Ghassan Shahrour, The 70th anniversary of the atomic bombings at Hiroshima and Nagasaki

The 70th anniversary of the atomic bombings at Hiroshima and Nagasaki

•6 August 1945

•Ghassan Shahrour, MD

Severe disfigurement

Red Cross hospital: One of the few medical facilities standing in Hiroshima.

•Ghassan Shahrour

Hiroshima Red Cross

Hospital & Atomic-

bomb Survivors

Hospital

Dr Marcel Junod: like the palm of a hand.

‘We (…) witnessed a sight totally

unlike anything we had ever seen

before. The centre of the city was a

sort of white patch, flattened and

smooth like the palm of a hand.

Nothing remained. The slightest trace

of houses seemed to have

disappeared.

•ICRC delegate Dr Marcel Junod, first foreign

•Doctor into Hiroshima, 1945. ICRC photo.

•29 Monument in Memory of Dr. Marcel Junod

An early

medical

report City wiped out eighty percent. All hospitals destroyed or seriously

damaged. Inspected two emergency hospitals. Conditions beyond

description FULL STOP. Effect of bomb mysteriously serious STOP.

Fritz Bilfinger, ICRC delegate, writing from Hiroshima,

30 August 1945

•Conditions beyond description … FULL STOP.

International Humanitarian Law

• Weapons must not cause

damage to the natural

environment that is

widespread, long-term

and severe.

• The effects of nuclear

weapons are catastrophic

and cannot be contained.

International Humanitarian Law

• IHL bans weapons that

cannot distinguish

between civilian sites

and military targets.

• No nuclear bomb can

do that.

•Nagasaki, before and after

Disarmament efforts and treaties

- Partial Test Ban Treaty in 1963,

- Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty in 1968,

- Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, 1996.

•Ghassan Shahrour, MD

And today’s more powerful weapons

• Potentially equal Hiroshima X 7

• No adequate medical / humanitarian response would be possible

• Blast could be followed by worldwide famine

Photo source: www.mysticpolitics.com Photo courtesy US Navy. Japanese soldier walks through Hiroshima one month after bomb.

The Efforts of Red Cross Red Crescent Movement

• ICRC General Assembly Conf. since 1948.

• At NPT and IAEA.

• - Partial Test Ban Treaty in 1963,

• - Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty in 1968,

• - Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, 1996.

• The Global Conference on the Catastrophic

Humanitarian Consequences of any use of NWs

in Oslo 2013, Mexico 2014 and Vienna 2014.

•Ghassan Shahrour, MD

World Nuclear Forces November,

2013

United States 7,700

Russia 8,500

China 250

France 300

United Kingdom 225

Israel 80

India 110

Pakistan 120

DPRK (North Korea) Less than 10

Source: Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Nuclear Notebook

World Opinion – Nuclear Disarmament?

COUNCIL OF DELEGATES

OF THE INTERNATIONAL

RED CROSS AND RED

CRESCENT MOVEMENT

Working towards the elimination of nuclear

weapons: Four-year action plan Resolution adopted:

Nov. 18, 2013

Sydney, Australia

Conference 1: Oslo, Norway March 2013

127 nations represented

Humanitarian Impact

of Nuclear Weapons

Conference 2: Nayarit, Mexico February, 2014

146 nations represented There were also 119 representatives

from civil society organizations, ten UN and non-UN international organizations

and agencies, 35 national Red Cross and Red Crescent societies, as well as

legislators and academics.

Conference 3: Vienna, Austria Fall, 2014

•The evidence before us today shows:

* that nuclear weapons are unique in their destructive power and in the

scale of human suffering they cause and that their use, even on a

limited scale, would have catastrophic consequences for human health

and the environment;

•* that the effects on human health can last for decades and impact the

children of survivors through genetic damage to their parents;

•* that the humanitarian consequences of a nuclear-weapon detonation

would not be limited to the country where it occurs but would impact

other States and their populations;

•* that, assisting survivors in the immediate aftermath of a nuclear

detonation, is beyond our resources; and finally

•* that the risk of accidental nuclear-weapon detonation remains a very

real danger.

•ICRC marks the 70th anniversary of the atomic

bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This

anniversary is a stark reminder of the appalling

human costs of nuclear weapons. It should inspire

all States to reaffirm their commitment to the

elimination of nuclear weapons. We know now

more than ever before that the risks of nuclear

weapons are too high and the dangers too real. It

is time to bring the era of nuclear weapons to an

end and we urge this Review Conference to take

the bold steps needed to achieve this noble goal.

Hibakusha testimonies

•https://youtu.be/cay0HWK5ziU?list=PL4UhoRnxMOGqKCi1xeOWFSrG8BK02LMpZ •Ghassan Shahrour