Reflections on The 70th anniversary of the atomic bombings at Hiroshima and Nagasaki

by Ghassan Shahrour

•6 August 1945

•Triangle Area Chapter

•Eastern North Carolina Region

Red Cross hospital: One of the few medical facilities standing in Hiroshima.

Hiroshima Red Cross

Hospital & Atomic-

bomb Survivors

Hospital

Dr Marcel Junod: like the palm of a hand.

‘We (…) witnessed a sight totally

unlike anything we had ever seen

before. The centre of the city was a

sort of white patch, flattened and

smooth like the palm of a hand.

Nothing remained. The slightest trace

of houses seemed to have

disappeared.

•ICRC delegate Dr Marcel Junod, first foreign

•Doctor into Hiroshima, 1945. ICRC photo.

•29 Monument in Memory of Dr. Marcel Junod

City wiped out eighty percent. All hospitals destroyed or seriously

damaged. Inspected two emergency hospitals. Conditions beyond

description FULL STOP. Effect of bomb mysteriously serious STOP.

Fritz Bilfinger, ICRC delegate, writing from Hiroshima,

30 August 1945

•Conditions beyond description … FULL STOP.

International Humanitarian Law

Brief History:

-Old Geneva Convention 1868

-Hague Convention 1899-1907

-World War I Aftermath

-The four Geneva Conventions are dated 12 August 1949. (Now 194 countries S/R -

The corner stone of contemporary IHL)

-Three Additional Protocols. The first two were adopted in 1977, and the third more recently in 2005 introducing a new protective emblem, the Red Crystal.

International Humanitarian Law

• Weapons must not cause

damage to the natural

environment that is

widespread, long-term

and severe.

• The effects of nuclear

weapons are catastrophic

and cannot be contained.

International Humanitarian Law

• IHL bans weapons that

cannot distinguish

between civilian sites

and military targets.

• No nuclear bomb can

do that.

•Nagasaki, before and after

International Humanitarian Law & NWs

. All rules of international humanitarian law apply fully to nuclear weapons; those rules notably include the rules of :

1 distinction,

2 proportionality,

3 precaution,

4 prohibition of excessive unnecessary suffering and the

5 prohibition to cause widespread, severe and long-term damage to the environment

The Costs of Attaining The Millennium Development Goals

.

between $40-$60 billion a year.

1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

2. Achieve universal primary education

3. Promote gender equality and empower women

4. Reduce child mortality

5. Improve maternal health

6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases

7. Ensure environmental sustainability

8. Develop a global partnership for development

•$50 B/ Year

Disarmament efforts and treaties (The 3 winners)

- Chemical Weapons Convention of 1925.

- Partial Test Ban Treaty in 1963,

- Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty in 1968,

- Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, 1996.

(>2000 nuclear tests conducted), still waiting 8 states.

- Biological Weapons Convention 1972.

- Chemical Weapons Convention 1993.

- Others….

And today’s more powerful weapons

• Potentially equal Hiroshima X 7

• No adequate medical / humanitarian response would be possible

• Blast could be followed by worldwide famine (IPPNW) study.

Photo source: www.mysticpolitics.com Photo courtesy US Navy. Japanese soldier walks through Hiroshima one month after bomb.

The Efforts of Red Cross Red Crescent Movement

• ICRC General Assembly Conf. since 1948.

• At NPT and IAEA.

• Partial Test Ban Treaty in 1963,

• Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty in 1968,

• Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, 1996.

• The Global Conference on the Catastrophic Humanitarian

Consequences of any use of NWs in Oslo 2013, Mexico

2014 and Vienna 2014.

World Nuclear Forces November,

2013

United States 7,700

Russia 8,500

China 250

France 300

United Kingdom 225

Israel 80

India 110

Pakistan 120

DPRK (North Korea) Less than 10

Source: Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Nuclear Notebook

World Opinion – Nuclear Disarmament?

COUNCIL OF DELEGATES

OF THE INTERNATIONAL

RED CROSS AND RED

CRESCENT MOVEMENT

Working towards the elimination of nuclear

weapons: Four-year action plan

Resolution adopted: Nov. 18, 2013

Sydney, Australia

Conference 1: Oslo, Norway March 2013

127 nations represented

Humanitarian Impact

of Nuclear Weapons

Conference 2: Nayarit, Mexico February, 2014

146 nations represented There were also 119 representatives

from civil society organizations, ten UN and non-UN international organizations

and agencies, 35 national Red Cross and Red Crescent societies, as well as

legislators and academics.

Conference 3: Vienna, Austria Fall, 2014

•Austrian Pledge: (Humanitarian) We pledge to cooperate with all relevant

stakeholders, States, international organisations, the International Red

Cross and Red Crescent Movements, parliamentarians and civil society, in

efforts to stigmatise, prohibit and eliminate nuclear weapons in light of

their unacceptable humanitarian consequences and associated risks. 115

states endorsed until Aug 2015.

•ICRC marks the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombings of

Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This anniversary is a stark

reminder of the appalling human costs of nuclear weapons. It

should inspire all States to reaffirm their commitment to the

elimination of nuclear weapons. We know now more than

ever before that the risks of nuclear weapons are too high

and the dangers too real. It is time to bring the era of nuclear

weapons to an end and we urge this Review Conference to

take the bold steps needed to achieve this noble goal.

•Every man, woman and child lives under a nuclear sword of Damocles, hanging by the slenderest of threads, capable of being cut at any moment by accident or miscalculation or by madness. The weapons of war must be abolished

before they abolish us.

Address by President John F. Kennedy to the UN General Assembly

September 25, 1961

Hibakusha testimonies “until my last breath.”

•https://youtu.be/cay0HWK5ziU?list=PL4UhoRnxMOGqKCi1xeOWFSrG8BK02LMpZ

#TheNew10

Ever since the U.S. Treasury Department announced that a woman will grace the face of the new $10 note in 2020, fans have been taking to Twitter to suggest candidates who fit the bill.

* HarrietTubman

•* Barbara McClintock

•* Juliette Gordon

•* Helen Keller

•* Rosa Parks

•* Clara Barton

•* Wilma Mankiller

•Yes,Fundemental Principles Again: