Hiroshima bomb survivor Junko Morimoto spoke at the Australian Red Cross Forum last week, urging the audience to stop nuclear weapons from destroying the planet.
She recalled her experiences as a 13-year-old when the Hiroshima bomb was dropped on August 6, 1945, describing what she saw as a “living hell”.
“The smell of it is even something I can smell right now,” she said.
Ms Morimoto, who will be turning 80 next year, said she is grateful to have survived the bombing but has since developed a brain tumour and a mysterious medical condition that cannot be diagnosed.
The forum was part of the organisation’s campaign for a ban on nuclear weapons.
The Australian Red Cross said there are still at least 20,000 nuclear weapons in the world today; a combined force which is 150,000 times the destructive impact on Hiroshima.
Other prominent speakers included Australian Red Cross’ Helen Durham and University of Sydney professor Ben Saul.
Dr Durham said people can no longer use ignorance as an excuse for inaction, unlike the forefathers of the Red Cross. “We have no excuse in 2011 not to have any comprehension of this issue,” she said.
Nuclear weapons were a violation of three main war principles that global states have agreed to,” she said. “Australia’s own history of nuclear testing means we cannot separate ourselves from the issue.”
“[We want to be able to say] in Australia, we’ve got a lot of things going on but we actually care,” she said.
Professor of international law Dr Saul said there were a number of issues that made disarmament and non-proliferation of nuclear weapons difficult.
As long as some states held nuclear weapons others would want them,” he said. “These weapons would be used – whether accidentally or on purpose.”
Dr Saul said a broad-based social and political movement was needed to underpin any agenda and voiced his support for the Australian Red Cross.
“Getting to zero [nuclear weapons] worldwide involves someone to blink first; this is the crux of it,” he said.
Several events to increase awareness are currently underway including a flash mob and an online referendum at www.targetnuclearweapons.org.au.
