Hiroshima marked today the 75th anniversary of the atomic bombing of the Japanese city, with the city’s mayor criticizing the Japanese government for refusing to sign the nuclear weapons ban treaty.
The appeal was made by the Mayor of Hiroshima, Kazumi Matsui, to about 800 people gathered in the city’s Peace Park, including Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and survivors of the nuclear attack on the city on August 6 1945.
Precisely 75 years ago, in Hiroshima, at 08:15 local time, the first atomic bomb was launched in a war scenario, by the American bomber Enola Gay. The bomb had the code name “Little Boy”, three meters long, 71 cm wide and a power equivalent to 13 kilotonnes of TNT, causing the death of 140,000 people.
Three days later, on August 9, 1945, the United States dropped a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki, at the capitulation of Japan and at the end of World War II.
“I call on the Japanese Government to heed the call by Hibakusha [people affected by the explosion] to sign, ratify and become part of the Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty,” said the mayor.
The treaty was approved at the UN on July 7, 2017 by 122 member states, but for it to enter into force it needs to be ratified by at least 50 nations, and so far only 40 have done so.
Japan, like the nuclear powers, was left out of this initiative, which adheres to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which restricts the possession of atomic weapons and which came into force half a century after being signed by the vast majority of nations in the world, including Japan.
These two treaties, stressed the mayor, are “critical instruments to eliminate nuclear weapons”.
“Now, more than ever, world leaders must reinforce their determination for this legal framework to work effectively”, insisted, before the approximately 800 people, one tenth of the participants who attended the ceremony last year, which this time had reduced due to the risk of spreading covid-19.
The mayor of Hiroshima spoke after the presentation of flower offerings at a memorial relating to the tragedy which was followed by a moment of silence while a bell was ringing, just as the bomb fell on Hiroshima.
In a later message, the Japanese Prime Minister avoided any talk about the Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty, but said that his country will fight “with tenacity” to reach a world free of nuclear weapons.
Sunday will be the time to mark the 75th anniversary of Nagasaki.
