Analysis by Jamshed Baruah<\/p>\n\n\n\n
GENEVA (IDN) – The powerful message of a joint statement by diverse faith groups, calling for abolition of nuclear weapons, has been strongly backed by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon\u2019s reaction to President Barack Obama\u2019s decision to visit Hiroshima on May 27.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obama would be the first sitting U.S. President to visit the Japanese city during the G-7 economic summit that was annihilated by the first ever atomic bomb, dropped by the United States on August 6, 1945. It was followed by the second bomb that devastated Nagasaki three days later, killing a total of more than 200,000 people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ban \u201cvery much welcomes\u201d Obama\u2019s decision to visit Hiroshima, UN Spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. \u201cFor the secretary-general, one of the enduring lessons of Hiroshima is the need to abolish nuclear weapons once and for all,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe would hope that the visit is again a global message on the need for nuclear disarmament, which is something that the Secretary-General is calling for,\u201d the Spokesman said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The remarks attributed to Ban were grounded in his profound commitment to a nuclear weapons free world. At the same time, these reminded of Obama\u2019s historic speech in April 2009 in Prague, in which he pledged to rid the world of nuclear weapons. His presidency, Obama declared, would see “America’s commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The interfaith joint statement<\/a> issued at the start of the second session of the 2016 Open-ended Working Group (OEWG) from May 2 to May13 in Geneva highlighted the moral and ethical imperatives for the abolition of nuclear weapons. The OEWG is purported to taking forward multilateral nuclear disarmament negotiations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Group was convened by the United Nations General Assembly based on a resolution adopted in December 2015 to substantively address concrete effective legal measures, provisions and norms needed to attain and maintain a world without nuclear weapons. Its first session was held in February 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The statement, endorsed by nearly 35 faith groups and individuals, was presented to OEWG Chair, Ambassador Thani Thongphakdi of Thailand on May 3. Its significance lies in the fact that since the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, the continued existence of nuclear weapons has \u201cforced humankind to live in the shadow of apocalyptic destruction\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because their use would not only destroy the past fruits of civilization, it would also disfigure the present and consign future generations to a grim fate, declares the statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The statement adds: \u201cNuclear weapons are incompatible with the values upheld by our respective faith traditions \u2013 the right of people to live in security and dignity; the commands of conscience and justice; the duty to protect the vulnerable and to exercise the stewardship that will safeguard the planet for future generations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The joint statement focuses on three crucial issues its authors are urging the OEWG to address:<\/p>\n\n\n\n – Heed the voices of the hibakusha<\/em> (atomic bomb survivors) urging the abolition of nuclear weapons, whose suffering must never be visited on any other individual, family or society, by reaffirming that the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons at the core of all nuclear disarmament efforts;<\/p>\n\n\n\n – Continue to call upon all states to participate in the OEWG and subsequent processes in order to fulfil their obligations to pursue in good faith and bring to a conclusion negotiations leading to nuclear disarmament;<\/p>\n\n\n\n – Outline in its report to the UN General Assembly, with the maximum degree of detail, a legal framework that will facilitate the prohibition and elimination of nuclear weapons under strict international control, which should be negotiated without delay in a form open to all states and blockade by none.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sources close to faith groups said that three eminent faith organisations \u2013 PAX<\/a>, the Soka Gakkai International (SGI<\/a>) and the World Council of Churches (WCC<\/a>) \u2013 had taken the lead in drafting the statement titled Faith Communities Concerned about the Humanitarian Consequences of Nuclear Weapons.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt is our sincere hope that the discussions during the OEWG will pave a concrete roadmap leading to \u2018the beginning of the end\u2019 of the nuclear weapons age,\u201d said Hirotsugu Terasaki, Executive Director of Peace and Global Issues of the SGI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe encourage all participants to begin from the foundation of moral, ethical and humanitarian perspectives. Our opposition to nuclear weapons must be bigger than words, and should be made binding through a new legal instrument prohibiting them once and for all,\u201d added Susi Snyder, Nuclear Disarmament Programme Manager for PAX.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Explaining the WCC\u2019s stance, Dr. Emily Welty, Acting Moderator of the WCC Commission on International Affairs said: \u201cOur deepest held convictions and faith call us to reject security that is dependent on the threat of nuclear weapons. They should be seen as a sinful misuse of our resources.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The statement builds on previous interfaith statements on the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons issued in April 2014 in Washington DC<\/a>, December 2014 in Vienna<\/a> and May 2015 in New York<\/a>. [IDN-InDepthNews \u2013 11 May 2016]<\/p>\n\n\n\n Related article: Campaign for a Nuclear Weapons Free World Intensifies<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n