（社説）被爆６９年の夏に 核兵器の違法化・禁止を

August 06, 2014
EDITORIAL: Ban nuclear weapons on humanitarian grounds
（社説）被爆６９年の夏に　核兵器の違法化・禁止を

“Remember Hiroshima, Nagasaki,” goes the refrain in “Remember,” a number released last year by singer Shinobu Sato (lyrics by Rei Nakanishi, music by Kisaburo Suzuki). Since then, Sato has been singing this song at concerts all over Japan.
　♪リメンバー　ヒロシマ・ナガサキ
　声楽家の佐藤しのぶさんが、昨年発表した曲「リメンバー」（なかにし礼作詞、鈴木キサブロー作曲）を各地のコンサートで歌っている。

Why “remember”? It was often quoted by artist and nuclear disarmament activist Yoko Ono, who insisted that Japan, the world’s sole victim of nuclear attacks, should keep telling the rest of the world to “remember.” She explained, “There are too many people who don’t remember, aren’t there?”
　なぜ、リメンバー（覚えておこう）なのか。もともとは核兵器廃絶を訴え続けている芸術家オノ・ヨーコさんが、被爆国日本から世界に発信すべき言葉として口にした。「だって、覚えていない人、多いでしょ」と。

She went on to express her wish that people around the world would imagine and understand the horrors of nuclear bombs before they say, “No more.”
　ノーモアと言う前に、世界の人々に原爆の悲惨さを知ってほしい。思い起こしてほしい。

Ono’s wish echoes the desperate appeals that hibakusha (atomic-bomb survivors) have been making to the international community for decades. Their appeals have often been ignored in the coldly calculating setting of international politics and nuclear disarmament negotiations.
　それは、被爆者らが長年、世界に訴え続けてきた痛切な思いと重なる。国際政治の冷徹なかけひきや核軍縮をめぐる綱引きのなかで、ともすると、かき消されがちだった声でもある。

But in this 69th year since the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the inhumanity of nuclear weapons is being highlighted anew.
　だが、被爆６９年の今、核の非道が改めて注目されている。

Momentum is surging among nations that are seeking total nuclear disarmament and asking, “Why can’t we ban nuclear weapons altogether on humanitarian grounds?”
　「人道に反する兵器であることを根拠に、核兵器を禁止できないか」。核廃絶を求める国々による、そんな動きが急速に高まっているからである。

DESTRUCTION THAT DEFIES ALL RELIEF EFFORT
　■救援が不可能な破壊

In violence-torn Ukraine, Iraq, Gaza and elsewhere, many lives are being lost even as we speak.
　ウクライナ、イラク、パレスチナ自治区ガザ……。今も戦いで多くの命が失われている。

Some people think all lethal weapons are equally inhumane, be they nuclear, chemical or conventional missiles or guns. Still, nuclear weapons should be considered differently from the rest.
　殺すのは、核も、化学兵器やミサイル、銃も同じ、兵器は一様に非人道的と考える人もいるだろう。だが、やはり、核は別に考えるべき兵器なのである。

Over the last two years, four international conferences have been held about nuclear weapons, and each conference has produced a joint declaration condemning their inhumanity. The number of participating nations in support of these declarations has grown each time, from 16 to 34, 80 and 125.
　過去２年間、核を巡る国際会議が４回開かれた。非人道性に関する共同声明がその都度、提案され、賛同国は１６、３４、８０、１２５と膨らんだ。そして今年２月、メキシコのナヤリット。

In February this year, as many as 146 nations gathered in Nayarit, Mexico, for the International Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons, although none of the five major nuclear nations--the United States, Russia, France, Britain and China--was in attendance.
核の非人道性を問うこの会議に５大国は参加しなかったが、１４６もの国が集まった。

Summing up the current state of affairs at the conference, the chairman noted that the impact of any nuclear detonation can spread far enough to cross national borders and that the effects of the destruction of infrastructure and health damage from radiation will remain for an extremely long time. But no matter how badly relief work is needed, no country or international organ is fully equipped to handle it, the chairman pointed out.
　席上、議長は核兵器の特徴と現状をこう表現した。
　核爆発の影響は国境を越えるほど広がり、インフラ破壊や放射線障害の影響は極めて長く続く。救援がいくら必要でも、どこの国も国際機関も対処しきれない。

Yet, he continued, there is no end to countries and terrorist groups that seek to possess nuclear weapons, and the danger of nuclear detonation by mistake or as an act of terror keeps increasing.
なのに核兵器を持とうとする国やテロ集団は後を絶たず、ミスやテロによる核爆発の危険は増す一方だ――。

The chairman’s observation echoed what many people have been thinking: When nuclear weapons that cause tremendous damage already exist in mind-boggling numbers, on what grounds can anyone ever say that the human race will still survive?
　甚大な被害をもたらす核が、気が遠くなるほど多く存在する。何を根拠に、この危うさを抱えたままで人類が生きながらえると言えるだろうか。そんな問いかけが、そこにはある。

RETURN TO THE BASICS
　■廃絶めざし原点回帰

In the latter half of the 20th century, humanity came face to face with grave challenges, such as global warming and the depletion of resources from mass consumption. As a result, we have come to accept certain limitations to our daily activities, if that is what will help the human race survive.
　２０世紀後半、人類は資源の大量消費と枯渇、地球温暖化といった難題に直面した。人類が生き延びるには、日々の活動が一部制約されてもやむを得ないと考えられるようになってきた。

We believe the same sort of attitude is needed on matters of security. We cannot just sit and do nothing when we already have more than enough nuclear weapons hanging over our heads, so to speak, to drive the human race and civilization to extinction.
　安全保障にも同様な感覚が必要だろう。人類と文明を滅亡のふちに追いやるに十分な核兵器が、依然として頭の上にぶら下がっているのは放置できない。

The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty restricts the possession of nuclear weapons to the five major nuclear nations and requires them to proceed with nuclear disarmament with sincerity. But the treaty has proved less effective than expected because of the deeply ingrained belief that the “power of nuclear deterrence” guarantees the safety of the nation.
　核兵器に関しては、核不拡散条約（ＮＰＴ）が保有国を５大国に限り、５大国は誠実に核軍縮を進めることを定めている。だが、思うような成果は上がってこなかった。核で国の安全を確保する「核抑止」の考え方が染みついているからだ。

Given this situation, we must return to the basics and ban nuclear weapons on humanitarian grounds. We can start by prohibiting the pre-emptive use of nuclear weapons, and then proceed to banning their use under all circumstances, until they are completely eliminated.
　ならば原点に返り、非人道性を根拠に核兵器を違法化していくことだ。たとえば核の先制使用の禁止から入り、さらに使用全般を人道法上違法化して、将来の廃絶につなげる。化学兵器が使用禁止から、全面禁止へと進んだことを思い起こしたい。

CITIZENS DECIDE THE FUTURE
　■市井から決める未来

At the Nayarit conference, five atomic-bomb survivors were given more than one hour to make their presentations. This was unprecedented on a diplomatic stage.
　ナヤリット会議では冒頭、被爆者ら５人に１時間以上の発言機会が確保された。外交の舞台では画期的なことだ。

Setsuko Thurlow, a Canadian resident, was 13 years old when she survived the Hiroshima atomic bomb 69 years ago. She gave a vivid account in English of how her classmates and relatives died before her eyes. The majority of more than 70 conference attendees who participated in a general discussion session voiced empathy with what the hibakusha had to say.
　６９年前の今日、広島で１３歳で被爆したサーロー・節子さん＝カナダ在住＝は、同級生や親類らの死にゆく姿を英語で生々しく語った。一般討論に立った７０人以上の代表の大半が、被爆者らの発言に共感を表明した。

In wrapping up the conference, the chairman called for tangible action, including the drafting of a treaty to ban nuclear weapons. His comments were hailed as a succinct summary of the discussions of the past five years regarding the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons, and also as a clear counterproposal to the nuclear nations that continue to rely on their nuclear arsenals.
　議長は総括で、核兵器禁止条約づくりなどを念頭に、具体的に動き出そうと呼びかけた。ここ５年ほどの核の非人道性をめぐる議論をまとめ、核に頼り続ける保有国への対抗軸を明確に打ち出したものとして、注目を集めた。

In December this year, a conference in Vienna will take up where the Nayarit conference left off. Not only the five major nuclear nations, but also as many countries as possible should attend the Vienna conference and hear the discussions.
　今年１２月、ナヤリットを受けた国際会議がウィーンで開かれる。１カ国でも多く、５大国も参加して、議論に耳を傾けるべきである。

Three times in the past, the Japanese government refused to endorse joint statements condemning the inhumanity of nuclear weapons, and came under harsh criticism from the mayors and citizens of Hiroshima and Nagasaki for “contradicting its stated policy of seeking total nuclear disarmament as the government of the A-bombed nation.” But at Nayarit, the Japanese government finally came around.
　日本政府は核の非人道性を批判する共同声明について、賛同を３度見送った。広島、長崎両市長をはじめ、市民の側が「被爆国の立場、核廃絶を求める政策と矛盾しているではないか」と政府の対応を強く非難した。４度目にやっと姿勢を変えた。

Mayors for Peace, presided over by the mayor of Hiroshima, currently has an active membership exceeding 6,000 mayors around the world. With a growing nuclear risk now being felt globally, it appears that so many mayors are participating in the latest Mayors for Peace conference because they are aware of the sense of crisis being felt by the public at large.
　広島市長が会長を務める平和首長会議には今、世界で６千を超す首長が参加する。非人道性の国際会議に限らず、核リスクへの危惧は確実に強まっている。多くの首長たちが参加するのは、市井に広がるそうした危惧を感じとってのことだろう。

Matters of national security must not be left to the government alone to decide. Whether something deviates from human decency is for us, ordinary citizens, to determine. Let us always bear that firmly in mind.
　安全保障の問題だからと国任せにはしない。人の道に外れているかどうかを決めるのは、普通に暮らす私たちである。そこを強く自覚していきたい。

--The Asahi Shimbun, Aug. 6