| de vredessite / kernwapens 2011 | Protest by Mayors for Peace against subcritical nuclear tests On July 20, the executive cities of Mayors for Peace sent a letter of protest against the subcritical nuclear tests conducted in December 2010 and in February 2011, to the United States and the U.S. Embassy in Japan, on behalf of our 4,803 member cities in 151 countries and regions. Mayors for Peace Secretariat C/O Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation, 1-5 Nakajima-cho Naka-ku Hiroshima 730-0811 Japan Phone:81-82-242-7821 Fax:81-82-242-7452 His Excellency Mr. Barack Obama President The United States of America Letter of Protest Mayors for Peace has worked long and hard to help people around the world fully share our hibakusha’s experiences of the atomic bombing and their wish for peace. Our goal has been to help everyone develop the strong will required to abolish nuclear weapons. Now we learn that, despite these efforts, the U.S. has conducted two subcritical nuclear tests. While you did release information in June about tests that took place at the Nevada test site last December and this past February, we have only just become aware of this disappointing news. Though these tests did not involve nuclear explosions, they can be taken as further evidence that the U.S. intends to maintain its nuclear stockpile indefinitely. Coupled with the fact that you revealed the testing only several months later, in the same fashion as the new type of nuclear testing you conducted last November and March, these tests have aroused profound suspicion regarding your intentions and have betrayed the hopes of the hibakusha and the millions of others who seek a nuclear-weapon-free world. In particular, given the extreme anxiety over the threat of radiation caused by the accident at the Fukushima Power Plant, this testing of weapons is utterly unacceptable. On behalf of the 4,803 cities in 151 countries and regions that are members of Mayors for Peace, we vehemently protest. We urge you to comprehend fully the bitter sorrow of the survivors who witnessed the bombing, understand their sincere wish for peace, and begin negotiating now for the earliest possible realization of a world free from nuclear weapons. July 20, 2011 The Conference of Mayors for Peace Kazumi Matsui President Mayor of Hiroshima, Japan Tomihisa Taue Vice President Mayor of Nagasaki, Japan Donald L. Plusquellic Vice President Mayor of Akron, USA Ivan Knez Vice President Mayor of Biograd na Moru, Croatia Freddy Thielemans Vice President Mayor of Brussels, Belgium Matteo Renzi Vice President Mayor of Florence, Italy Josep Mayoral i Antigas Vice President Mayor of Granollers, Spain Khder Kareem Vice President Mayor of Halabja, Iraq Stephan Weil Vice President Lord Mayor of Hannover, Germany Catherine Margate Vice President Mayor of Malakoff, France Harry Lyons Vice President Lord Mayor of Manchester, UK Aldrin L. San Pedro Vice President Mayor of Muntinlupa, Philippines Sergey Sokolov Vice President Acting Mayor of Volgograd, Russia Luc Dehaene Vice President Mayor of Ypres, Belgium Daniel Tsakem Executive Mayor of Fongo Tongo, Cameroon Gerald Tremblay Executive Mayor of Montreal, Canada Marcelo Ebrard CasaubonExecutive Mayor of Mexico City, Mexico terug/back | de vredessite / kernwapens 2011 | |