"You can change the world if you speak up" October 26, 17:55

The world is moving in a place that has nothing to do with me.

I think most people have that kind of feeling.

We will deliver the story of young people and seniors in life who continued to believe that the world could be changed and really moved.

The treaty banning nuclear weapons, which they did not give up, will take effect.

Nuclear weapons will be "illegal" under international law next year.

(Fumitaka Sato, Directorate General of the United States / Junya Yabuuchi, Department of Science and Culture / Shigeji Matsumoto, Directorate General of Europe / Akiko Koyama, Directorate General of Europe)

“Nuclear Weapons Norms We Change”

"If the nuclear powers do not change, we will change the norms

.

"

2007, Melbourne, Australia.

There were people who started new activities to really eliminate nuclear weapons.

That is the international NGO, ICAN = International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.

There are nuclear weapons in the world that can destroy the earth many times.

Once nuclear weapons are used, a huge number of people will die, and the sun will soon come to a "nuclear winter", leading to a food crisis.

Members of a group of doctors who have carried out such a simulation and promoted the nuclear abolition movement, and young members who agree with the purpose have joined one after another.

The dynamics of young people

They first witnessed their activities at an international conference in Oslo, the capital of Norway, in 2013.

In early March, there was still snow in front of the hotel in Oslo, which was the venue.

On the morning of the first day, ICAN members lined up along the road were screaming at the representatives of the governments of each country.

Most are young people in their 20s and 30s.

"Thank you for coming!"

Instead of putting pressure and demands in the foreground from the beginning, first "thank you" for participating in the debate on the abolition of nuclear weapons.

The appearance of young people, which is different from the conventional image of the "nuclear abolition movement," was reflected freshly.

Nuclear abolition movement New approach

The nuclear abolition movement has been repelled by an idea called "nuclear deterrence theory."

With this idea that "there are nuclear weapons, the great powers avoid conflicts and do not cause war", the possession of nuclear weapons was justified, and attention tended to be focused on the "power balance" of each country.

The conference in Oslo focuses not on such "deterrence" and "balance", but on what nuclear weapons are and the catastrophic impact on humankind when used = "inhumanity".

The simple but new approach has become widespread, with approximately 130 countries attending the conference at the behest of Norway and others.

For each diplomat ...

ICAN members who have been involved from the preparatory stage of the conference in collaboration with the Norwegian government.

It was also moving under the surface at the actual meeting where the government representatives of each country played the leading role.

Aiming for a break, he spoke to each representative from each country in a friendly but enthusiastic manner throughout the halls and aisles of the venue.

"Other countries are speaking. Isn't your country speaking?"

ICAN repeatedly urged countries to speak because the "momentum" of the conference could have a major impact on the path that followed.

The first meeting that is neither regular nor deciding any framework.

Unless the statements of many countries give a positive momentum to the abolition of nuclear weapons, a one-time meeting could end and a new approach could stumble from the beginning.

Although I felt impatient at times, the members of ICAN held many meetings and, together with the Norwegian government, elicited statements from participating countries to the effect that "nuclear weapons should be abolished."

"I changed the stage"

At the end of the day, it was decided that the representative of Mexico would finally give his name to the host country of the next conference and deepen the discussion of "nuclear inhumanity" with the enthusiasm and applause surrounding the venue.

ICAN executive

"We changed the stage by making it possible to talk about nuclear weapons, which had been talked about only in the context of interstate security, in the context of" humanitarianism "that everyone can agree on. It is a big achievement."

Similar conferences were held one after another in Mexico and Austria the following year, gradually creating a trend to regard the issue of nuclear weapons as a humanitarian issue.

The representative of Mexico agrees with ICAN's claim.

In 2016, he said, "We can no longer accept the veto power of nuclear-weapon states to stop nuclear disarmament. We must not stop the flow of nuclear disarmament."

Countries that were economically dependent on the United States and reluctant to express their opinions were also calling for a "legal ban on nuclear weapons" by this time.

What was born out of this was the momentum to create a "nuclear weapons ban treaty" that bans the development, possession, and use of nuclear weapons.

Under treaties led by Austria and Mexico, ICAN advised representatives of each country on the content of speeches at international conferences, and increased the number of countries supporting the treaty one after another.

Nuclear weapons that do not decrease

Since the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, 75 years ago, the nuclear arms race began with the intensification of the Cold War.

The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 progressed until just before the nuclear war between the United States and the former Soviet Union.

The number of nuclear warheads peaked in the late 1980s at about 70,000 worldwide.

There are still 13,000 nuclear weapons in the world that can destroy the earth many times.

In addition to the United States, Russia, Britain and France, nine countries, India, Pakistan, Israel, and North Korea, have nuclear weapons.

Five nuclear-weapon states, including the United States, are obliged to reduce nuclear disarmament under the NPT Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, but the number of nuclear warheads does not decrease easily.

In addition, the US-Russia Nuclear Disarmament Treaty and the INF-Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty expired in 2019, and the Trump administration is active in developing new nuclear weapons.

Among them, the A-bomb survivors who have appealed for the abolition of nuclear weapons are getting older, and every year they hear the news of the A-bomb survivors interviewed in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Contrary to the thoughts of the A-bomb survivors, the international situation surrounding nuclear weapons is becoming more dangerous.

A-bomb survivors who felt hope

When I met the members of ICAN, the A-bomb survivors who had been complaining for many years felt hope.

Setsuko Thurlow.

At the age of 13, he was exposed 1.8 kilometers from the hypocenter in Hiroshima and became the underlay of a building.

I ran away from my life, relying on the light that came in and the voice that I heard.

He has lived in Canada since the 1950s and has talked about his experiences around the world and appealed for the abolition of nuclear weapons.

"If you don't sue, many people will not know the damage caused by the

atomic bomb.

"

America has a strong awareness that the war has ended due to the atomic bomb.

And Canada, where many are indifferent.

Over the years, I have gradually increased the number of people who sympathize with me, but my interest in the nuclear issue has not always increased, and I sometimes felt the limits.

At that time, ICAN members met in Ottawa, the capital of Canada.

Mr. Thurlow

"I was surprised to see new ideas coming up one after another among the energetic young people. The members of ICAN are talking about the inhumanity of nuclear weapons, and one of us has been working for many years. I felt it wasn't. Their presence was also healing. "

Seeing the young people of ICAN, who are connected through social media and lobbying diplomats in each country, they felt reassuring and trust in the activities of the A-bomb survivors.

Geneva, Vienna, New York ...

Mr. Thurlow was also present at international conferences, diplomatic negotiations, and ICAN activities, and talked about his experience of being bombed after losing eight relatives such as his sister and four-year-old man, and 351 alumni, and appealed for the abolition of nuclear weapons. I came.

We have witnessed many times the diplomats of each country are moved by Mr. Thurlow's speech.

Treaty adopted Nobel Peace Prize

The tenacious activities of the A-bomb survivors and young people involving diplomats will bring great results.

July 7, 2017, United Nations Headquarters First Conference Hall in New York.

At that moment, I was so excited that the big applause didn't stop for a few minutes.

After a total of one month of negotiations, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was adopted with the approval of 122 countries and regions.

ICAN won the Nobel Peace Prize that year, and Mr. Thurlow addressed the award ceremony.

"Don't give up, keep pushing, go towards the light." He

called on him to continue his efforts toward the abolition of nuclear weapons even in difficult circumstances, citing his own experience of being exposed to the atomic bomb under the building.

“Keep raising your voice”

There are words that Mr. Thurlow reiterates.

Mr. Thurlow

"If the world is strange, you have to speak up. No matter how long it takes, you have to keep changing. That is my activism."

Even at the age of 88, Thurlow continues to work to eliminate the nuclear weapons that plagued them, increasing the number of people who agree with them.

Treaty banning nuclear weapons to come into effect next year

ICAN Finn Secretary-General

"A treaty banning nuclear weapons that was thought to be impossible comes into effect. Nuclear weapons are not only unethical, they are now illegal."

Mr. Thurlow

"We have been exposed to the indifference of society and looked down on by diplomats of nuclear powers, but we have achieved it. We do not waste the dead and suffer the same. I have been appealing for many years with a vow that the tasters will never come out again. I am full of accomplishment, satisfaction and gratitude. "

October 24, 2020.

The number of countries and regions that have ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons has reached 50.

"Ratification" is a procedure legally recognized in each country, and the treaty will come into effect on January 22, next year.

A-bomb survivors and ICAN members in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, who have long sought to abolish nuclear weapons, exclaimed, "The end of the era of nuclear weapons has begun."

Young people, older generation activists who have become theoretical pillars, and hibakusha cooperate.

It persistently increased the number of countries that supported it, which led to the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

Will the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons Change the World?

Will the treaty really change the world by eliminating nuclear weapons?

The United Nations has 193 member countries and territories, and it is desirable to have at least 100 participants in order to make the treaty universal.

Nuclear powers are clearly opposed.

Some countries are pressing ratifying and supporting countries to leave the treaty.

And Japan, the only country that was bombed.

The government has often stated that it will not participate, saying that the treaty will not lead to a reduction in nuclear weapons, although it shares the goal of eliminating nuclear weapons.

In reality, even if a treaty is made, nuclear weapons will not disappear immediately.

Nevertheless, ICAN members believe that the creation of a treaty has great significance in creating a norm that "nuclear weapons are illegal" and can change the world.

Making a nuclear weapon a "weapon that must not exist"

There is precedent.

The anti-personnel landmine ban treaty (effective in 1999) and the cluster munition ban treaty (effective in 2010) were created through the efforts of civil society and volunteer countries.

Initially, some countries opposed it, but now the anti-personnel landmine ban treaty has 164 countries and regions, and the cluster munition ban treaty has 110 countries and regions.

It has become a new international norm, putting great pressure on non-member countries to refrain from manufacturing, possessing or using it.

Countries that have promoted the ICAN and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons aim to make nuclear weapons, like these weapons, recognized as "weapons that should not exist."

Reduction of nuclear weapons, which until now had to be left to the voluntary movement of nuclear-weapon states.

A precedent is being set that could be changed by the power of civil society and countries without nuclear weapons.

And to Japan

ICAN Secretary-General Finn has sent this message to us in Japan, the country that was bombed.

Secretary-General Finn

"I want you to think more about whether the Japanese really want the United States to use nuclear weapons to protect the country, or whether they want Japan to attack other countries with nuclear weapons. The humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons, economics Only Japan knows the damage and the price directly. Why hesitate to join the Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty and what are you afraid of? "

How do you perceive their thoughts that have changed the world?

Fumitaka Sato,

General Bureau of the United States

Joined the United Nations in 1992. Currently in charge of interviewing the United Nations in New York.

Worked at the Osaka Bureau, International Department, Beijing, Seoul, etc.

We interviewed A-bomb survivors during the Hiroshima Bureau era.

Junya Yabuuchi

, Faculty of Science and Culture Joined the

Department in

1996. Medical desk of the Faculty of Science and Culture.

Atomic bomb desk at Nagasaki station.

Covered the adoption of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons when stationed in New York.

Network News Department

Shigeji Matsumoto Joined in

1998 Worked at Okayama Bureau, Social Affairs Department, etc.

I CAN was interviewed locally at the Oslo conference during the Hiroshima Bureau era.

Akiko Koyama,

Directorate General of Europe

Joined in 2011. Started coverage of the atomic bomb and ICAN at the Hiroshima Bureau.

After working in the International Department, he is currently interviewing the United Nations European Headquarters.