Press release - 5 August, 2005
On the eve of the 60th anniversary of the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Greenpeace renewed its call to world leaders to make real their decades old commitments to nuclear disarmament and for the Japanese government to abandon plans to produce nuclear weapons usable material.
On eve of 60th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Greenpeace volunteers fly Peace Doves, bearing messages of peace, "No More Hiroshima", "Yes to Peace", "No to Rokkasho" in Japanese as wellas in English, beside the A-Bomb Dome Memorial in Hiroshima, Japan
10 000 "Wings of Peace" messages sent to Greenpeace by people
from 155 countries were attached to large dove-shaped balloons and
flown in front of the Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Memorial to commemorate
the more than 300,000 people who died in the atomic bombings. "To
honour those killed and to make sure what happened here in
Hiroshima never happens again, we must work together to create
peace" said Kieran Longridge of Greenpeace International. "Next
month at the United Nations, our leaders can start this work. At
the Millennium Review Summit (1) world leaders must urgently take
responsibility for their past nuclear disarmament promises,
including the immediate commencement of negotiates on a treaty that
will eliminate nuclear weapons." "Eradicating the nuclear threat is
more urgent than ever," warned Longridge. Since the bombings of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki, eight nations in addition to the United
States have acquired nuclear weapons - Russia, United Kingdom,
France, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and N Korea. "Countries with
nuclear weapons must lead by example and eliminate their arsenals."
"Japan too must strengthen its call for peace and nuclear
disarmament, it should start by abandoning plans to begin for
plutonium production at the Rokkasho-Mura reprocessing plant " said
Atsuko Nogawa of Greenpeace Japan. "So long as deadly substances
like plutonium are produced, the threat of nuclear weapons
proliferation will always exist." Greenpeace has actively protested
against nuclear testing in the Pacific by both the American and
French governments in the past. At today's ceremony, under a banner
declaring "Yes to Peace; No to Rokkasho" representatives from
Greenpeace offices around the world recommitted the international
organization to its campaign for peace and working for and end to
nuclear weapons and technologies and materials used to create
them.
Other contacts: Mary MacNutt, Greenpeace International Communications +81 (0)903 686 9171Kieran Longridge, GPI Disarmament Spokesperson +61 418 420 112Atsuko Nogowa, Greenpeace Japan Nuclear Campaigner +81 (0)80 5088 3048Shaun Burnie, GPI Civil Nuclear Spokesperson + 81 (0)80 5088 3048Michael Kessler, GPI Media Officer (Europe) + 34 660 637 053
Notes: (1) The Millennium Review Summit is a Heads of Government Meeting that will take place at the United Nations in New York on the 14, 15 and 16 September 2005. Greenpeace is an independent campaigning organisation that uses non-violent creative confrontation to expose global environmental problems to force solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future.