[E-rundbrief] Info 2008 - Gensuyikuo protest - 75th anniversary Trinity Nuclear Test

[Matthias Reichl]

E-Rundbrief Info 2008 - Japan Council against A and H Bombs/ 
Gensuyikuo (J): Statement in protest against President Trump’s Message 
on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Trinity Nuclear Test.

Bad Ischl, 23.7.2020

Begegnungszentrum für aktive Gewaltlosigkeit

www.begegnungszentrum.at

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The Japan Council against A and H Bombs (Gensuikyo) issued the 
following statement in protest against President Trump’s Message on 
the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Trinity Nuclear Test.

Statement:

President Trump’s Message on the Occasion of the 75th Anniversary of 
the Trinity Nuclear Test Shows No Sign of Remorse and Blatantly Declaring
Further Nuclear Arms Buildup

July 17, 2020

YASUI Masakazu, Secretary General

Japan Council against A and H Bombs (Gensuikyo)

On July 16, U.S. President Trump released a Presidential Message on 
the 75th Anniversary of the Trinity Nuclear Test held in New Mexico.

Referring to the Manhattan Project which produced the atomic bombs, 
the Message says that it “helped end World War II and launch an 
unprecedented era of global stability” and “Our nuclear deterrent has 
also greatly benefitted our Nation and our allies”. This is a 
laudatory statement trying to justify the current nuclear buildup and 
modernization program promoted by the Trump Administration.

We strongly protest against his attempt to justify the production of 
the atomic bombs, rather than shifting to the elimination of nuclear 
weapons in the 75th year of the atomic bombing, which blatantly 
betrays the aspiration of the Hibakusha and challenges the world 
public opinion in support of the elimination of nuclear weapons.

The atomic bomb attack was made on Hiroshima and Nagasaki when both 
Germany and Italy had surrendered and Japan had lost its war potential 
completely though it had yet to make a decision to surrender. It was 
the attack against undefended cities, where most of the victims were 
non-combatants. It was an unprecedented scale of mass destruction, 
which cannot be justified even in the light of international law in 
those days.

Furthermore, President Trump’s pretense that the development and use 
of atomic bombs have brought global stability or economic prosperity 
is too crazy to deal with. In the wake of the tragedy of Hiroshima and 
Nagasaki, the massive nuclear arms race between the U.S. and Soviet 
Union started, which divided the world and brought humanity to the 
brink of annihilation. It was triggered by the production and use of 
nuclear weapons by none other than the United States.

We cannot overemphasize the fact that current U.S. nuclear build-up 
and modernization poses grave danger not only to the safety of 
humanity but of the citizens of the U.S. and its allies.

Under the direction of President Trump, the U.S. has abandoned some 
existing treaties for nuclear arms control and is now stepping out for 
a new nuclear arms race with Russia.

However, the deepening crisis over COVID-19, by which the U.S. people 
have suffered the greatest sacrifice, shows that what is most needed 
now is global cooperation and efforts for peace based on the U.N. 
Charter, disarmament and elimination of nuclear weapons, not inciting 
further confrontation or division.

In the present world, whether over the question of nuclear weapons 
prohibition, climate change, pandemic, poverty and social gap or 
gender equality, overwhelming majority of countries are working hand 
in hand with the civil society in creating a major trend toward 
solving these problems, focusing on the “human security”.

We strongly call on the United States to reflect on its own history of 
having caused the crisis of annihilation of humankind, and change its 
course towards prohibition and elimination of nuclear weapons and 
achieving a peaceful and just world.

Japan Council against A and H Bombs (Gensuikyo)
Tel: +81-3-5842-6034   Fax: +81-3-5842-6033  Email: 
antiatom at topaz.plala.or.jp　

-- 

     Matthias Reichl, Pressesprecher/ press speaker,
     Begegnungszentrum fuer aktive Gewaltlosigkeit
     Center for Encounter and active Non-Violence
     Wolfgangerstr. 26, 4820 Bad Ischl, Austria,
     fon: +43 6132 24590, Informationen/ informations,
     Impressum in: http://www.begegnungszentrum.at