I heard
our predecessors visited Ypres last year and conducted a signature campaign there, wewould also like to do the same and share feelings with local people. Although seniorhigh school students do not have much authority, and our contributions might be humble,
but we are not helpless. Under this slogan, our activities have been on going, andpeaceful waves are steadily spreading from Nagasaki. I would like to collaborate withthe people participating in this conference. By doing so, we can spread out ourpeaceful waves further, and eventually we may eliminate all nuclear weapons on theearth faster.

Let’s work together. Thank you very much.

Umebayashi
Thank you very much. We learned a lot, today and I believe that we could sharepower and courage with each other. Originally, we planned to have a question andanswer session, and comments from each panelist, but we have run out of time to do so.
We would like to give a round of applause to the panelist, so please join me.
Thank you for your support. With this, I would like to conclude this session.

50

The 7th General Conference of Mayors for Peace

Plenary Session II
THE TOTAL ELIMINATION OF
NUCLEAR WEAPONS BY 2020
August 10 (Mon), 2009 13:00 – 14:30
Nagasaki Brick Hall

Chairperson:

Donald L. Plusquellic
Vice President of Mayors for Peace
Mayor of Akron; the US Conference of Mayors

Speakers:

Robert Harvey
Vice President of Mayors for Peace
Mayor of Waitakere, New Zealand
Stephan Weil
Vice President of Mayors for Peace
Lord Mayor of Hannover, Germany
Luc Dehaene
Vice President of Mayors for Peace
Mayor of Ypres, Belgium
Tom CochranCEO and Executive Director, the US Conference of Mayors
Josep Mayoral i Antigas
Vice President of Mayors for Peace
Mayor of Granollers, Spain
Alain Rouy
Councillor, City of Villejuif; Association Française desCommunes, Départements et Régions pour la Paix
(AFCDRP), France
Dominique Etave
Deputy Mayor, Vitry-Sur-Seine; Association Française desCommunes, Départements et Régions pour la Paix
(AFCDRP), France
Mussie Hailu
Ambassador-at-Large, Republic of Burundi
Mayra Gomez
Senior Programme Officer, Parliamentarians for Nuclear
Non-proliferation and Disarmament (PNND), New ZealandChairperson: Donald L. Plusquellic
Mayor of Akron; the US Conference of Mayors
Welcome to Plenary Session II. Welcome all of you and thanks to our host, Mayor of
Nagasaki, as well as all of the mayors and participants in this important conference.
Our meeting today will be divided into four sections, and we only have an hour and ahalf, so I ask you, to the speakers, to try to condense your remarks. Four sections willconsist of reports regarding the General Conference over the past few days as well as aconcluding summary. To begin, I would like to ask for a report from Mayor Robert
Harvey of Waitakere, New Zealand, who is the chair of our first Plenary Session.
Continuing, we will hear other reports and I will introduce those individuals as we go.
Mayor Harvey.
Report of Plenary Session I: Robert Harvey
Mayor of Waitakere, New ZealandI greet each one of you here. Mayor Donald, thank you very much for letting me
continue what was, I thought of, a very interesting session on Saturday. The subject
was “CITIES AND CITIZENS CAN MOVE NATIONS –toward a worldwide paradigm
shift–.” We met here, and it was a full house. And the speakers were, I felt, quite
extraordinary. Although peace and security are generally thought of as national issues,
the outbreak of war leads to casualties in urban regions. So we picked up on thosesubjects. The speakers were very clear and very passionate about how they felt the
responsibilities we had as civic leaders were to protect the lives and the well-being ofour people.
So, the mayors for peace gathered on Saturday, and came to give us their time andwisdom. Unfortunately, we ran out of time. But we did hear from the Mayor of
Nagasaki. We did hear from the group from Florence, who were extraordinary in theway that they talked of the generosity of that Italian city in linking with Nagasaki overso many years. What I would like to just say is that many of the speakers had a long
history with Japan, with the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
We heard, also, new speakers, new voices. We heard from the Mayor of Halabja in
Kurdistan, Mayor Kareem. And he brought a new sense of his tragedy with themustard gas and the terrible tragedy which befell the Kurdish people so many years ago.
And he made it very real for us.

1We also heard from the Lord Mayor of Hannover, Mr. Stephan Weil. Who was able totalk on what is happening in Germany. How and why they seem so progressive, we
felt, in linking with the nuclear threat, which is all over us right now.
Then, we return to Japan and here two mayors picked up on the energy, and the passion
and the wisdom that are growing in Japan, not only from Nagasaki and Hiroshima, butother cities also, which pleased us greatly.
Finally, we heard from a councilor from Dundee, a remarkable speech from George
Regan. He talked of the British commitment. He is the chair of UK and Ireland
Nuclear Free Local Authorities. We were delighted to hear that enthusiasm from GreatBritain, Ireland, and Scotland.
Unfortunately, Mayor Plusquellic, that was it. So we pass on the rest of our speakers
to this session into your chairmanship. We wish you well in those endeavors. Thankyou.
Mayor PlusquellicThank you, Mayor. Well done and very concise. Unfortunately, Lord Mayor Weil ofHannover had to leave because of an urgent matter. I am going to read a report thatwas prepared for him.
Report of Section Meeting I: Stephan Weil, Lord Mayor of Hannover
Read by Mayor Plusquellic
Lord Mayor called the meeting to order and explained that this session would be
devoted to reflecting on our experiences of war and considering how to communicate
these experiences and put them to use in solving our present global problems.
With that he called on Mr. Tsukasa Uchida, a survivor of the Nagasaki bombing, to help
us all focus on the kinds of experiences we need to communicate. Mr. Uchida offereda harrowing account of the bombing. As a third year student in junior high he had
been mobilized to work in a military factory. Had he stayed at home that day he would
have died with the rest of his family because his home was only a few dozen metersfrom the hypocenter. He still regrets that his last encounter with his father was anangry one. Only a few bones of his father were found. Mr. Uchida pointed out thatthe war, the bombings and the terrible suffering Japan suffered were all due to the2military education Japanese received, training them to believe that the emperor was a
god and that anyone who questioned the emperor or the government was a traitor. “Weshould have questioned much more,” he said, “it is now our mission to tell our stories
not as political propaganda but as messages of peace to make sure no one forgets theterrible, absurd horror of war.”
Lord Mayor Weil pointed out that the survivors in both Japan and Germany are aging,so we are faced with the problem of how to keep their stories alive.
He then introduced Jean-Joel Lemarchand.

Mr. Lemarchand responded gratefully to

Mr. Uchida‟s story and informed us that even the citizens of his small city in France arevery much afraid of war and nuclear weapons. He emphasized the need for cities towork actively with their citizens to take effective precautions against war.
The next speaker was Hiroyuki Nakata, Deputy Mayor of Sapporo. Mr. Nakata
described the many ways in which Sapporo is working to communicate peace to its
children. At the time of the G8 Summit in July 2008, Sapporo, assisted by Hiroshima
and Nagasaki, hosted a major A-bomb exhibit. The heads of government never saw it,
but many ambassadors and other officials did. Furthermore, many Sapporo citizens
saw it and found it shocking – both the content itself and the fact that they were so
ignorant of this terrible event that took place in their own country. It was an extremely
valuable experience and Sapporo intends to hold similar exhibitions in the future.
Deputy Mayor Nakata thanked Hiroshima and Nagasaki for their efforts for peace, andencouraged other cities, saying “We cannot leave these efforts up to these cities alone.
We all have to convey a message of peace to our children of the world.”
The next speaker was Miho Cibot from Malakoff, France. She spoke of her 27 years
working to communicate the A-bomb experience in France. She spoke of the difficultyof doing so in a country that has nuclear weapons, believes that nuclear weapons ended
the war, and where many people immediately respond by talking about Japanese
atrocities in Nanjing. Most French people know nothing about Nagasaki or what
happened here. The City of Malakoff is working toward a Nuclear Abolition Week, tobegin on September 21, the International Day of Peace.
The next speaker was Mayor Bob Harvey of Waitakere, who started with a Maori
greeting that none of the interpreters were able to handle. He then emphasized the3power of Mr. Uchida‟s story and the vital importance of getting such stories to today‟schildren. In Waitakere, the city is sponsoring a program called Roots of Empathy inwhich a newborn baby is brought to school and the children are taught a little bit about
how to care for it. The same baby then comes back to school at each of the 3 months,
6 months and 9 months, so the children can observe how it grows and changes, putting
them in touch with the miracle of life and the preciousness of each baby. The mayor
then explained that he is carrying a flame from Hiroshima and Nagasaki back to New
Zealand for the start of the World Peace March, which will begin on October 2. He
urged everyone to get involved with the Peace March when it comes to their country.
The final speaker for the afternoon was Ambassador Estifanos Afeworki Haile of Eritrea,
who spoke on behalf of the mayors of Asmara and Massawa and began by expressing
support for and solidarity with Mayors for Peace. He shocked the audience by sayingthat he, too, is a hibakusha. He remembers clearly as a child that the series of 17
nuclear tests by France in the Sahara Desert, and the people of his town became ill withstrange diseases. No one knew why at the time, but everyone knows now that theradiation was carried by the clouds that build up in the desert. So as if slavery,colonization and proxy wars were not enough, Africa is still suffering from radiation
damage due to the actions of European nations. In March, the Mainichi Newspaper
did a story on weapons of mass destruction, chemical weapons being built andstockpiled by North Korea and Ethiopia. By October 2008, Japanese survivors of thebombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki visited Massawa, leading the mayor to join
Mayors for Peace. The mayor herself is a survivor of Soviet air raids on Massawa in
1990.
Lord Mayor Weil then summarized the session offering gratitude to Mr. Uchida andemphasizing the need to get more true stories of war experience to children. He
pointed out the vital need to begin peace education very early. He thanked all of the
speakers and assured the participants that the problem of teaching children peace when
they are surrounded electronically by war will be an ongoing topic and challenge for the
mayors of the world. That concludes his report.
Mayor Plusquellic
Next, continuing, I would like to call for a report from the Chair of the Second Section
Meeting, Mayor of Ypres, Belgium, who is with us today. Luc.

4

Report of Section Meeting II: Luc Dehaene
Mayor of Ypres, Belgium
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen. As I am not a native speaker, maybethat helps to shorten your report. Sorry beforehand for that. But let me start with thereport from the second part of the meeting yesterday afternoon.
In the meeting, we got some examples of campaigning in the 2020 Vision Campaign.
We got examples from different countries. Two examples from France brought byMichel Cibot from Malakoff, another one brought by Mrs. Sonia Guenine from
Vitry-Sur-Seine, an example of Manchester, Great Britain, and the example by Belgium
told by Pol D‟Huyvetter.
At the same time, we got an overview of national and regional political situations.
Afterwards, Mr. Aaron Tovish reminded us of the history of Mayors for Peace and thehistory of 2020 Vision Campaign.
At the end of the meeting, we got some good news, namely the announcement ofimmediate affiliation of 13 cities in Bangladesh and the promise of at least 100 new
member cities in that country.
But the main dish of this second section meeting yesterday afternoon was the lecture byProfessor Mogami from International Christian University, an expert in internationallaw. I will just remind you of three points of his lecture.
First of all, to remember the power that NGOs can have. And he referred to the Battleof Solferino, in Italy, which was the start of the initiative of the International Red Cross,which is worldwide well-known. With that example, he gave us a hope that Mayors
for Peace can also be as strong as the International Red Cross.
Another headline of his lecture was that the possession and the use of nuclear weapons
is, in fact, against international legislation. I think that is a good point to start. He
also compared the situation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to Auschwitz, which was maybe
shocking for some in the audience, but I think it is very real.
Last point to remember is that, maybe in these days, we are living a very importantmoment in history. Although the situation at this time maybe economically and5financially rather tough, that can also be an opportunity that can create opportunities
that can create new hope. A couple of examples: first of all, it‟s already clear that the
21st century is no longer a century of national states and national governments, but the
21st century is certainly the era of cities and citizens. More and more, the cities will
be taken by cities and citizens. And that is very important for reaching our goal soon.
The second example was the Obama‟s speech. The Obama speech will also give us
hope that we can reach our goal in 2020. Let‟s hope now that other world leaders andthe Obama administration will follow.
This, ladies and gentlemen, leads us to the final conclusion.

A conclusion, that we as

Mayors for Peace, we have a huge responsibility. It is our duty to do everything in our
power to reach that goal, the abolition of all nuclear weapons in the year 2020 so that
we all can be present at the Olympic Games in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in a nuclear
weapon free world in 2020. But, ladies and gentlemen, in the meantime, there is still alot of work to do. Let‟s start tomorrow. Thank you.
Mayor PlusquellicThank you, Mayor Dehaene. We are going to begin a series of speakers who may
comment about this Conference and the activities. We will begin with the Executive
Director and CEO of the US Conference of Mayors, Tom Cochran. I would ask eachof the speakers to come to the podium. I will just introduce a good friend, Tom
Cochran as a person who has over 30 years experience leading an organization that
represents cities of over 30,000 in population in the United States and has had
tremendous success lobbying for issues that pertains to people who live in cities
throughout the US. He has been committed, and has invited Mayor Akiba as a keynote
speaker at our last annual meeting in Providence, and has continued to work with
Mayors for Peace, leading the US Conference of Mayors. Tom Cochran.
Tom CochranCEO and Executive Director, the US Conference of Mayors
Thank you, thank you, Mayor Plusquellic. I think just briefly I would like to say that itis good to be in Nagasaki, because in our country historic pop culture and movies are allabout Hiroshima. It is the way it is. And it has been very good for me to be here as
an individual to remind myself of the innocent people we lost here. It is the first time
here, and thank you for hosting the meeting.

6

The United States Conference of Mayors has had a relationship with the mayors ofHiroshima for 40 years. We are very very active, being a part of the first memorial.
We‟ve had delegations come every year and were here for the 60th and we are pleased
to have a bench in the Peace Park.
It‟s very important, I think, for the delegates to recognize that the mayors of the UnitedStates have been in the forefront for peace. The mayors of the United States voted in1970 against President Nixon‟s first withdrawal from Vietnam. So that took a lot ofpolitical courage from elected officials. Prior to that time, they said, “You guys justpick up the trash, keep the roads paved,” but it was our decision to be much more
involved in international relations.
There have been a lot of speeches here, and they were great. But we have to really get
into the politics of what we need to do. So, we hailed in President Obama with hopefor change. Sometimes we cannot just go for hope. You have got to remind him that
we have to have change. We have to keep him strong, and certainly he was in Prague.
But politically our country is just like a lot of other countries. If the President signs atreaty, it has to be ratified by the Senate. So, I think in all over our countries, we havebeen working with the Japan Association of City Mayors, while we are relating with the
EUROCITIES, relating with the Metropolis, Argentine Mayors, organizations of mayors
around the country.
I would just like to mention the portion of climate protection. We have 950 cities.
The United States did not sign the Kyoto Protocol. But in 2005, 141 American mayors
signed the US Mayors Climate Protection Agreement, representing the 141 countries
that signed the Kyoto Protocol. Today we have 950 American cities calling for thetreaty on climate protection that‟s taking place in Copenhagen. I mentioned that,
because you have got a lot of green activity in the world right now. And in my opinion,
the nuclear disarmament issue and the green issue can be used together, because people
are very very active, more so in my country, on the green issue. So, what we havebeen trying to say is, “Hey, you are doing the green stuff, let‟s also talk about nuclear
disarmament.” So, we will be working with Mayor Plusquellic, and Mayor Akiba andothers and organizations around the world. We know that presidents and prime
ministers have a lot of children; they have a lot of issues before them. So it is very
very important that mayors stand up at the local level and we have to give those mayors
all countries the courage to do that.
7

We know also that the nuclear issue is very very tricky. Probably, the most traumaticthing in my generation was President Kennedy‟s assassination. The most traumaticthing for my children was 9-11. I know that you have all talked about it, but thedanger is not that a nuclear weapon will be dropped out of an airplane. The danger is
it will be carried in a black briefcase through an airport in a big city. And I think weneed to talk about that when we discuss it politically. I hate to say we have to use fear
to motivate people, but it does work. So when we discuss this, again, the wholequestion of the terrorist threats we have, and we‟ve had this in the subways all over theworld. I think the idea that an atomic weapon being on the subway in London, andplaces like that is very scary.
So we are here to say that our organization, the United States Conference of Mayors, 75
years old, is interested in talking more about strategic politics, and using our
relationships with other organizations, such as the one here in Japan, in Tokyo, theJapan Association of City Mayors, we may meet with them next week, continuing towork with other organizations like ours, to share what‟s happened here with the grassroots and non-profit groups, to continue to work towards peace, continue to work
towards disarmament.
Because if the mayors don‟t stand up and do it, you are not going to get from thecongressmen or senators. They are federal officials, they are not as close to the people
as mayors are, it‟s the mayors that are going to change the world. And the scientists
have said that you have got to change human behavior and human thinking. We havefound it to be true on climate protection. We have found it true for breast cancer, andprostate cancer. The mayors can get on TV and say “get your test done.” So, mayors
can change the way people think and the way people act. And so, we believe that if
this movement is going to be strong around the world, we have to activate mayors inother nations.
So, that is what we are doing with Mayor Plusquellic‟s leadership and my president who
is the Mayor of Seattle, Washington, Greg Nickels. I thank you very much for thisopportunity to speak to you and I look forward to working with you to go forward.
Thank you.
Mayor Plusquellic8Thank you. Thank you, Tom. Our next speaker is Mayor of Granollers, Spain, Mr.
Josep Mayoral i Antigas. Please come to the podium. I will tell you the mayor wasup very late last night, working on the draft of the Appeal, as many other mayors here inthis room. Welcome, Mayor.
Josep Mayoral i Antigas
Mayor of Granollers, Spain
First of all, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to the cities of Hiroshima andNagasaki. I am very impressed that you are working very powerfully toward peace.
My stay in Hiroshima and Nagasaki was very short, but I was very impressed with yourhospitality.
I would like to talk about my hometown, Granollers. For peace education, Granollers
has a precious memory. Granollers has a population of 60,000 and it is 25 km north ofBarcelona. Granollers has accepted many different kinds of people from around theworld. Granollers has been carrying out various kinds of activities led by citizens.
Our town is proud of its past experiences, like historic intersections. In the second
century, the Romans built Granollers. We have experienced a number of difficult
times. The most tragic time was when Granollers was bombed during the Civil War of
Spain. On May 31, 1938, five Italian airplanes in support of General Franco dropped
60 shells and 750 bombs. Within a minute, 224 people were killed by thebombardment, mainly women and children. This is the tragic memory we share in thetown. This memory has to be held and kept as we experienced some very toughgovernment decisions, be we decided to keep the memory in our mind and we should
never repeat the same tragedies again.
So, peace is a very important concept for us, and we have been thinking how to realize
and keep peace. We live in the age of harmony and dialogues, we can now take action
to prevent conflicts and wars, and a lot of research works have been performed so far,and thanks to such research works, some dark part of our history has been revealed andbrought into the light. Thanks to such research activities, we have taken a big step
forward, and we have renewed our memory about this Civil War. So our historians,
philosophers, and researchers dug out the memories of citizens about this dark age.
Citizens have joined the effort as well, and a number of novels and documents havebeen published.
9

So, that is why we are living in a present Granollers, but we should take further steps
forward not only remembering what happened in the past, but also to take a positive
step toward the future, so that we can make a better democratic city. For peace, weshould fight onward. Of course our town is fighting for building peace, because of its
bitter bombing experiences in the past. It is necessary for us to talk about bitter
experiences in the past, so renewing our bitter memories is needed. In order to build
up a culture of peace in the civilized world, we should put pieces of memories ofdifferent cities together.
Every year on May 31, we commemorate this bombing, so attacks on civilians should
never be repeated. In May 2008, we established the Center for Peace. I think this is
for the realization and maintenance of peace. We should exchange our experiences insearch of peace. We should work together for peace. Our idea is that we accept allkinds of memories held by citizens. This center has various functions. In the firstplace, we will listen to the testimonies of people. Also we would like to promotehistoric studies. The third is to promote education for younger people. We believethat it is very important to promote exchanges between the people who experienced thebombing and young people.
We are promoting mutual help and support among the citizens and also good association
with other cities. By sharing the same purpose and goal, we promote the collaboration
with other cities and organizations, so we share the same goal of peace building. Local
assembly has supported this goal of the city. Together with other cities, we areforming networks to gain power to fight.
How can we do this more effectively, and how can we build peace? We should know
our own cities and other cities. Only then we can get together to share the same goal.
Sometimes people have some internal strife, then, we have to find ways to bring about asolution. What is happening in Granollers is to reconstitute past memories, so we canbuild a future vision. We should find our roots in the past, and the past memory should
be used effectively for leading a better life. Everyday, we have to tell bad experiences
to young people, and we want them to think about what they should do to build a better
future. To this end, we should keep the memory of the past and joining theInternational Day of Peace, joining the dialogue with others, and spread local stories tothe world. These are very necessary things.
10

So, networking will enable us to work together with other people in the world. I
would like to propose the following. First is networking. First, internal network willbe spread inside Spain. In November, we will spread this networking to reach even
Mediterranean coastal areas, so we can spread peace in this area. We want tostrengthen our ties with Mayors for Peace, we should accept our wounds ofbombardment, and we have to tell the past experiences to younger people. I hope thatthey will have critical eyes. We want to let more our citizens to get involved in our
activities. Thank you.
Mayor Plusquellic
Next speaker is Councilor, City of Villejuif, France, Alain Rouy.
Alain Rouy, Councillor, City of Villejuif; Association Française des Communes,
Départements et Régions pour la Paix (AFCDRP), France
Mayor of Nagasaki, Mayor of Hiroshima, and our colleagues of city representatives
from the world.
Villejuif is a peaceful town with a population of 50,000, located south of Paris. Since
we came back from the 6th General Conference in Hiroshima four years ago, we havegreatly improved ourselves in the fields of nuclear disarmament, encouraged by people
in Hiroshima. We think that we can increase our power by meeting and talking withyou as we are doing right now, through the collaboration with others.
This year also, after I go back to my city, we will commemorate the International Day of
Peace on September 21 together with other cities. On that occasion, we will ask
citizens to show flags of peace on the windows of their houses. Councilors of Villejuif
and the citizens of our cities will conduct an official discussion on NPT, in order todisseminate the information on NPT to our citizens, and to put pressure on NPT Review
Conference in May next year. Local municipalities and the citizens have to talk about
this issue, because it is a fateful issue for us.
For the past four years, we have been accumulating knowledge and enhanced ouractivities. We started to empower ourselves so that we city representatives can workon international organizations. The Secretary-General of the United Nations and themayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are calling for us and well communicating with us.
11As a result of that, we are eager to have our response reflected to the international arena.
We are trying to communicate our public opinions to those international organizations.
It is very important to organize ourselves, then, we can raise the awareness of our
citizens, and accumulate our opinions.
Each mayor of Mayors for Peace needs to invite the neighboring city mayors to join theorganization. We have to work on at least one city so they can participate and we canincrease our power. I am going to work on our neighbor cities of Villejuif, so I think
this is going to be a very important year. By taking initiative of collaboration throughthe networking of cities in Mayor for Peace, we have to be closer to our citizens, so we
can enhance the awareness level of the public.

Thank you very much.

Mayor Plusquellic
Next speaker is from Vitry-Sur-Seine in France, Ms. Dominique Etave.

Ms. Etave.

Dominique Etave, Deputy Mayor, Vitry-Sur-Seine; Association Française desCommunes, Départements et Régions pour la Paix (AFCDRP), FranceDistinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. I am very much grateful to be with you in
Nagasaki, again at the General Conference of Mayors for Peace.
Our city is located near Paris. For many years, our mayor has been very active in thepeace movement. Just like cities represented here, Vitry is engaged in active
collaboration and alliances, and raises the voices of citizens for the total abolition of
nuclear weapons. We hope that will be able to expand such networks to build up for aworld without such nuclear threats.
As city councilors, we are entrusted with the intent and will of the electorate, whichamounts to millions in number. Human beings are the core of activities. As the
Mayor of Hiroshima said, “CANT: Cities Are Not Targets!” I believe that mayors andcity councilors need to take such responsibility. Nuclear weapons are targeting cities,
which is exemplified in the cases of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Due to the wars and various tensions, there is destruction of balances on a global scale...
If this continues, the globe will continue to go into jeopardy and crisis, because victims
are always poor people. There is no way nuclear weapons protect us or protect nations.
Even the countries without any wealth are able to equip themselves with nuclear
12

weapons, but no nuclear weapon can protect human beings. Weapons and walls
cannot guarantee their safety. They are using deterrence as excuses. The morethreatening the people, the more threatened they are by others.
We have to be more active as we are in France. Citizens can have power and strength,
whether you are a man and woman. All the people must pressure their national
governments. We are responsible to eliminate nuclear weapons from this globe. Of
course, in a way, we are benefited by the peaceful use of nuclear power. But we hopethat we can eliminate totally the use of nuclear weapons. We need to apply force andpressure as the world is moving toward more diverse and it is in compliance with theinternational laws.
The governments were once responsible for disarmament. For example, there is thepresence of military forces and thousands of billions of dollars spent for military use.
If we can allocate only 30% of such expenses, we can eradicate poverty from the world.
We hope that we will utilize such extra money for UNICEF, humanitarian assistance.
We hope that we can increase initiatives of citizens so we can work for the totalelimination of nuclear weapons.
In Vitry-Sur-Seine, we are traditionally engaged in such activities. Even children are
educated in that way, so we will be able to make perpetual peace. Through joining inMayors for Peace, AFCDRP is very much committed to making further efforts to recruit
more local authorities to participate in Mayors for Peace.
Obamajority is our catch phrase. We hope that we can utilize this as a pillar. The
United States has recognized the moral responsibility, and they are committed for the
total abolition of nuclear weapons. We will be able to get rid of conflicts if such
weapons are eliminated.
Mayor PlusquellicThank you. Next speaker is Ambassador at large of the Republic of Burundi, Hon.
Mussie Hailu.
Mussie Hailu, Ambassador-at-Large, Republic of Burundi
Thank you. Dear friends. Before I present my remarks, I kindly ask you to join me
in a moment of silence to remember all those victims of the atomic bombs of Hiroshima
13and Nagasaki, and all the precious lives that are lost to war throughout the world.
Could you please rise and observe one moment of silence? (Silent prayer) May
those souls rest in peace. Thank you.
Your Excellencies, honorable mayors, dear participants of Mayors for Peace, dearfellow peace activists, ladies and gentlemen. Greetings of peace to you all.
It is indeed a great honor and privilege for me to be here today with you for the 7thGeneral Conference of Mayors for Peace. I would like to take this opportunity toextend my profound appreciation to the organizers of the conference, to the Mayor of
Hiroshima, and to the Mayor of Nagasaki for inviting us and for the kind hospitality you
extended to all of us. I am extending this gratitude on behalf of all people throughout
the world who truly believe in the value of peace.
On behalf of United Religion Initiative, and Interfaith Peace Building Initiative, forwhich I have privilege to serve as Board Chairperson in my civil society, and also to
ANT-Hiroshima, I would like to register my appreciation to Mrs. Tomoko Watanabe, theExecutive Director of ANT-Hiroshima and all volunteers of ANT-Hiroshima, for being aleading example as what civil society and individuals can do, especially for promoting aculture of peace, international cooperation, and the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol.
At this August conference, may I convey the personal greetings of and best wishes of
His Excellency Pierre Nkurnziza, President of the Republic of Burundi to each andevery one of you? I would like also to express the President‟s appreciation to the workof Mayors for Peace and the Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation. I am happy to say
we strongly support the purpose and mission of the two organizations and look forward
to work closely to raise international public awareness regarding the need to abolishnuclear weapons and to contribute to genuine, sustainable world peace and international
harmony. We also support the project 2020 Vision Campaign.
As you know, there is a preparation for the International Decade for Disarmament at the
UN from 2010-2020 and as Mayor Akiba said, this is a decisive decade for nuclear
disarmament and we all need to support it. I am also glad to say that this year theUnited Nations is calling for the International Day of Peace to be focused on
Disarmament with the theme of “We Must Disarm: Take action for a world free of
nuclear weapons.” This is another good opportunity for civil society and individuals
like you and me to stand together to say, “No to nuclear weapons.”14

It is also another positive hope, as it has been marked many times during thisconference, President Obama that the United States will take concrete steps toward aworld without nuclear weapons. At this point, allow me to congratulate Mayor Akiba
for sending out a clear message to mayors and citizens throughout the world to takeconcrete action and join the initiative of the United Nations and call upon all of us totake this opportunity to draw public attention to this vital cause to create a nuclearweapon-free world for all of us in the coming generations. I would like kindly to
encourage you to participate in the observance of moment of silence during theInternational Day of Peace on September 21 and especially the mayors to proclaim thePeace Day of the UN.
Your Excellencies, mayors and guests, as you all know we are living at a critical
moment in our history, a time when humanity must choose its future. Our world is
experiencing a fundamental global crisis, a crisis in global economy, global climatechange, global degradation of values, threat of nuclear weapons and lack of global ethic.
Throughout the world, people are suffering from unemployment, poverty, hunger, racial
discrimination, ethnicity and religious conflicts, the abuse of drugs, organized crime,
corruption, and many other negative elements that we see in the world.
Ladies and gentlemen, that is why we are saying that peace is not only the absence ofwar, it is the absence of social injustice. War is the absence of human security at alllevel. This entire global crisis is a crisis which we all share in common. It is not only
a problem of a certain country or region but it is a problem of all humanity.
Again, with this in mind, people from four corners of earth join hands together here to
say “no more nuclear weapons, no more war.” I guess Mayors for Peace establishedsuch a platform for all of us to bring our voice collectively.
To solve this global problem we need a global solution. Each and every one of us need
to be part of the solution by taking our own personal action as the world can only bechanged when we change ourselves. It is an ideal time for us to move forward into
action. If we can change ourselves, we can change the world. If everyone does his or
her bit, together we can accomplish our common dream, which is a better peacefulworld, in which all humankind can live in peace and harmony along with mother earth.

15

Therefore, it is high time for all of us, as citizen of this planet, to live with a sense ofuniversal responsibility, identifying ourselves with the whole living being. Every oneof us shares responsibility for the present and future well-being of all life on earth. We
must recognize that in the midst of magnificent diversity of cultures, religions,
ethnicities and races, we are part of one human family with a common destiny. As the
Mayor of Nagasaki said, “We, as human beings, now have two paths before us. While
one can lead us to „a world without nuclear weapons‟, the other will carry us towardannihilation.” We have two choices: To choose the pathway which leads to peace or
the pathway which leads us to destruction.
Our world is continuously changing, and in this changing world we cannot remain as weare, nor can we go back to conditions that are now behind us. We can only move
forward, but not on the same path which has been leading us into war, conflict, violence,
hunger, discrimination, and disrespect. We should not keep on living in crisis andconflict. I think, here, it will be more appropriate for me to quote Dr. Nagai from
Nagasaki who truly teaches the essence of forgiveness and reconciliation:“If a new wind is to be opened for all of us to live in harmony, reconciliation is the
only way. An eye on eye will only lead us to be blind.”
It is an idea for us to follow the path of peace, a path which leads us from war to peace,from killing each other to co-existence, from disrespect to honoring each other, fromhate to love, from despair to hope, from darkness to light, from being selfish to live forthe sake of others, and from revenge to forgiveness.
For this to happen, ladies and gentlemen, we need to be guided by the Golden Rule.
The Golden Rule is a universal principle that says “treat others the way you want to betreated.” The message of the Golden Rule is simple, universal and yet powerful, it is
the most prevalent and universal moral principle in human history. It has been
affirmed in many religions, traditions, indigenous cultures and secular philosophies as afundamental principle of life and the foundation upon which the base of global ethic isfound. The Golden Rule, with its roots in a wide range of world cultures, is well
suited to be a standard to which different cultures could appeal in resolving conflict.
As the world becomes more and more a single interacting global community, the needfor such a common standard is becoming more urgent.
Your Excellencies, honorable mayors, I am aware that there are about 129 cities in 30
countries in Africa, which are members of Mayor for Peace. As you may know, we
16have 54 countries in Africa so there are 20 countries and many more cities who are notyet members of Mayors for Peace. The remaining 20 countries, cities, also need tojoin this very important organization. We need to make Mayors for Peace a very
active movement in all parts of Africa and the world. It will be also very important
Mayors for Peace to work very closely with the African Union and I am sure that theAfrican Union will support this initiative.
Therefore, I strongly suggest to the Secretariat of Mayors for Peace to consider
organizing a conference in partnership with the African Union under the theme of
African Mayors for Peace and Development. It is also good for Mayors for Peace tobe represented at the African Union in order to work very closely on peace issues and tohave political goodwill from African Heads of State. I am happy to say I have alreadydiscussed on this issue with Steve Leeper and Mayor Akiba, President of Mayors for
Peace. And upon my return, my first action will be to inform the African Union, allrelevant bodies in Africa, to embrace and subscribe to this mission and to join handswith you all to make our dream a reality.
Finally, I would like to say that Mayor Shinzo Hamai, who was elected by popular votein 1947, dreamed to make Hiroshima the Mecca of all people who long for world peace,has now become a reality. I guess this is also true in the case of Nagasaki. The
establishment of Mayors for Peace is such a testimony.
On this occasion of reading the Peace Declaration, Mayor Hamai said:“This horrible weapon brought about a revolution of thought, which has convinced
us of the necessity of value of eternal peace. That is to say because of this atomic
bomb, the people of the world have become aware that a global war in which
atomic energy would be used would lead to the end of our civilization and theextinction of mankind. This revolution in thinking ought to be the basis for an
absolute peace, and imply the birth of new life and a new world.”
We all need to work together for peace to prevail on earth so that there will never beanother Hiroshima and Nagasaki in any part of the world. There will not be any moregenocides like the one in Rwanda. I call upon all citizens of the world to work
together to abolish nuclear weapons and create sustainable justice in our world. May
peace prevail in our mind. May peace prevail in our heart. May peace prevail in ourfamily. May peace prevail in our city. May peace prevail on earth. Thank you so
much.
17

Mayor PlusquellicThank you. Thank you, ambassador.
Our next speaker is Senior Programme Officer of the Parliamentarians for Nuclear
Non-proliferation and Disarmament Ms. Mayra Gomez.
Mayra Gomez, Senior Programme Officer, Parliamentarians for Nuclear
Non-proliferation and Disarmament (PNND), New Zealand
Minasama konnichiwa. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Let me extend my
gratitude to Mayor Akiba, Mayor Taue, people of Nagasaki, distinguished guests, ladies
and gentlemen. Ukamaw Waliki, Tena koutou katoa. To the people of the four winds,
I bring you greetings from Aotearoa, New Zealand and from my birth city La Paz, – thepeace –, Bolivia. Thank you for the privilege to address you in my capacity as Senior
Programme Officer of Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament,
PNND for short.
This is my first time in Asia, first time in Japan and my first time in the City ofNagasaki. I am so grateful and as everyone before me has said, for the opportunity
afforded me to remember never, ever, ever, to forget that what happened here 64 years
ago, is still an ongoing possibility today with so many of these dangerous atomic bombs
about. What an honor to join Mayors for Peace and all of this beautiful community ofpeace warriors committed to working toward ensuring that terrorizing citizens of theworld with a nuclear catastrophe is unacceptable anywhere on mother earth as well as
on father sky.
PNND now has with over 600 elected legislators from about 75 countries. Legislators,
as elected officials worldwide, they are the link between civil society and government.
They decide how to spend the money collected from our taxes. So, it is our choice tohold them accountable to allocating those resources toward disarmament, andinvestment on human capital goals or to be passive and allow them to continue
upholding policies of military might for the financial benefit of the very few.
Members of parliaments also have oversight power. They can make sure that stateseither keep or renege on their commitments. They can make sure states act in goodwill
on their existing conventions, including implementing them or, the alternative, they cansignal when they fail to do so. We as citizens must remain informed and engaged with18

them.
PNND members also serve as a bridge between national legislators with local bodies.
In doing so, we‟ve nurtured a very special relationship with Mayors for Peace. This
includes joint actions, working together on strategy, and helping promote each other‟sorganizations. An example of this is the joint statement by mayors andparliamentarians for a nuclear-weapon-free world. This highlighted the criticalimportance of our continued collaboration for disarmament and non-proliferation. The
statement was signed by both mayors and parliamentarians from around the globe. It
was presented at the United Nations General Assembly on October 2006, indicating that
nuclear weapons continue to threaten the lives of the people who mayors andparliamentarians represent. The statement put forward the vision of a nuclear-weaponfree world, the commitment of mayors and parliamentarians to work together to achieve
such a world, and a strategy to kick-start nuclear disarmament negotiations.
A key strategy to achieve a nuclear-weapon-free world is to promote negotiations on a
nuclear weapons convention, a global treaty to abolish the weapons under strict andeffective international control. The 2020 Vision of Mayors for Peace calls for this, as
does the parliamentary declaration supporting a nuclear weapons convention, which was
released just last year by a cross-party group of PNND members from the European
Parliament.
Mayors for Peace and PNND members are also promoting a nuclear weapons
convention proposal in a range of national and international forums, including national
parliaments, mayoral conferences, the Non-Proliferation Treaty meetings and at theUnited Nations General Assembly. The European Parliament adopted a resolution
calling on the European Council to support a nuclear weapons convention in the
Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol in order to achieve the early prohibition of nuclear
weapons and their complete elimination by 2020. This work of Mayors for Peace and
PNND has helped pave the way for the growing international support. Over 125
countries vote in favor of the nuclear weapons convention at the UN general Assembly.
Earlier this year, the Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), they represent
about 150 parliaments, they adopted a resolution calling on parliaments andparliamentarians to ensure universal ratification of the CTBT, and also to promote the
UN Secretary-General‟s five-point plan for nuclear disarmament to support a number of19

concurrent steps such as, reductions in nuclear stockpiles, establishment of nuclear
weapon-free zones, and commencement of negotiations on a fissile materials treaty.
Just a couple of days ago in Hiroshima, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon reiterated
his promotion of a nuclear weapons convention in his five-point plan for nuclear
disarmament.
PNND members are also promoting the Costa Rican initiative, advanced at the UN
Security Council last November by President Oscar Arias, for the implementation of
UN Charter Article 26, which calls for the regulation of armaments in order to ensure
the least diversion of human and economic resources from global needs. The Costa
Rica Consensus is the basis for the rest of Latin America and the world to act upon
those ideals, most especially at this time of global economic meltdown.
PNND and Mayors for Peace are also promoting the re-allocation of resources from thenuclear weapons industry in order to assist in meeting UN development goals.
Last September, here in Japan, PNND member Yohei Kono, who is a Speaker of theJapan House of Representatives, facilitated a historic meeting of the Speakers of the G8
countries in Hiroshima to pay tribute to the victims of the nuclear bombing and topledge commitment to nuclear disarmament. Ladies and gentlemen, this was the firsttime a high-level US official had paid respects at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park.
The participation of United States Speaker Nancy Pelosi in this Summit paved the way
for President Obama in his Prague speech to be the first US president to recognize themoral responsibility of US nuclear disarmament arising from its use of nuclear weapons
against Japan. That speech has been hailed as the most hopeful sign after a long darktunnel but then it was overshadowed by North Korea‟s nuclear test. Now, without
referring to the magnitude of the test or the magnitude of the publicity of the test, wenote the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is again appealing to North Korea toreturn to the Six-Party Talks about dismantling its nuclear weapons program.
However, given the failure of those talks to prevent the nuclearisation of the Korean
Peninsula, many of us are sharing growing support for the idea of Northeast Asian
Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone (NWFZ). Proponents of such a zone, we heard as Ms.
Keiko Nakamura explained this morning that this would include legally binding security
assurances from the Nuclear Weapon States not just to use nuclear weapons against thecountries within this zone. The major reason why North Korea claims that it withdrew
20

from the NPT and tested nuclear weapons was because it could not secure guarantees
that it would not be attacked. The Six Party Approach would require de-nuclearizationof North Korea, without any requirements on South Korea or Japan. On the other hand,a nuclear-weapon-free zone would place some limits on extended nuclear deterrence inthe region, requiring all three of them (North Korea, South Korea and Japan), as well as
the Nuclear Weapons States to accept the restraints. Many activists believe this is lessdiscriminatory, therefore more likely being acceptable to North Korea, because it does
not oblige them to unilateral restraints.
In conclusion, I feel that in these three days here and also in my stay in Hiroshima, I
come to the conclusion that yes, we can achieve the total ban of nukes by 2020 by being
an active force to be reckoned with. An example of campaign initiatives that is goingto happen is the current endorsement by Mayors for Peace, active participation by manyof our PNND members in the upcoming World March for Peace and Nonviolence.
The World March is going to encircle the planet carrying the abolition flame, ignited
this week from the Hiroshima flame and it is going to carry the water from Nagasaki.
The flame will be available digitally to be spread to everyone right up the NPT Review
Conference in 2010.
In New Zealand, as we launch the march from Wellington on October 2, as you know
from this morning‟s presentation, we are going to take the marchers through our Peace
Garden because it is our lasting reminder of the importance of peace in our communities.
We will honor Nagasaki by showing the marchers and visitors, the tree grown from a
cutting of a camphor tree that survived nuclear explosion in Nagasaki. So we have ourown hibakusha tree in New Zealand. Perhaps when the World March passes throughNagasaki, you may want to share with them the sculpture “The Cloak of Peace – Te
Korowai Rangimarie” a gift from New Zealand as a symbol of our shared belief inpeace.
The World March, you see our friends, is about reconnection with ourselves and withanother. The youth particularly are showing new and exciting forms ofcommunication and connection. The World March website is in number of sites suchas Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and many many blogs dedicated to it. The webpage is
now available in 26 languages, including Japanese. I have also known and met here, I
would like to recognize the friends from France, who are just starting a campaign forwhat they calling themselves, “Bearers of Peace” and that is another march to come.
21

We can come together and connect.

This is what it is about.

So, in less than two months from today, the World March will provide all of us 93
continuous days to concentrate on the splendor of human diversity, focused on nuclear
disarmament, promoting the end of all types of violence, which is what really leads towars. Our imagination is a limit, of how we continue to be present, to be active and tobe peaceful, is going to guarantee tomorrow.
Finally, I‟m practicing my Japanese, excuse me if I fail, “domo arigato gozaimasu.”(Maori performance by Mayor Harvey)
Mayor Plusquellic
Well, ladies and gentlemen. I am the moderator of this session, but I cannot speak to
Mayor Harvey‟s impromptu song there. I am not even sure if we got interpretation ofthat, but I am sure it was an important message for all of us. Sorry if I missed it. But
we want to thank, as I wrap up the session, all of the speakers, in particular Mayor
Harvey and Mayor Dehaene for the chairpersons‟ report.
I want to personally thank Mayor Taue for hosting this Conference here, and all of thegreat work of the staff for his and Mayors for Peace. The leadership Mayor Akiba andMayor Taue have provided in this organization over these years is really commendable.
And for many of us who have come more recently to this organization, they havecarried the load for many of us.
I think the message here today, as I wrap up the session, is that many others have shared
their experiences, commitments and pledges to continue this discussion. If there was acommon theme in most of speakers, it was that education is vital, especially for young
people.
For me, the most memorable part of the ceremony that many of us witnessed here in
Nagasaki was the sharing of the survivor‟s experience, a woman who was nine in 1945.
And that message I think is the one many of the speakers talked about that was soimportant, including the experiences in their own country at war that translates andallows them to maybe explain why this message is important. While not everyone canbe here to witness a survivor speak, not everyone can be here to see the site, memorial
22and pictures, one can, in other countries, use their own experiences to explain why thisis so important, because the horrific events of August 1945 are beyond anyone‟s
imagination. But to share those similar experiences and continue to get this message
out will be very helpful in preventing any such occurrence in the future.
Many of the speakers talked about their local programs of empowering people, andgetting people organized. I think Tom Cochran leading off and many other mayors,
including Mayor Antigas, and Councilor Rouy talked about the importance of theleadership of mayors. We all have a soap box, we call it in the United States, a placefrom which we can speak and people listen. We are opinion makers. We are leaders.
And mayors have that opportunity to carry this message. So Mayors for Peace isvitally important.
I think you heard other comments from the Ambassador and Ms. Gomez about theimportance of, and the benefits of, re-directing spending, much of it is wasteful in many
people‟s mind, probably everyone in this room, for nuclear weapons and otherweaponry that could be so much better spent on addressing the human needs ofmankind throughout our world, certainly in some parts of the world even need it morethan others. Those resources could be used in much better way to help people, rather
than the wasteful efforts in continuing this military spending.
I think lastly, there was a general theme, which was we build understanding by
networking and through cooperation with others because we all are in effect one world.
And we should never allow what happened here again.
I thank you all for coming. We are going to take a very short break. The closing
session is to start here in six minutes. We need to clear the podium and then we will
start closing session at 2:30pm. Thank you very much for all of your attention andthank you for participating and support in this conference.

23

The 7th General Conference of Mayors for Peace

Closing Ceremony
August 10 (Mon), 2009 14:30 – 15:00
Nagasaki Brick Hall
Chairperson:
Tomihisa Taue
Vice President of Mayors for Peace
Mayor of Nagasaki
Report on the Nagasaki Appeal Drafting Committee Meeting:Tadatoshi Akiba
President of Mayors for Peace
Mayor of Hiroshima
Reading the Nagasaki Appeal:
Donald L. Plusquellic
Vice President of Mayors for Peace
Mayor of Akron, USA
US Conference of Mayors
Robert Harvey
Vice President of Mayors for Peace
Mayor of Waitakere, New ZealandTadatoshi Akiba
President of Mayors for Peace
Mayor of Hiroshima
Speech by the representative:
Luc Dehaene
Vice President of Mayors for Peace
Mayor of Ypres, Belgium
Closing Remarks:
Tomihisa Taue
Vice President of Mayors for Peace
Mayor of Nagasaki
Tadatoshi Akiba
President of Mayors for Peace
Mayor of Hiroshima

Chairperson: Tomihisa Taue, Mayor of Nagasaki
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much for waiting. This is going to be the lastsession. Let us now start the closing ceremony of the 7th General Conference ofMayors for Peace.
Mayor TaueFirst, the chair of the Nagasaki Appeal Drafting Committee, Mayor Akiba of Hiroshima,
will present the results of deliberations in the Appeal Committee.
Drafting Committee Report:
Tadatoshi Akiba, Mayor of Hiroshima
The drafting committee meeting for the Nagasaki Appeal continued until late last night.
Executive city delegates serve as members of the drafting committee. Fortunately, wewere able to conclude the meeting within the time originally allocated to us.
We have summarized the various activities and traditions we have instituted in Mayors
for Peace, and have shed as much light as possible on future activities. The staff
prepared a wonderful working paper to begin with, a draft with excellent structure, andeach committee member cooperated to make the final Appeal succinct and strong.
In terms of content, there were few objections, and we were able to conclude thedocuments within the time. There were no heated discussions about what was
proposed.
Therefore, instead of me going through the details of the discussion, I think we should
ask the person in charge to read the Appeal to make sure everyone understands it.
Mayor TaueThank you very much. OK, then, let‟s present the draft Appeal. We have threepeople to read the proposed Nagasaki Appeal: Mr. Donald Plusquellic, Mayor of Akron,
Mr. Robert Harvey, Mayor of Waitakere, and Dr. Tadatoshi Akiba, Mayor of Hiroshima.
These three will read it.
Nagasaki Appeal:
Read by Donald L. Plusquellic, Mayor of Akron
We, the representatives of 134 cities, 26 organizations from 33 countries, gatheredat the 7th General Conference of Mayors for Peace in Nagasaki to address our
keynote theme: Nuclear Weapons Abolition is in our Hands! – Let‟s get theHiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol adopted in 2010.
1

Since 2003, Mayors for Peace has been actively campaigning to rid the world of
nuclear weapons by the year 2020. We are delighted by the UN‟s designation of a
Fourth International Decade for Disarmament, to begin in less than six months.
We call on leaders and citizens everywhere to promote awareness of this Decade(2010-2020) and generate unprecedented public determination to liberate ourselvesfrom the threat of nuclear annihilation.
The surest path to a nuclear-weapon-free world is stipulated by theHiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol. Thus, we call on the States Parties to the Treaty on
the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) to adopt this Protocol andimplement it faithfully during the Decade for Disarmament. We note the specialrole of Japan in this regard. Hiroshima and Nagasaki are Japanese cities. As the
only A-bombed nation, Japan should lead the global movement towards a
nuclear-weapon-free world. The most effective way to do so is to champion
unequivocally the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol.
Whether through the NPT Review Conference, the Conference on Disarmament, or
the United Nations General Assembly, the international community must launch
convincing negotiations towards a nuclear-weapon-free world in 2010. We will
work closely with all individuals, groups and nations of good faith to ensure that
this vital step is accomplished. We welcome the 5-point plan of the UN
Secretary-General; in particular the prominence it accords commencement ofnegotiations on a nuclear weapons convention. We ask mayors everywhere tonote that, at his initiative, the International Day of Peace, 21 September 2009, isdevoted to the theme: “WMD: We Must Disarm!”
As mayors already contending with the impact of globalization and global recession
on our citizens, we know that U.S. President Barack Obama was correct when hesaid in Prague on 5 April 2009, “[N]o matter where [a nuclear attack] happens,there is no end to what the consequences might be – for our global safety, oursecurity, our society, our economy, to our ultimate survival.” Confronting thisextraordinary threat, President Obama asked that we “stand together for the right ofpeople everywhere to live free from fear in the 21st century.” Our wholehearted
reply is, “Yes, together we can abolish nuclear weapons.” Member cities, led by
Hiroshima and Nagasaki, are already adopting the term „Obamajority‟ to refer tothe vast majority of nations and peoples on this planet who seek liberation from thenuclear threat.
Read by Robert Harvey, Mayor of Waitakere
Our highest responsibility is to protect the lives and prosperity of the people we2

represent. To do that, we must find ways to nurture global democracy and ensurethat the will of the majority of our people is properly and effectively reflected ininternational decision-making. Thus, Mayors for Peace strongly urges all
governments, the United Nations, and all relevant international organizations, totake the following actions:1.

Adopt the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol at the 2010 NPT Review Conference
and ensure that multilateral negotiations on achievement of a
nuclear-weapon-free world by 2020 either commence directly in the
Conference on Disarmament or are launched by the 2010 UN General
Assembly.

2.

Require that all military forces respect the integrity of cities and prohibit theuse of explosive force in populated areas. (The same is expected of non-state
actors.) “Cities Are Not Targets!”

3.

Uphold human rights and work sincerely and urgently towards the eliminationof hunger, poverty, discrimination, violence, and environmental destruction.

4.

Abide by the Kyoto Protocol and any post-Kyoto agreements to make genuine,
continuous progress towards a solution to the problem of global warming.

5.

Shift funds from the military and preparations for war to activities that promote
peace, hunger reduction, assistance to refugees, protection of the environment,
and real solutions to the many other challenges facing the international
community.

6.

Create a new mechanism by which the will of cities can be regularly,
systematically and directly reflected within UN decisions.

Read by Mayor Akiba
Mayors for Peace hereby declares our collective intent to work passionately in a
spirit of solidarity and cooperation on the following:
I.

Urging world leaders, in particular those leading nuclear-armed states, to visit
the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 2010 to see firsthand the horror
wrought by these terrible weapons.

II.

Improving communication within our expanding membership to enhance ourcapacity to act for the elimination of nuclear weapons.
3III. Building strong relationships with national governments, local governments,
and NGOs to promote the Mayors for Peace mission through broad-based,
global cooperation.
IV. Establishing Hiroshima-Nagasaki Peace Study Courses in educational
institutions around the world to convey the message of the Hibakusha as one ofhumanity‟s most precious intellectual assets, and promoting “peace anddisarmament education” at all levels of society to spread the culture of peace.
We hereby resolve to work together with all sincere parties towards the goals andobjectives described above, pledging to do everything in our power to achieve a
nuclear-weapon-free world by 2020.
Thank you very much.
Mayor TaueThank you very much. The mayors have read the Nagasaki Appeal draft document.
Now, if you approve adoption of this Appeal, please indicate approval by applause.
(Applause.) Thank you very much. With your applause, the Nagasaki Appeal fromthe 7th General Conference of Mayors for Peace is adopted. This appeal will be sent
to all participating member cities, national governments, as well as international
institutions, including the United Nations.
In this General Conference of Mayors for Peace, 134 cities from 33 countries and 26
organizations are participating. On behalf of these participants, we would like to havesome words from Mayor Luc Dehaene of Ypres, who serves as a Vice President ofMayors for Peace. Mayor Dehaene, please.
Luc Dehaene, Mayor of Ypres
I am honored that I may say thanks to everybody here present at the end of this session.
Although I am on the other side of the world, I really feel at home for many reasons.
First of all, we had the honor to be present in the commemoration ceremonies on
August 6 in Hiroshima and August 9 here in Nagasaki. I think no similar ceremonies
are held in any city or region. It is good that people all over the world are taking careof the dead and remembering the past, not only for remembering but also for learning
the lessons from the past to prevent such horrible events in the future. It is also goodthat people worldwide have talked about the same.
4And as one of the labor union representatives this morning said, a visit with students
can change our lives. That also has happened to me during my presence here in Japan,
because we learned lessons from the history of the atomic bombings in Nagasaki andHiroshima. We have to reproduce what we learned from you to teach in our countries
although it is far from our homes. The moment here that we were confronted with thewitnesses, the survivors, then it became real, it became really human, and that was alesson for me, and I think, for all participants in this meeting. Something we cannever forget, we may not forget, and we shall not forget. And this is one of the main
issues Mayors for Peace has to work on: to learn the lessons from history to prevent
those horrible acts in the future.
And I am here to say thank you. First, I want to thank Mayor Taue for hosting us in
the beautiful way that you did. It was magnificent the way you hosted us here. It
was something exceptional. So thanks for that. And also thank you very much to
Mayor Akiba, our president. We are used to your hospitality and the way you keep
things moving along, so we proceed with everything we need to do. So thanks forthat.
Also, we have to thank all the keynote speakers for informing us, and I think that
information was very meaningful. At all the sessions, we learned a lot, and I hope all
the participants learned a lot from the remarks of the speakers.
Thanks also for the presence of the ambassadors, and other honorable guests, fellow
mayors, thank you well, „dank u wel‟ in Dutch. Thank you very much for being here
and for your participation. Thanks to all of you for participating in this 7th General
Conference, for your cooperation and especially for your active participation in
debating. Thank you for that.
Thanks to everybody especially for all the people in the organizing committee.
And I know that a lot of them had hard work not only during these days but in
preparing this General Conference, the days and the months before and during these lastdays. It was not only during the days, but also at night they had to work. Thank you
for that.
So, ladies and gentlemen, thank you again for being with us. Thank you for sharing
your ideas.
And as I already mentioned, we have a lot of work to do in the coming decades. We
may be marching on, as a speaker yesterday told us. From now on, we have to sprint
to reach our goal in 2020. So from to everybody on this particular spot or at home,5let‟s all go to work and pull all ranks of home, or bureau. Thank you all.
Mayor TaueThank you very much for your generous comments. As the organizer and host of this“homemade conference,” I would like to extend my apology if we have caused somediscomfort. I would like to thank the supporters, the chairpersons and the panelists.
I really appreciate your contribution.
The city representatives who are participating, the staff of the embassies, and also the
NGO members, thank you all very much for travelling here, and for participating in thismeeting. I really appreciate your efforts.
Further, those who are working backstage, the interpreters and the staff who contributed
to running this meeting, I really appreciate your work. I know it was a really hardschedule for you.
We have spent more than 60 years restoring our city, and maybe you haven‟t had
sufficient time to enjoy seeing Nagasaki City and enjoying our food. I do hope you
can come back again to relax and have a good time in our city.
By meeting with you today and during this conference, we enhanced our network, and I
do hope that this will give you the energy and the means to further promote thenuclear-free world we all want.
Lastly, but not least, I would like to ask for some closing comments from our president,
Mayor Akiba.
Mayor Akiba
Fellow peace workers, I will skip listing all the different categories of people who haveparticipated and who have contributed to the success of this conference. Mayor Taue
has been kind enough to mention all of you. So what I would like to say is: thank you
all for making this conference so successful. However I so have to thank Mayor Taueand the people of Nagasaki, the many volunteers, and the staff and everyone else who
devoted so much time to making sure this conference ran well. I am grateful to you
all.
Also, I would like to thank all involved for adopting such a beautiful, passionate – well
I was cautioned yesterday during the drafting committee that in Italy „passionate‟ is not
used for such purposes – but anyhow passionate and inspirational appeal. I am surethat the Nagasaki Appeal will carry us further toward our goal.
6

As I listened to the voices of the participants, I was thinking of a symphony with peace
and the abolition of nuclear weapons by 2020 as its themes. Some of you played theviolin beautifully, others played drums, and some even danced - you know whom I am
referring to. But the end result was a beautiful symphony in the form of the Nagasaki
Appeal.
With this, I am sure we can reach even more people so that next year the
Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol will be adopted, and based on that, our goal of abolishing
nuclear weapons by 2020 will be done with the enthusiastic support of more people
around the world.
And at the same time, I was also visualizing this entire conference as a piece of apatchwork quilt. Each person who participated brought with them, although it wasinvisible to many people‟s eyes, a beautiful, strong, warm piece of cloth. Many people
mentioned that it is important for us to find a common point of interest, a common
point where we can connect with each other. But in creating a patchwork quilt, it ismost important that each piece is different from the piece next to it; otherwise, thewhole quilt will not be a beautiful, strong or warm whole. So, each one of you who isdifferent has been greatly appreciated in bringing something inspirational, spiritual or
intellectual into this conference. And by stitching together two pieces, we expanded
our horizon. And then, as you add another, our vision becomes even broader andwarmer.
And as we leave this conference, I hope you will extend your hand to another piece ofbeautiful cloth, so that by next May this beautiful patchwork quilt will engulf the entire
globe with the spirit of peace so that it will become the starting point for the abolitionof nuclear weapons by 2020.
And I would like to conclude my thanks by quoting the last part of the peacedeclaration in Hiroshima: “We have the power. We have the responsibility, and we are
the Obamajority. Together, we can abolish nuclear weapons by 2020. Yes, we can.”Thank you very much.
Mayor TaueThank you very much. We are at the very end of this conference, but this is thestarting point in our map to the future. Thank you very much for your kind words.
In preparing for next year, please remember that we will hold here the 4th Nagasaki
Global Citizens‟ Assembly for the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons. I hope you will7

all be able to come back. If you do not want to travel, you can just stay and live here
in Nagasaki. However, we hope to see you as well at the NPT Review Conference thiscoming May. And four years from now, the venue of the 8th Mayors for Peace
General Conference will be Hiroshima, and I hope to see you there.
During the welcome reception, there was an unplanned mixed choir of Mayors for
Peace. I will again change our schedule, looking forward to our next reunion, to give
you a little more message. Please stay just a few more minutes so we can make somechange in the seating arrangements. The guests on the platform are requested to comedown to the floor, so that you will be able to enjoy this extra show a little more.
Thank you very much.
[Children’s Choir and Finale]

8The 7th General Conference of Mayors for Peace

Press Conference
August 10 (Mon), 2009 15:15 – 16:00
Nagasaki Brick Hall (Meeting Room)[Executive Cities of Mayors for Peace]

President (Hiroshima)

Vice President (Florence)

Tadatoshi Akiba
Mayor, City of Hiroshima, Japan

Susanna AgostiniCouncilor, City of Florence, Italy
Vice President (Akron)
Donald L. Plusquellic
Mayor, City of Akron, USA
US Conference of Mayors
Vice President (Malakoff)
Michel Cibot
General Manager, City of Malakoff, France
Association Française des Communes, Départements etRégions pour la Paix (AFCDRP)
Vice President (Ypres)Luc Dehaene
Mayor, City of Ypres, Belgium
Vice President (Granollers) Josep Mayoral i Antigas
Mayor, City of Granollers, Spain
Vice President (Waitakere) Robert Harvey
Mayor, City of Waitakere, New Zealand
Vice President (Halabja)
Khder Kareem
Mayor, City of Halabja, Kurdistan, Iraq
Vice President (Nagasaki)
Tomihisa Taue
Mayor, City of Nagasaki, JapanMC: Masayoshi Nakagawa, Director, Public Relations Section
Nagasaki City Hall
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, let us now start the press conference. My
name is Nakagawa, Director of the Public Relations Section of Nagasaki City. I am
acting as the Master of Ceremony.
The President and Vice Presidents of Mayors for Peace are gathered here, and we
expect the press conference to continue until four o‟clock. I would like to ask eachone of the participants to offer their impressions of the General Conference. Thesestatements will be followed by questions from the press. Let us begin the statementswith the President and Mayor of Hiroshima, Mayor Akiba, please.
Tadatoshi Akiba, Mayor of Hiroshima
President of Mayors for Peace
Some vice president city participants have to leave at 3:45, so I suggest that we ask
them to speak first. Is that OK?
Susanna Agostini, Councilor of Florence, Italy
In Italy, membership in Mayors for Peace is quite important. We have over 300 cities
in Italy that joined this association, and we hope to double that number in a short while.
After this meeting, we have high hopes, because the final appeal, is quite important.
We can give a new role to mayors all over the world. Being the real representatives of
the communities they work in, they are responsible for the health and the welfare of
their people. And we will say that by welfare we mean environmental, not only
physical, but also for job opportunities and all the civil rights. Mayors can help
guarantee a better quality of life for their citizens.
We really hope that after signing the appeal today, the possibility of one of these
horrible catastrophic events like the atomic bombing, together with other unfortunate
events going on in our world, could all be abolished by 2020. Also, we are gratefulfor what Mayors for Peace is doing because we think that mayors should work together
with civil society, representing the feelings of humankind. We are also glad that we
can work with the leaders of the main countries in the world.
That is why we really appreciate what President Obama is doing, and we hope he willcontinue to do that. We will follow him in this campaign towards the abolition of
nuclear weapons. We will keep on doing it in our cities and in our countries. As
1

Mayor Akiba said, we would like to thank him right now, together with Mayor Taue.
And we really hope our patchwork blanket will become bigger and bigger. Thankyou.
Nakagawa
Thank you very much. That was Ms. Susanna Agostini, Councilor of the City ofFirenze. Next is Mayor Plusquellic of Akron, please.
Donald L. Plusquellic, Mayor of Akron, USA
US Conference of Mayors
I begin by thanking Mayor Taue, staff and all of the individuals who have put on such a
successful conference here. And for all of us around the world, mayors, citizens of
our cities, we need to thank Mayor Akiba as well as Mayor Taue for their leadership in
this important issue that everyone throughout the world needs to understand and bebetter educated. And it seems to me that has been the common theme today.
One of our major goals is to lead as mayors and to be able to continue to educate people
on why what we are doing is vitally important. I am honored to be here representing
the US Conference of Mayors, over 500 mayors throughout the United States, who dosimilar things in our state legislatures, and in particular as a group in Washington tolobby our representatives to get them to do those things that are important to our
citizens. And I see Mayors for Peace as an important organization to educate, lobby
and continue to work to get people to understand why this is so important.
And as earlier speakers said today, one of the most important problems that we face
today is an economic one. Almost every country is affected, and yet this issue of
nuclear disarmament can help in that situation. We spend so much money in a
wasteful way, many would argue, spending it on military buildup, and many of thoseresources, much of that could go to dealing with the human needs throughout oursocieties.
In the United States, while we are viewed as a wealthy nation, we still have people who
are on the poverty line. We have housing problems, we have infrastructural problems,
and we have education problems in decaying schools. All of those problems arepresent in societies throughout our world. And if we are able to convince the world
leaders of our missions, of our goals in a timely manner, we could have the human race
address the many issues of how money being spent on nuclear weapons could be better2

used.
I want to close by talking about how moving and memorable the experience of theceremony was here; to be at the hypocenter, to think about what it was like 64 years ago,
and then to listen to a survivor, the hibakusha, the 9 year-old who has such vivid
memories of surviving that terrible day, is an experience that I will never forget. It issomething that I think we all have a responsibility to share throughout the world tocontinue to tell the story of the survivors who witnessed it firsthand, and to continue totry to educate a new generation.
As the ceremony ended, and as I faced many of you, I also recognized some of the facesof those who asked me questions. I want to address something because I am going tohave to leave, and many of you may want to ask the questions.
As a representative from the United States, I do not think it is necessary to try toreexamine and try to determine something about what was done more than 50 years ago.
By getting dragged down in that issue, we tend to waste time, in my opinion, when weshould be emphasizing that the two events that happened in August 1945 in Hiroshima
and Nagasaki should never ever be repeated again anywhere in this world.
And by being dragged into an argument or discussion that affects my father‟sgeneration, although he passed away many years ago, my father spent 4 years serving in
the Navy in the Pacific, his generation will always have a feeling and a belief that may
be different than another generation.
But as I tell people in my own hometown, I carry pictures of my grandchildren aroundwith me all the time. I keep it close to my heart, because it is for them that many of us
work to improve the world, to improve their lives, to improve what they will be able to
do in their lives, and it is, in my opinion, that focus that we, as leaders, as mayors, wholead in our own community and many instances lead our own nations that we take thismessage back and continue to speak loudly about the importance for my grandkids‟
generation. Do not focus on arguments that do not really matter so much right now;
the issue is making certain that this never happens again on the face of the earth.
That is what I pledge to do as a mayor, and I believe it is the thing that the US
Conference of Mayors can easily pledge, because we were one of the first, back in 1984,
to start passing and approving resolutions against nuclear proliferation, and we have3continued to do that numerous times in the last over 20 years.
I joined with all the mayors here to pledge our support for the Nagasaki Appeal and I
would urge national leaders throughout this world to focus on the future, the bright
future that we want for our grandchildren. Thank you very much.
Nakagawa
Please excuse the two previous speakers, as they must now take their leave.
The next speaker is from the City of Malakoff, General Manager Michel Cibot, please.
Michel Cibot, General Manager of Malakoff, France
Association Française des Communes, Départements et Régions pour la Paix
(AFCDRP)I would like to talk about what had happened in 1975. For the first time I was able tolisten to the testimony of hibakusha. That completely changed my life. Several
years later, I met with Mr. Araki, then mayor of Hiroshima City. I thought at that timethat we have to involve the citizens of Hiroshima to accomplish the total elimination of
nuclear weapons and ever since then I have visited Hiroshima many times. I also
attended the previous Mayors for Peace meetings. Through the meetings with mayors
and other city representatives, I was able to learn so many things. I believe this is likea university where I was able to learn the most precious things in my life. Now that
we have completed our mission, I hope that I would be enlightened with new things.
Today through the course of the discussions in the General Conference of Mayors for
Peace, I was also able to learn many things, which is one of the very significant
outcomes for me.
Another good thing about attending the General Conference is that we were able tooutline the progress we need to accomplish our mission, the total abolition of nuclear
weapons, and we were able to expand the organization. There has been progress
witnessed in the past several days. I think there was a tremendous progress. We havecompiled and approved the Nagasaki Appeal, and this Appeal can be considered one of
the instruments or tools, which can be utilized to explain to our citizens what we need todo. We hope that we will be able to spread this Appeal further through the network ofMayors for Peace.
As the Mayor of Akron pointed out, the reduction of the military budget by 30% withallocation for better humanitarian use, of course, is a most important and fundamental
4issue. It is unfortunate that we are not doing this today. And one more thing I would
like to stress is that nuclear weapons are on the extreme opposite end against theprotection of human rights, morals and international law. There is a total contradiction
between what we are doing and what we are aiming at. And this tends to be
disregarded in a nuclear-weapon state like France. As Professor Mogami said, theexistence of nuclear weapons, weapons of mass destruction and genocide, which candestroy everything on the globe, have to be totally eliminated. How can anyone wantto have something that could lead to the destruction of the entire human life?
Now I would like to express my appreciation to the host cities. I don‟t think I will beable to come back 50 years from now, but I will pass the baton to the younger
generations when the time comes. We hope that we will be able to send youngerdelegates from France next time, as we did this time. Now that we have completed
our mission, we are very much encouraged. Thank you very much.
Nakagawa
Thank you very much.
Ypres.

Now we would like to hear from Mr. Dehaene, Mayor of

Luc Dehaene, Mayor of Ypres, Belgium
When you ask your question to a mayor, you do not get an answer, but a speech.
try to be an exception.

I willThe question was “what is the most important thing you had in mind when you aregoing back home.” When I follow my brains, and think rationally, then this simple
document “Nagasaki Appeal” is very, very important. This appeal is a strong, clear
statement, as clear as it can be. And let us not forget that it represents the will of morethan 3,000 mayors worldwide. And I assure you that at the NPT conference in May
next year, our members will be close to 5,000.
But if I follow my heart, and think emotionally, then the meeting with the survivors iswhat I will never forget. And I am also thinking about the similarity that I felt as if I
were confronted with the suffering in my own home country and in my own home town,
the suffering of the generations of our parents and our grandparents. And I conclude
that that suffering worldwide is the same everywhere. So it is good to pay tribute
although it was a commemoration ceremony. I think it is a lesson you will neverforget. So thank you.
5

NakagawaThank you very much for your comment.
Now I would like to invite Mr. Josep Antigas, Mayor of Granollers.
Josep Antigas, Mayor of Granollers, Spain
It is my first visit in Japan, and the days I spent here in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, so far
from our home, were full and valuable and opened our hearts.
We lived four days full of passion. Mayor Akiba spoke in his speech about passion,and I think that in municipal politics, the mayors‟ work is full of passion as they speak
all day with citizens, with people. The main work for mayors is to speak to citizens, tolearn from citizens, and we know that the citizens‟ need is a peaceful world, a betterworld; a world where we can change bombs to words and violence to dialogue. We,
the mayors, want to represent this spirit in our cities, in our citizens.
We know that we will act for peace day by day from our cities, with citizens, andmayors are in the first row and have an important role in peace building in the world.
Mayors want to play this role worldwide.
We approved the document “Nagasaki Appeal” that shows a roadmap for the future, andwe know the future is based on education, and they are talking about between oldpeople and young people, the students and the old people. The old people and the
young speak together, and we can altogether build a better future. When we go backhome, we know we are stronger now, because we are together. Thank you.
Nakagawa
Thank you very much.
please.

The next speaker is Mr. Robert Harvey, Mayor of Waitakere,Robert Harvey, Mayor of Waitakere, New ZealandKonnichiwa. I greet you on behalf of the people of New Zealand. The hundred
mayors whom I represent here have all signed to be Mayors for Peace. And so I am
feeling a bit guilty to be honest, in a strange kind of way, because I come from a country
that as whole country is nuclear free.
New Zealand has been nuclear free since 1975, and I was a protester for many, many6

years against nuclear submarines and nuclear ships coming into the harbor. I‟ve goneout on my canoe and my sailing ship and tried to ram the American submarines, I am
glad that Mayor of Akron is not here to hear all this. But in 1975, New Zealand totally
decided no more nuclear anything.
And so, I bring you the greetings of all those mayors, the Prime Minister of New
Zealand, who is a friend of mine, and I handed my good friend here, Mayor Akiba, aletter from the Minister of Disarmament and Arms Control, which brought greetings to
you all.
I am very proud of this, that I do not have such a hard job to do. The mayors of all thecities of New Zealand have signed up to be Mayors for Peace, including all those of thesmall municipalities. Although we only have four million people, we have never been
attacked and that is a blessing also. But our children understand very much what
nuclear weapons can do. We understand Japan‟s past and the terror that happened.
And so I guess I am in a model country and I hear from my dear friends around theworld how hard it must be to convince a whole nation. I have done that in a way.
And in my life I have protested from the day that I saw the Hiroshima panels in
Auckland, probably I think in 1952 when I was 12 years old. I saw those giant panels
depicting the destruction and torture of the people of Hiroshima when I was 12, anddecided that I was going to live my life protesting. And now I am 68 years old and I
am the longest serving mayor of New Zealand, and it is an honor to be here in Nagasaki,
completing my life‟s work really in the anti-nuclear movement. I do not think I can
add anymore. It has been a great journey, and I am so proud to be in the presence of
two remarkable men, the Mayor of Nagasaki and the Mayor of Hiroshima. These arevery special people on this planet in the time that we live. Arigato.
Nakagawa
Thank you very much.

I would like to ask Mr. Khder Kareem, Halabja City Mayor.

Khder Kareem, Mayor of Halabja, Kurdistan, Iraq
I am sorry I cannot speak English, so I speak in Kurdish, but my colleague translate to
English. First of all, I would like to send best regards to Mayor Taue, Nagasaki who
welcomed us to this conference. And I also thank him for this beautifulcommemoration of 64 years since the A-bomb attack on this city.

7And I am very glad because I am with different people from different cities, different
nations, that we were working for one aim of peace; because several years ago we could
not connect to any nation or any people in our city due to the dictatorship of our regime.
But nowadays we can declare what we have in our minds for peace.
I do not want to take your time, but I would like to tell you one important thing. I
came from a city that was totally destroyed with chemical weapons. So I know thatwithout peace, human beings cannot live together.
Twenty one years before, our city was attacked with different kinds of chemical
weapons, as a consequence, more than five thousand civilians were killed, and morethan ten thousand were injured, and the rest of our people emigrated to Iran. At thattime, only a few countries in the world community showed any reaction to this tragedy.
But after twenty one years, this city neglected by the world community has now becomea center of peace not only for Iraq but also for the Middle East. We also have opened
an office for Mayors for Peace in Iraq, not only for Iraqi cities but also for neighboring
countries.
One of the things I was proud of is that if you ask the children in my city as well as theold men what is Nagasaki, Hiroshima, Ypres, and Marzabotto, they can tell you thedetails about these tragedies.
And we hope we can all work together for peace and, specifically, request the Presidentof all countries to visit the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We hope we can work
together to remember these cities, so new generations know what happened there.
Finally I would like to thank you again and we hope you will all work for our shared
aim that we could abolish nuclear weapons by 2020. Thank you.
Nakagawa
Thank you very much.

Now I would like to invite Mayor Akiba for your comments.

Mayor Akiba
This is the last day of our conference, and I am very glad that we adopted the Nagasaki
Appeal. The future direction of Mayors for Peace has a solid foundation. And I
believe that this is a very powerful appeal. I would like to have it adopted at the8upcoming NPT Review Conference next year.
For that purpose, various ideas on how to be involved with the NPT Review Conference
have been discussed. Each of those specific ideas might not have been reflected into
this appeal, but we got a lot of firm ideas and hints on how to be involved for thepromotion of the NPT Review Conference. We usually communicate via e-mail andsuch but it is significant for like-minded NGO representatives, citizens and also mayors
from around the world to get together to exchange their opinions, which we can see
materialize. And by meeting together and reaching a consensus, we can create evenmore energy. I believe that that is the fruit of our meeting.
And through this process, I confirmed various basic issues. The first one is, as
President Obama said in his very eloquent speech, the power to change the world iscoming from the individual, each of us. And we confirmed that this power is mosteffective when it is based on the history and experiences of tragedies in each city.
Secondly, though we do have potential energy, in order to utilize it or to make it real, we
have to start from a very basic level. We ourselves have to be involved in activities at
a local level. At the same time, collaboration is very important, and having
collaboration will create further big waves and energy with broader perspectives
internationally and globally. So we repeatedly used the word „together.‟ In the
Nagasaki Appeal, we also used the expression: “Yes, together we can abolish nuclear
weapons.” So it was confirmed during this meeting that working hand in hand we caneffectively promote our activities.
Thirdly, as the Mayor of Akron mentioned, we have confirmed that it is vitally
important for us to do certain things in order to give a brighter future to future
generations. That‟s why education is very important and nuclear experiences have tobe well communicated to the coming generations.
And finally, mayors who are the leaders of their cities got together in this General
Conference and adopted this wonderful Nagasaki Appeal. The number of member
cities is over 3,000 right now, and these 3,000 mayors are not stuck in the conventionalold framework. They have started to work on a new framework for the sake of a newgeneration in a new situation. This new framework indicates that the potential ofindividual citizens can be well utilized and well enhanced. It is a vision that must be
shared by their mayors. A lot of capable mayors with such vision and leadership
9attended the General Conference, and that‟s why this appeal was so good.
Therefore, we are able to have more hope for future activities, and in that sense, I am
grateful to you, to all the mayors and other participants for your contribution.
As for the press, we noticed by observing your reports that you are getting a better
understanding of our spirit, and you are providing good communication in a positive
way. I do appreciate your work. Thank you very much.
Nakagawa
Thank you very much.

Mayor Taue of Nagasaki, please.

Tomihisa Taue, Mayor of Nagasaki
I am asked to give my impression at the end of the General Conference of Mayors for
Peace. On behalf of the host city, I would like to express my appreciation, because
this is the first time the meeting was held solely in Nagasaki. Although there weresome small inconveniences, they were offset by people‟s endeavors and efforts. We
were able to end this meeting with smiles on our faces. For this I would like toexpress my gratitude. Especially to the interpreters; the many citizens of Nagasaki
who attended the Welcome Reception and the Closing Ceremony; and the children whosang and danced for us, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
I believe this Conference has given us a very good opportunity to disseminate the spiritof our A-bombed cities to the mayors gathered here from all corners of the world.
There were opportunities for them to listen to the voices of hibakusha. They went to
the A-bomb Museum, and they attended the Nagasaki Peace Ceremony. I am sure thefeelings, earnest wishes and experiences of the citizens of Nagasaki were felt by eachone of the mayors who attended. I believe that by connecting with local citizens
working to abolish nuclear weapons, they were able to understand the importance ofpeace. Our citizens showed how they are engaged in various arenas to try and achieve
peace. High school students report on their activities and the aging hibakusha
continue to tell their stories. I think this was very clearly heard by the mayors.
Secondly, I was encouraged by so many mayors having such a strong commitment topeace. I am sure that after they return to their respective countries and cities, they willtell everyone what they have accomplished over these past four days in Nagasaki. I
think that would be very significant.
10Thirdly, as a member of Mayors for Peace, I was able to renew my understanding andidea about the potential of Mayors for Peace. More than 3,000 municipalities havejoined Mayors for Peace and during the four days of this General Conference, we wereable to listen to the different conditions and backgrounds of participating cities, andtheir experiences of war. I was able to feel what they had experienced. Although
they have not experienced the atomic bombing, there are so many cities that haveexperienced massacres, genocides or other tragic incidents caused by human beings.
This General Conference was indeed a gathering of such mayors and the representativesof cities that feel the preciousness of peace. Even if there are differences from country
to country and we see negotiations at an impasse or stalemate, I believe that mayors will
be able to create our own new framework and network by helping our citizens openly
exchange their feelings.
In that sense, I am confident that in the future activities of Mayors for Peace will growand develop. As the number of member cities has rapidly increased and each member
city has its own background, a lot of evolving and developing in the administration of
the organization will be necessary.
In many ways, I came to recognize the importance of Mayors for Peace as well as themutual learning process. We hope that we will be able to sprint or jump onto the nextstage together. As Mayor Akiba said, „Together‟ is our key word. I hope that we will
be able to put another new step. Thank you very much.
Nakagawa
Thank you very much. We are a little bit behind the schedule, but we would like toentertain questions from the reporters. Please introduce yourself—your name and youraffiliation, and to whom you would like to ask your question. Kyodo News, please.
Question: Kyodo NewsI am Kawamoto from Kyodo News. Thank you very much for your hard work during
the past four days. Here is the first question from the journalists to Mayor Akiba andMayor Taue. The Nagasaki Appeal was adopted today, and there are 6 requests and 4
activities included. What are the most important elements of each one of these items?
Mayor Akiba
Of course there are many other things that we would like to incorporate into the11Nagasaki Appeal, but we narrowed them down to 6 and 4, so it is difficult for me tochoose which is the most important. Well maybe the priority is in the order of thenumber, number 1 is given the highest priority. I think that is correct and you can takeit as it is. If you ask us whether number 1 is definitely more important than number 2,
it is difficult for me to answer, because we do need to improve communication within
our network or membership as stated in number 2, but it is also important to ask the
major nuclear-weapon states‟ leaders to visit Nagasaki and Hiroshima as stated in
number 1. So everything is important and we would like to achieve everything indifferent stages. Of course we may prioritize them depending on the situation, buteach one of them is important. So in the best timing, in the best situation, we would
like to work to achieve all of these.
Mayor TaueI agree with Mayor Akiba. Well, maybe the perspectives are different, so we cannot
set an order of priority. But number 1, as overwrapped with what I mentioned in thePeace Declaration yesterday, is very important.
Nakagawa
The next person, please?
Question: the Chugoku Shimbun
My name is Kanasaki from the Chugoku Shimbun, and I have a question for Mayor
Akiba and Mayor Taue. Regarding the most important target announced in thisconference: the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol is to be adopted at the 2010 NPT Review
Conference. In what way do you envision the adoption of the Protocol at the NPT
Review Conference? For example, will it be an independent resolution like the
Resolution on the Middle East at the time of the 1995 Review Conference, when the
NPT was extended, or would the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol have to be incorporated
into the final document of the NPT? Since the agenda was already decided during the
PrepCom last May in New York, how will you go about achieving that? It must bevery difficult to include the Protocol into that agendum. What is your thought orplanning process?
Mayor Akiba
Of course in order to achieve our goal, there are many challenges. And by solving
these challenges, we will achieve our final goal. What is important in that process?
If we limit our scope of activities and fail to implement other things that are out of our
12scope, we would limit our potential, even though we have great potential to realize ourgoal. So of course depending on the timing, and depending on the situation, we haveto utilize such potential as much as possible. Our final aim is to abolish nuclear
weapons by 2020, and for that purpose, we have to ask every possible area or forum toutilize the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol. Any form would be fine, including an
adoption at the NPT Review Conference, or at the UN General Assembly prior to it.
Therefore, we do not want to narrow down our possibilities beforehand.
Mayor Taue
Many cities have joined us to help with the 2020 Vision campaign. And by setting a
specific goal for our activities, we have been able to get a lot of cities to join us. Thisis because we have specified a final target date. From that perspective, I think the2020 Vision has played a big part. As Mayor Akiba mentioned, to what extent we canprogress depends on the situation. Thank you.
Question: the Nishinippon Shimbun
My name is Mori, from the Nishinippon Shimbun. In order to have theHiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol adopted, the draft Protocol has to be proposed at the NPT
Review Conference. Which country is going to make the formal proposal, if that isdecided? Would you please let us know which country is going to put this protocol on
the table? Was this discussed during the General Conference of Mayors for Peace?
Mayor Akiba
Of course if we are going to propose this to the United Nations, the official members are
representatives of the state parties. Therefore, we have to ask the representatives of themember states of the UN to submit this to the NPT. In the past, we have engaged indifferent sorts of activities for the preparation for the NPT Review Conference in May
2010. For example, during the NPT PrepCom this year, we discussed it withambassadors as a lobbying activity, and before that, we have done similar things in
Geneva and New York as well.
We hope that we will be able to witness and realize the fruit, or we will be able to see
the results in the General Assembly of the United Nations in this coming fall. I thinksome good points were raised in the PrepCom. But it was just a short time after theinauguration of President Obama and our appeal was not adequate to be understood.
But now that President Obama has come to the stage, I think the situation is muchbetter.
13

At this time we had a lot of different ambassadors who visited Hiroshima as well as
Nagasaki to participate in this General Conference of Mayors for Peace. Throughthose connections in channels, we hope that we will be able to strengthen what we havebeen doing for future activities.
Nakagawa
We would like to extend the time until 4:30, so we can accept one or two morequestions.
Question: the Asahi Shimbun
I am Kado from the Asahi Shimbun. I have a question for Mayor Akiba. This time
more than 100 Japanese cities took part in the conference, for the first time since you
opened membership to domestic cities in Japan. By doing so what kind of expectation
did you place on them? I hear that the number of Japanese member cities is 302,
accounting for about 20% of the total number of municipalities, and how do you
propose to use them in the future?
Mayor Akiba
Well, the number is not correct, so please get the correct number from the Secretariat.
The number of domestic member cities in Japan is over 360.
Democracy works on the power of the majority. For example, in elections, themajority has influence. With that power comes the ability to influence. In this sense,
we would like to make the best use of the growing number of member cities.
I do not know how this will affect the upcoming Lower House General Election
scheduled at the end of this month. Probably our stronger power may influence theresults of the election, and if so, I am very glad.
Question: the Chugoku Shimbun
Thank you. I am from the Chugoku Shimbun. I have a question for Mayor Akiba.
This is the 7th General Conference of Mayors for Peace, and compared to the 6th or 5th
Conferences, did you see anything unique this time? Compared to the previous one,the world situation regarding nuclear weapons has been drastically changing, so fromthat perspective, do you see any differences compared to the previous conferences?

14

Mayor Akiba
This time and every time we have very intense gatherings. If I dare to find somedifference, then maybe due to President Obama‟s speech in Prague, we saw morepositive participation in this conference.
For instance, at the draft committee meeting for the Nagasaki Appeal, which we havejust briefly reported on, we had a very good discussion on the draft. Of course there
have been good discussions in the previous meetings as well, but generally speaking, adraft meeting often takes time and gets stuck on detailed points. But this time wecame up with the final draft in a very short time, and all opinions were discussed andsummarized in very positive ways. That would imply that all of us believe that it‟spossible to achieve the target of the 2020 Vision campaign and we committed ourselvesto doing so. In that sense, this was a very energetic conference.
Well, it maybe due to outside situations, namely President Obama‟s speech. At thesame time, even though Hiroshima and Nagasaki share the same experience of the
A-bombings, the background of the history, the nature and the culture is different
between our two cities. We organized the meeting this time in Nagasaki, and withassistance from the citizens of Nagasaki as well as the hibakusha in this area, who had
quite an impact and influence on the conference. I believe that this led to a very
successful conference. Of course there was also a great contribution from Mayor Taue.
Nakagawa
Any further questions? If not, we would like to conclude this press conference.
No more questions? Thank you very much.

15