Hibakusha at Vienna conference

December 9, 2014

Hibakusha shares horrific account from Hiroshima at Vienna conference on nuclear weapons

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/social_affairs/AJ201412090057

By TAKASHI OKUMA/ Staff Writer

VIENNA--A woman who survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima at the age of 13 gave a spellbinding account and powerful statement at an international conference on nuclear weapons here, sharing her horrific experiences with attendees.

“Today, 69 years later, people are still dying from the delayed effects of one atomic bomb,” said Setsuko Thurlow, 82, a resident of Canada, at the Third Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons on Dec. 8. “Humanity and nuclear weapons cannot coexist indefinitely.”

Representatives from the United States and Britain joined their counterparts from 155 countries at the two-day conference that began on Dec. 8, the first time either nation has attended the sessions. Chinese experts were also in attendance.

Thurlow said delivering a speech to drive home the importance of a nuclear-free world at the conference was an opportunity she has long been looking forward to.

"We hibakusha became convinced that no human being should ever have to repeat our experience of the inhumane, immoral, and cruel atomic bombing, and that our mission is to warn the world about the reality of the nuclear threat and to help people understand the illegality and ultimate evil of nuclear weapons," she said.

Born in Hiroshima in 1932, Thurlow was a witness to the destruction unleashed by the nuclear blast on Aug. 6, 1945. She was working in the city at that time after being mobilized for a student work unit.

Thurlow survived after being pulled out of the rubble of a collapsed building, but not her older sister and her nephew. They were so badly burned that they died from their injuries.

In 1954, Thurlow moved to the United States on a study program. She made her residence in Toronto after marrying a Canadian in 1955.

Since then, Thurlow has campaigned against nuclear weapons by recounting her experiences in English and by organizing photo exhibitions in a large number of cities.

Thurlow said she has felt discomfort whenever world leaders discussed the nuclear issue only from a perspective of deterrence.

But she said she sees some progress in the movement toward a world without nuclear weapons as, at long last, global attention has begun focusing on the humanitarian aspect.

"It gives me great satisfaction that these conferences have renewed the focus on the humanitarian dimension of nuclear weapons, the fundamental issue, yet long neglected by the shifting of the world's attention to the doctrine of deterrence in the name of national and international security," she said.

In concluding her address, she expressed her determination to turn Vienna into a landmark venue where opponents of nuclear weapons begin negotiating a ban treaty toward their objective.

“Here in Vienna let us move forward, courageously, by concretizing our vision so that we can make the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki the appropriate milestone to achieve our goal: to prohibit and eliminate nuclear weapons,” she said.

Meanwhile, Toshio Sano, head of the Permanent Delegation of Japan to the Conference on Disarmament, sparked controversy the same day as he called for a more positive view on nuclear weapons at the conference.

The diplomat was referring to an opinion reaffirmed at the session that disastrous consequences, which the global community could not deal with, would follow a nuclear blast. He called the belief too pessimistic.

But anti-nuclear groups took exception with his comments, saying such a remark should not come from a representative from Japan, which experienced the disastrous consequences of the 1945 atomic bombings.

December 8, 2014

Nuclear impact conference opens in Vienna

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/nuclear.html

Dec. 8, 2014 - Updated 21:37 UTC+1

Delegates from nearly 160 countries gathered in Vienna on Monday to discuss the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons.

The third international conference devoted to the issue drew a record number of attendees, including nuclear powers Britain and the United States for the first time.

Participants will examine the use of nuclear weapons and discuss their humanitarian consequences.

Hiroshima bombing survivor Setsuko Thurlow said the explosion changed her beloved hometown into a wasteland in an instant.

She said nobody else should have to go through that horrific experience. She said now is the time to create a legal framework to ban nuclear weapons.

Delegates at previous meetings discussed a treaty to ban nuclear weapons.

A US representative said the most effective way to remove the threat of nuclear arms is through realistic and gradual disarmament. The representative said the US is opposed to a ban.

The delegates will hold a session for open discussions on Tuesday.