Protest letter against the US nuclear test (July 20, 2011)

July 20, 2011

His Excellency Mr. Barack Obama
President
The United States of America

His Excellency Mr. John V. Roos
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
of the United States of America
Embassy of the United States of America in Japan

Letter of Protest

The City of Hiroshima 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 A-bombed city of Hiroshima, I vehemently protest.

I 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.

MATSUI Kazumi
Mayor
The City of Hiroshima