ON THE OCCASION OF THE 70th ANNIVERSARY OF THE BOMBING OF HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF DEMOCRATIC LAWYERS (IADL) CALLS FOR A COMPLETE BAN ON NUCLEAR WEAPONS AND THE RECOGNITION OF THE RIGHT TO PEACE AS A FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN RIGHT
The International Association of Democratic Lawyers (lADL) a non-governmental organization with consultative status with ECOSOC. and affiliates around the globe mark the 70th Anniversary of the United States’ use of Nuclear Weapons in Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9 with the following call to ban Nuclear Weapons and to recognize the Human Right to Peace as a fundamental human right.
Seventy years ago the United States dropped the first nuclear bombs in history on population centers in Hiroshima and Nagasaki indiscriminately killing hundreds of thousands of Japanese people. The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were criminal because at that time Japan was already defeated and had taken steps to surrender. In fact with the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki the United States launched the so-called Cold War marking the beginning of its nuclear threat.
IADL pays respect to the thousands of victims of this horrific war crime and crime against humanity, acts for which no one has yet been held accountable.
Since its creation in 1946 IADL has struggled for a complete ban on nuclear weapons as well as for disarmament. which are obligations under international law.
Article 26 of the UN Charter imposes an ongoing obligation on the Security Council to establish a system for the regulation of armaments “in order 10 promote the establishment and maintenance of international peace and security with the least diversion for armaments of the world’s human and economic resources “,
Article VI of the Non-proliferation Treaty create s a positive obligation for the signatory States to work towards nuclear disarmament.
Each of the Parties 10 the Treaty undertakes 10 pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating 10 cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early dale and 10 nuclear disarmament, and on a treaty on general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control.
None of these obligations has been met.
In 1950. at a time when the US actually considered using nuclear weapons in the Korean War, IADL joined the campaign for the Stockholm Appeal launched by the World Peace Council, signed by over 350 million people. demanding ..the outlawing of atomic weapons”. This impressive worldwide movement resulted in the United States restraint from using nuclear weapons in Korea.
But contrary to this strong call for peace, since then. new types of nuclear weapons have been developed which are more destructive and yet smaller. The risk of the use of nuclear arms in a conflict is therefore greater than ever. Consequently the need for a complete ban on nuclear weapons and for effective nuclear disarmament is a necessity for mankind.
All fundamental rights have been the result of people’s struggles. The right to peace and the right to live in a world free of nuclear arms can only be achieved if the people of the world unite, as they did around the Stockholm Appeal in 1950. in a worldwide movement to impose compliance with the above mentioned disarmament obligations under international law.
IADL along with its affiliates around the globe demand the recognition of the Human Right to Peace as a fundamental human right and demand the elimination of nuclear weapons as one way to accomplish this right.