An Appeal on the Final Judgment of the International Peoples' Tribunal on the Dropping of Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki

At 29 minutes and 45 seconds past 5am on July 16, 1945, the world's first plutonium bomb was exploded at Alamogordo in the Mexican Desert. Scientists involved in this nuclear development were totally unaware of the fact that they had become prisoners of the tremendous power of science, which would cause serious damage to both mankind and nature.

On July 16, 2007, the International Peoples' Tribunal on the Dropping of Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki delivered the final judgment and declared 15 Americans including President Franklin Roosevelt and President Harry Truman guilty of the atomic bombing of these two cities.

It was the first time ever that the legal responsibility of these Americans for this crime was clearly acknowledged. Although this tribunal was not conducted by an official international or national legal organization, it was set up in accordance with a proper charter, and the evidence presented and the legal base thereof is as valid as that accepted by any public judicial body.

It is necessary for citizens to review history by passing judgment on war crimes in order to build a peaceful society based upon knowledge of the past. In order to achieve world peace in the 21^st century, it is necessary for any national government to accept the principle that it must act in accordance with international law, and that it must respect international law as the fundamental basis for world peace and order.

Today we are fortunate to have participated in the historic, epoch-making event of judging the responsibility of the Americans who dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The government of the United States must realize that it has a responsibility and duty to accept the judgment and to sincerely and faithfully fulfill all the recommendations put forward by this tribunal.

The long-lasting justification for the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (i.e., the argument that it was necessary in order to end the war quickly) is based on a wrong and false interpretation of relevant historical facts. The tribunal made it clear that such a justification is a politically motivated explanation by the U.S. authorities to excuse themselves.

However, through the final judgment of this tribunal, we Japanese, also, should learn to acknowledge our own war responsibility. Recently, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution on the question of Japanese military comfort women, requesting the Japanese government to offer an official apology to former comfort women and to take historical responsibility on this matter in a clear and indisputable manner. In order to properly take responsibility and to gain the trust of our neighboring Asian nations it is necessary to reconsider our own past faulty behaviour. Such issues as the exploitation of comfort women, as a consequence of invasion, colonization or occupation of neighboring countries, must be reassessed and a new attitude must be adopted.

We strongly request the U.S. President, Mr. George W. Bush, to accept the final judgment and recommendations that the International Peoples' Tribunal on the Dropping of Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki delivered. We request him to apologize officially and to pay compensation to all the victims of the atomic bombings and to those who are still suffering psychological, physical and economic pain as a result of radiation sickness.

At the same time, we strongly request the Prime Minister of Japan, Mr. Shinzo Abe, to immediately offer an official apology and compensation to all the victims of Japanese wartime atrocities and their surviving relatives.

These requests are made in the name of all the A-bomb survivors and citizens of Hiroshima and Nagasaki who supported the International Peoples' Tribunal on the Dropping of Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Finally, we strongly request that all nations possessing nuclear weapons recognize that the threat or use of nuclear weapons could be a serious crime in accordance with the rules of international law.

July 16, 2007

Issued by the Executive Committee of the International Peoples' Tribunal on the Dropping of Atomic Bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the Memorial Hall of the A-Bomb of Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum in Hiroshima Peace Park

For more info. visit: http://www.k3.dion.ne.jp/~a-bomb/indexen.htm