Pugwash Conference Opens in Hiroshima

Hiroshima, Nov. 1 (Jiji Press)–The 63rd Pugwash Conference on Science and World Affairs opened in the western Japanese city of Hiroshima on Saturday, bringing together about 190 participants from around 40 countries and regions to mainly discuss the elimination of nuclear weapons. During the five-day conference in the city, which was devastated by a U.S. atomic bomb 80 years ago, scientists and other experts will exchange views on topics such as nuclear disarmament and security in the Middle East. They are slated to adopt a Hiroshima declaration on Wednesday, the final day. The theme of the latest conference is “80 Years After the Atomic Bombing–Time for Peace, Dialogue and Nuclear Disarmament.” “Nuclear weapons remain with us,” Pugwash President Hussain Al-Shahristani said in the opening ceremony. “The risk of misusing (them) is increasing.” “Let us use our discussions to find new pathways for disarmament, new frameworks for dialogue and new bridges between nations, regions and generations,” he continued. Eighty-eight-year-old hibakusha atomic bomb survivor Keiko Ogura shared her experience of the 1945 atomic bombing in a session Saturday, stressing, “We shall not repeat the evil” of nuclear weapons. At another session, Terumi Tanaka, 93, co-chair of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, also known as Nihon Hidankyo, which won last year’s Nobel Peace Prize, said that “nukes are not weapons but murder tools,” adding that he wants everyone on Earth to understand this. Ahead of the event, Al-Shahristani and others visited Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park and laid flowers at the cenotaph for the atomic bomb victims. They also visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]