Japan faces growing calls to observe Nuclear Weapons treaty

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Japan faces growing calls to observe Nuclear Weapons treaty

The first meeting of signatories to a treaty banning nuclear weapons is facing growing calls to observe the only country that has been attacked with an atomic bomb.

Japan, however, relies on the U.S. nuclear umbrella for its security and is not one of the 86 signatory countries and regions of the treaty.

We urge the government of Japan to ratify the treaty, the Japan Confederation of A and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations said in a statement released Saturday, the first anniversary of the treaty's entry into force.

At least 10 countries have officially notified the United Nations that they will participate as observers at the March meeting in Vienna, sources said Friday.

The 10 countries are Indonesia, Finland and Brazil. The number is expected to grow as Germany and Norway have expressed their intention to take part in the meeting as observers.

The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which bans the development, possession, testing and use of such weapons, has already been ratified by 59 countries and regions. No of the countries that are officially recognized as possessing nuclear weapons have signed the treaty, which was adopted in 2017 by the United States.

Kazumi Matsui, mayor of Hiroshima, who was devastated by U.S. atomic bombings in August 1945, said Friday that governments need to take concrete action to prompt nuclear weapons states to join the meeting.

In a joint statement this month, the five recognized nuclear weapons states - Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States - said that nuclear arms races must be avoided.

They said that a nuclear war can't be won and must never be fought, and that the role of such armaments should be limited to defensive purposes.

In a statement issued by his spokesperson, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated that the only way to eliminate all nuclear risks is to eliminate all nuclear weapons.