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On this anniversary which reminds us about war and the horror
war brings, Greenpeace - once again - commits itself to creating
peace.
We envision a world where the kind of death and destruction
caused in Hiroshima and Nagasaki can never happen again. We
envision a future where there is no fear of nuclear weapons and
their destructive power. We envision a future where terrible
conflict provoked by the very existence of nuclear weapons has been
totally eliminated. To honour those who died as a result of nuclear
weapons unleashed in Japan, we must all work together to create
this world.
From every corner of the planet, across 40 countries and
representing 2.8 million supporters, Greenpeace sends its solemn
promise that it will continue fighting for peace. Today we also
delivered messages of peace from citizens around the world and the
point is crystal clear: to create lasting peace all nations must
eliminate all their nuclear weapons - as well as the dangerous
materials and technologies used to create them.
Read the
messages of peace flown in Hiroshima.
This double imperative is more urgent than ever. Since the
atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, eight other
nations have acquired nuclear weapons. Meanwhile countries like
Japan intend to produce nuclear weapons useable material. But it's
not too late to take action.
The first step is up to leaders of nuclear weapons states. They
must lead by example and honour past promises to eliminate their
nuclear arsenals. They must stop using nuclear weapons as a
threatening tool - a tool to prop up self-interested world views
which fail to recognise how the fates all nations and all peoples
are inextricably intertwined. Next month at the Millennium Summit
Review, leaders of Nuclear Weapons States will have the opportunity
to set aside self-interest in favour of the common good. What the
world's people expect from this meeting is that negotiations start
for nuclear disarmament - negotiations that start NOW.
The responsibility falls not just on nuclear weapons states.
Leaders of countries like Japan which intend to produce dangerous
nuclear weapons usable material must immediately abandon their
plans. As long as deadly substances like plutonium are produced,
the threat of nuclear weapons proliferation exists. By pursuing a
plan that will create eight tonnes of nuclear weapons material
Japan also dramatically weakens its own call for nuclear
disarmament.
It was 34 years ago that 12 activists sailed their ship into the
heart of the US nuclear weapons test zone. The memory of lives lost
in the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki propelled them forward.
Greenpeace will continue remembering those lost lives. But we will
also focus on the world we want to create: one where people from
all over the planet unite in common cause for our common good. With
their messages sent from all over the world to Hiroshima today,
that's exactly what people did today. Will their leaders
follow?
Signed by
Gerd LeipoldInternational Executive
Director Martin Prieto, Executive Director, Greenpeace
ArgentinaPeter Mullins, Executive Director, Greenpeace Australia /
PacificPeter De Smet, Executive Director, Greenpeace BelgiumFrank
Guggenheim, Executive Director, Greenpeace BrazilBruce Cox,
Executive Director, Greenpeace CanadaBernhard Drumel, Executive
Director, Greenpeace Central and Eastern EuropeGonzalo Villarino,
Executive Director, Greenpeace ChileHoward Liu, Executive Director,
Greenpeace ChinaJiri Tutter, Executive Director, Greenpeace Czech
RepublicPascal Husting, Executive Director, Greenpeace
FranceBrigitte Behrens, Executive Director, Greenpeace GermanyNikos
Charlambides, Executive Director, Greenpeace
GreeceAnanthapadmanabhan (Ananth), Executive Director, Greenpeace
IndiaDonatella Massai, Executive Director, Greenpeace ItalySteve
Shallhorn, Interim Executive Director, Greenpeace JapanPaul
Delaunois, Executive Director, Greenpeace LuxembourgAhmet Bektas,
Executive Director, Greenpeace MediterraneanAlejandro Calvillo,
Executive Director, Greenpeace MexicoLiesbeth van Tongeren,
Executive Director, Greenpeace NetherlandsMargaret Crozier,
Executive Director, Greenpeace New ZealandLennart Daleus, Executive
Director, Greenpeace NordicSerguei Tsyplenkov, Executive Director,
Greenpeace RussiaSanae Shida, Interim Executive Director,
Greenpeace South East AsiaJuantxo Lopez de Uralde, Executive
Director, Greenpeace SpainKaspar Schuler, Executive Director,
Greenpeace SwitzerlandStephen Tindale, Executive Director,
Greenpeace UKJohn Passacantando, Executive Director, Greenpeace
USA
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