Japanese Trade Union Confederation (RENGO)

A Plea to All Nations for the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons

14 Nations Request Atomic Bomb Exhibit

The 18th International Confederation of Free Trade Unions World Congress was held from December 5th to the 10th 2004. During that time, RENGO held an atomic bomb data exhibit at the venue and appealed to attendees from each participating country regarding the real devastation caused by atomic bombing and for the complete elimination of all nuclear weapons. As a result, we received requests from national centers in fourteen nations who want to hold atomic bomb exhibitions in their own countries. The atomic bomb data exhibit was received well gathering more than 1000 folded paper cranes (orizuru) instilled with wishes of peace from the participants to the World Congress including such attendees as Finland President Halonen; and numerous signatures calling for the total elimination of all nuclear weapons. This year marks the 60th year since Japan was victimized by atomic bombs. RENGO will increase its activities even more under its slogan for the 2005 peace movement: "Work Together for Big Progress on the Path to Peace.

With the cooperation of the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, actual personal items from the blast as well as photo-panels with titles in English, French, Spanish and Japanese were displayed at the exhibition. RENGO also set up installations calling for the elimination of nuclear weapons from a variety of perspectives including areas where: attendees could practice making origami cranes, a signature-drive to abolish nuclear weapons, a video installation, and so forth. Furthermore, when adopting the fifth resolution, “International Trade Union Action for Peace and the Role of the United Nations” at the deliberations of the Congress, 80 year-old Sunao Tsuboi, one of the survivors of the Hiroshima bombing, presented an appeal based on his own experiences.

The fourteen countries that asked to exhibit atomic bombing data are as follows: Great Britain, Russia, Mongolia, Canada, Nepal, Bahrain, South Africa, Iraq, Sweden, Kazakhstan, Croatia, Czech, Poland, and Pakistan. In response to these requests, RENGO asked for the cooperation of Hiroshima-city and decided to present each nation with sets of photographs and videos.