Dozens of ceremonies were held across Britain to commemorate the atomic bombing of Japan in 1945. Labour CND’s Ruth Brown is pictured here (second left) at Tavistock Square Gardens in central London. At a conservative estimate, 250,000 were killed as a result of US bombs dropped on Hiroshima on 6 August and Nagasaki on 9 August, and second and third generation Hibakusha are still suffering the effects.
Today, and on the 9th August, the world will commemorate the 72nd anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which indiscriminately killed over 100,000 civilians and military personnel. Many survivors live with the horrific humanitarian consequences, including cancer caused by the exposure to nuclear radiation.
Despite the binding obligation under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and technology, many nuclear weapons states including the UK are failing to live up to this commitment and even attempting to undermine efforts. This is hard to justify when we reflect on the horrors of nuclear mass destruction.
Now more than ever, we must redouble our efforts to build a world that genuinely meets the security needs of its people. The historic progress made by majority of governments around the world preparing to sign the recently adopted UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons is a step in this direction.
