Hiroshima survivor, Belgian mayors and walkers call for removal U.S. nukes and global ban

international | anti-war / imperialism | event notice Friday August 05, 2005 15:17 by Joana Soares - For Mother Earth joana at motherearth dot org

Hiroshima commemoration calls for global ban of nuclear weapons at BelgianNATO nuclear weapon base

Brussels – Peer, August 5th 2005 - Belgian mayors and a group of 50
international peace walkers will gather in Peer, Belgium, near the U.S.
nuclear weapons base of Kleine Brogel on Saturday 6th August, to
commemorate the 60th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in
1945. They will also call for the removal of U.S. nuclear weapons and a
global ban on nuclear weapons. Also present at the ceremony will be Mr.
Yoshio Sato, survivor of the Hiroshima bombing. The event will be hosted by
local mayor and MP Theo Kelchtermans (CD&V) at the main church in Peer.
Several Belgian mayors will speak out during the ceremony to support the
“Mayors for Peace” campaign for a nuclear weapons free world.

After theceremony the walkers will complete the final 3 km to the NATO
nuclear weapon base of Kleine Brogel, ending their 250km Peace Walk which
started in Ypres on 26th July.
The Belgian air force base at Kleine Brogel is also used by the United
States to store a suspected 20 nuclear weapons under NATO nuclear sharing
agreements.

On 6th August 1945 an atomic bomb destroyed the city of Hiroshma in Japan.
By the end of the year 140,000 people had died as a result of the bomb. Mr.
Yoshio Sato, who will be the guest of honour at the ceremony in Peer, was
only 1km from ground zero when the atomic bomb was detonated. His mother,
sister and brother, were also exposed to radiation and died as a result.
His story can be found at: http://www.motherearth.org/walk/hibakusha.php

The “Mayors for Peace” campaign is headed by Mr. Akiba Tadatoshi, mayor of
Hiroshima. Along with over 78 Belgian mayors, he has written an opinion
piece which will be published on 6th August in major Belgian newspapers De
Morgen, Le Soir and Het Belang van Limburg. The opinion piece calls for the
complete elimination of all nuclear weapons by the year 2020, to begin with
a nuclear weapon convention banning all nuclear weapons by 2010. It calls
for the removal of nuclear weapons stored in Belgium and condemns the
hypocrisy of NATO member states reliance on nuclear weapons. It is signed
by influential mayors such as previous prime minister Jean-Luc Dehaene,
Socialist Party chairman Elio Di Rupo, president of the Belgian Senate
Anne-Marie Lizin, and “Mayors for Peace” vice president Senator Patrik
Vankrunkelsven, amongst others.

The opinion piece will be available in English from Saturday 6th August at:
http://www.motherearth.org/news

The 250km Hiroshima Peace Walk, organised by Belgian NGO For Mother Earth,
has brought together many Belgian and international peace campaigners, for
a 2 week walk across Belgium. The walk began in Ypres, the site of the
first use of chemical weapons during World War I, and passed the NATO
headquarters in Brussels. More information on the walk can be found at:
http://www.motherearth.org/walk

The nuclear weapons stored at Kleine Brogel have a combined explosive power
of 480 times the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima. On arrival at the base, a
number of the mayors, the peace walkers and Mr. Sato will commemorate the
bombing of Hiroshima by attaching origami peace birds to the fence of the
base, and drawing shadows on the ground to represent the victims of the
bombing.

A peace camp in Peer will be used by the peace walkers as a base for
further commemoration and anti-nuclear actions until 9th August.

Timetable for 6th August:
10am: Press briefing, Gemeentehuis
10:30 Start ceremony with Hiroshima survivor Mr; Yoshio Sato, mayors
Theo Kelchtermans, Anne-Marie Lizin, Bruno De Lille, Ingrid Pira, Karen
Temmerman, Luc Dehaene, Patrik Vankrunkelsven
12:00 Reception
13:00 Leave for NATO base with walkers and delegation of mayors to meet
base commander

Press Contacts:
Pol D’Huyvetter +32-495-28 02 59
David Heller +32-472-34 24 63




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