International

On August 9, at a widely attended annual commemoration ceremony held to honor the victims of the atomic bombings of 1945, the Mayor of Nagasaki, Tomihisa Taue, issued an invitation urging leaders of all countries currently possessing or developing nuclear weapons to visit Nagasaki, a city which has suffered nuclear destruction.

Speaking in a public forum in Nairobi, Hillary Clinton signaled a potential shift in US opposition to the International Criminal Court. Clinton said she feels “great regret” the US is not a signatory. A number of states, including China, Russia, India and the United States, have not joined the present 108 member states. Chile to be 109th as of September.

Rafael de la Rubia exposed the World March proposals during an event gathering some of the main representatives from NGOs for the abolition of nuclear weapons. The conference took place yesterday, August 6, in Hiroshima. The central issue was the role of organizations in the revision of the Treaty of Non-Proliferation of atomic weapons.

It’s encouraging that U.S. and Russia leaders have once again put nuclear disarmament on the negotiating table, but we cannot forget that we live in a highly dangerous moment. The danger stems also from the madness of violent groups with possible access to nuclear material and the real risk of accident that could set off a devastating conflict.

Read the complete address “Peace Declaration, 2009” of Tadatoshi Akiba at Hiroshima’s bomb ceremony on 6th August. The mayor of Hiroshima and president of the NGO Mayors for Peace declare that “we support President Obama when he said in Prague in April of this year ‘the only role for nuclear weapons is to be abolished’.

On the anniversary of the nuclear bomb attack on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, an expedition of Spaniards and Turks has reached the summit of legendary Mount Ararat to “pay homage to the memory of the victims of that disaster and strengthen an open and diverse global movement that rejects all forms of violence and affirms the human being as the highest value.”

The spokesman for the World March for Peace and Nonviolence, Rafael de la Rubia, accepted Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba’s invitation to participate in the ceremony to remember the bombing of Hiroshima. During the event’s main speech, Akiba emphasized the U.S. president Barack Obama’s efforts towards the abolition of nuclear weapons over the next decade.

Crisis brings out the extremes in Japan’s character. While maintaining its organization and efficiency, the country has begun to increasingly target the legality of foreigners. I will begin this coverage of the comemmorative ceremonies and events surrounding the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, by relating some experiences to set the context for today, August 5, 2009.

The event took place before the flame that has burned since 1945 in memory of those who died, and that will not be extinguished until all nuclear weapons are eliminated. AT the event, representatives of the World March committed to carry the flame of Hiroshima through every country the WM will travel through, demanding the abolition of nuclear weapons.

Eduardo Gozalo, Aurora Marquina, Alvaro Orus and a few others reached the meadow at 3400 metres and set up Base camp 1, with the plan to continue the climb towards the peak of Mount Ararat, the mythical site where it is said Noah’s Ark came to rest after the Great Flood. They will continue towards Base 2, located at 4500 metres.