Protest letter against the US subcritical nuclear test (November 10, 1999)

November 10, 1999

The Honorable William Jefferson Clinton
The President
The White House
Washington, D.C. 20500
The United States of America

His Excellency Dr. Thomas Stephen Foley
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
of the United States of America
Embassy of the United States of America in Japan

Letter of Protest

On the ninth of this month, the United States conducted its eighth subcritical nuclear test. After your previous such test, people around the world seeking nuclear abolition raised their voices in protest demanding that you immediately halt this testing and take active steps toward the elimination of nuclear weapons. I am outraged that you have ignored those voices and have again wilfully conducted another test. On behalf of the citizens of Hiroshima, I vehemently protest.

With the military coup in Pakistan and the refusal by the US Senate to ratify the CTBT, momentum toward nuclear disarmament in the international community is dying, and the danger of nuclear weapons proliferation and even use is mounting. At this time of crisis, the United States and other nuclear-weapons states should accept their obligation to engage positively in the effort to ban nuclear weapons and build a stable and peaceful world.

The city of Hiroshima demands that you listen conscientiously to the wishes of the international community, call an immediate halt to your subcritical nuclear testing, and work with a genuine will toward abolishing nuclear weapons.

Tadatoshi Akiba
Mayor of Hiroshima