Judge Christopher G. Weeramantory
President, International Association of Lawyers against Nuclear
Arms (IALANA)
We have come to the conclusion of a most inspiring session of remembrance
of the enormous suffering this city has undergone 59 years ago and
this seminar has been rich in reflections on the continuing dangers
posed to the world by the possibility that such an event may happen
again somewhere, sometime and in some unforeseen way. The sufferings
of Hiroshima are a lesson to all the world of the importance attaching
to a concerted worldwide effort to end the danger of the worst man
made threat to the continued existence of the human race, of human
civilization and of human values.
We have reflected in these proceedings on the fact that far from
the nuclear danger being lessened or negatived, it has grown and
become more threatening. There are at least a dozen important ways
in which the nuclear danger has grown since Hiroshima. Not only
has the weapon been made much more destructive. It has entered many
more hands and the know-how with which it can be put together is
continually spreading. At present rates of dissemination of information,
the knowledge necessary to create such a weapon cannot much longer
be kept secret within the hands of a few military establishments.
Information technology is spreading at a phenomenal rate and we
may soon reach the situation where the knowledge necessary to make
this diabolical weapon may become generally available.
There are numerous groups in the world who are non-state actors
on the international scene ranging from major corporations to terrorist
networks and separatist movements and even individuals themselves
who would want to have this means of exercising irresistible power.
If the world does not unite to contain this menace there will be
all sorts of irresponsible hands into which the weapon may fall.
There is also the possibility of nuclear accidents. Problems of
storage of 30,000 or more nuclear weapons, problems of defects and
leakages, problems of carriage over the sea ways, in the air and
over the land routes of the world, problems of hijacking of nuclear
arms and nuclear materials and the sale of nuclear knowledge by
people once in the nuclear establishment are other sources of additional
danger. Moreover there is the possibility of an accidental operation
of hair trigger mechanisms set ready to respond to intruders into
the airspace of a country, for mechanical error in such delicate
instrumentation cannot be avoided. If that should happen it could
unleash a nuclear war.
In all these numerous ways the danger continues, so long as the
world community is unable to unite to resolve and end this menace.
That resolve will not come unless the people of the world unite
to protect themselves, their children and the human race by forcing
governments to be reasonable and end this menace rather than seeking
to cling on to this as a source of national power, even if it means
the destruction of humanity.
The 60th anniversary of this terrible event is a stark reminder
of the fact that 60 years have passed without our being able to
achieve this irreducible minimum of protection for the continuance
of the human race. If humanity does not end the bomb, the bomb will
end humanity. That lesson should go out to all the world from Hiroshima
today, and a campaign which is massive, worldwide, intense and passionate
should be launched over the coming year to ensure that we make a
firm beginning to the process that will spell the end of these weapons.
I would also emphasis that the need for popular education on the
dangers of the bomb to present and future generations, the health
damage caused by it, the extent of the devastation that can be caused
by a nuclear exchange and the principles of international morality
and law which totally outlaw this weapon - all of these are skimmed
over everyday when in fact they should be drilled into the public
conscience. All of these are left untouched by educational authorities
and the media. All of these mechanisms of information need to be
triggered now if humanity is to survive.
The greatest danger in matters like this is complacency and the
false feeling that since a nuclear war has not occurred for nearly
60 years it is an unlikely event. We must stir up the public of
the world to the increasing possibilities of nuclear war, the increased
destructiveness of the nuclear weapon and the increasing circle
of wielders of nuclear power.
This is a solemn duty imposed upon every peace loving and concerned
citizen at this solemn moment when we take stock of how little has
been done in 60 years to end the greatest menace that humanity has
ever faced.
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