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Ahead of the G7 Leaders’ Summit taking place in Hiroshima in May, ICAN convened G7 parliamentarians in Tokyo and Hiroshima for a three day Forum on the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons. The adopted statement urges the G7 governments to recognize the humanitarian consequences of the use of nuclear weapons, condemn threats to use nuclear weapons, and discuss ways to promote their total elimination. They recognised the TPNW as the comprehensive and effective legal tool to do so.
The forum provided parliamentarians from G7 countries the space to discuss the urgency of nuclear disarmament given the current international security situation and pathways to achieving their total elimination through the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. They also heard from delegates from the G7 Youth Summit about youth’s expectations, and they had the unique opportunity to hear testimonies from Toshiko Tanaka, a survivor, hibakusha, who was only 6 years old when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima.
In Tokyo, the parliamentarians discussed the current international security situation regarding nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation; the full implementation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and ways to universalize the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and the role G7 countries can play to achieve a nuclear weapons free world. In Hiroshima, they heard from Ms Toshiko Tanaka, survivor of the Hiroshima nuclear attack and Mr Karipbek Kuyukov, a survivor of nuclear testing from Kazakhstan before visiting the Peace Memorial Museum and laying flowers at the Hiroshima Cenotaph.
The final statement adopted in Hiroshima on April 29th asserts:
We urge the leaders of the G7 to meet with and listen to the Hibakusha, to acknowledge the devastating harm caused by the use of nuclear weapons on people and the environment, to unequivocally condemn any and all threats to use nuclear weapons, and to recognize the significance of the TPNW in advancing global nuclear disarmament efforts. We maintain that all countries should engage in sincere and constructive negotiations to achieve the total elimination of nuclear weapons so that never again will any person be subjected to the fate endured by the Hibakusha.
Read the full statement here.
Participants of the G7 Parliamentarian Forum on the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons:
McPherson, Heather / House of Commons, NDP, Canada
Boldrini, Laura / Camera, Partito Democratico, Italy
Satouri, Mounir / European Parliament, Green, France/EU (video message)
Spellerberg, Merle / German Bundestag, Green, Germany (video message)
Ribeiro-Addy, Bell / House of Commons, Labour, UK (video message)
Inoguchi Kuniko / House of Councillors, LDP, Japan
Minoru Terada / House of Representative, LDP, Japan (video message)
Hiraguchi Hiroshi / House of Representatives, LDP, Japan
Taniai Masaaki / House of Councillors, Komeito, Japan
Hiraki Daisaku / House of Councillors, Komeito, Japan
Kusaka Masaki / House of Representative, Komeito, Japan
Fukuyama Tetsuro / House of Councillors, CDP, Japan
Morimoto Shinji / House of Councillors, CDP, Japan
Tamaki Yuichiro / House of Representative, NDP, Japan
Nishioka Hideko / House of Representative, NDP, Japan
Soramoto Seiki / House of Representative, Nippon Ishin, Japan
Shii Kazuo / House of Representative, JCP, Japan
Kasai Akira / House of Representative, JCP, Japan
Inoue Satoshi / House of Councillors, JCP, v
Kushibuchi Mari / House of Representative, Reiwa Shinsengumi, Japan
Fukushima Mizuho / House of Councillors, SDP, Japan
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Note 29 April 2023: Please note more photos will be added to this folder as the forum unfolds.