Press Release: 3rd August 2019
Activists Demand End to Nukes on Hiroshima Anniversary
Between Tuesday 6th and Friday 9th August, Trident Ploughshares is organising a series of protests in London to commemorate the 74th anniversary of the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and to draw attention to the continuing effects of nuclear weapons in the world today.
With tensions mounting between key nuclear weapon states, Trident Ploughshares is calling for four days of action to highlight the links in the nuclear chain today, as well as drawing attention to enormous public and social cost of Trident. The majority of the world’s non-nuclear weapons states voted through a nuclear weapons ban treaty, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, in 2017. However, the UK has actively attempted to undermine the Treaty, whilst the USA has ended Iran Nuclear Deal which was aimed at preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
There will be protests at a number of locations, beginning on Tuesday with the UK headquarters of Lockheed Martin, one of the world’s largest arms companies and manufacturer of key components of Trident. Some of the actions will be announced during the week.
Chris Bluemel, of Trident Ploughshares said:
“The continued possession of nuclear weapons by a minority of countries, including the UK, presents a continuing danger to a world in which a majority of states have given a clear indication that these weapons have no place. The anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki should remind us of the danger these weapons continue to pose.”
The four days of action will coincide with the Hiroshima-Nagasaki International Fast, which is supported by Trident Ploughshares, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, several Quakers and Church Groups, and many groups worldwide including the International Campaign for the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons (ICAN)
CONTACT: Chris Bluemel:
Notes to editors:
1 In the short term (first six months) the atomic attacks killed approximately 225,000 people, around half of that number on the days of the attacks, 6th and 9th August, 1945.
2 The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) was adopted by overwhelming vote at the UN in July 2107. Prior to the Treaty’s adoption, nuclear weapons, though clearly illegal by the basic principles of international humanitarian law, were the only weapons of mass destruction not subject to a comprehensive ban, despite their catastrophic, widespread and persistent humanitarian and environmental consequences. The new agreement fills a significant gap in international law. The TPNW prohibits signatory nations from developing, testing, producing, manufacturing, transferring, possessing, stockpiling, using or threatening to use nuclear weapons, or allowing nuclear weapons to be stationed on their territory. It also prohibits them from assisting, encouraging or inducing anyone to engage in any of these activities. A nation that possesses nuclear weapons may join the treaty, so long as it agrees to destroy them in accordance with a legally binding, time-bound plan. Similarly, a nation that hosts another nation’s nuclear weapons on its territory may join, so long as it agrees to remove them by a specified deadline. The Treaty also deals with the disproportionate effect of ionised radiation on women and girls. Indeed, the whole ethos of the Treaty’s development is seen as a unique step forward in global disarmament with the voices of women prominent in the civil society and diplomatic contributions to its progress, in contrast to the conventional male-dominated discourse around security. To enter into force the Treaty requires ratification by 50 states. So far 24 states have ratified, but 70 have already signed it, which is a preliminary to the more complex and slower process of ratification by national legislatures. The P5 nuclear-weapon states (US, UK, China, Russia and France) are critical of the Treaty and claim it will destabilise global security. The US, with the UK as a compliant partner, is applying background pressure on non-nuclear states not to sign and ratify the Treaty. In its leaked communication to NATO states in advance of the adoption of the Treaty the US urged a vote against adoption on the grounds of the potential effectiveness of the Treaty
3 The first protest is on Tuesday 6 August, at 1545, outside Lockheed Martin UK HQ, Cunard House, 15 Regent Street SW1Y 4LR.