Seventy-nine years ago, a nuclear bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 and another one on Nagasaki three days later on 9 August. The destruction of human lives and devastation of properties caused by the bombs were so extensive and widespread and the nuclear radiation in the natural environment so long-lasting and severe that the world – shocked by the dire humanitarian crisis, death tolls, agony and pain suffered by the victims of these atomic bombings – has shunned another use of nuclear weapons ever since.

　Yet, the threats of their use are always there. The advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, or the World Court, in 1996 leaves humankind in peril when it “cannot conclude definitively whether the threat or use of nuclear weapons would be lawful or unlawful in an extreme circumstance of self-defence, in which the very survival of a State would be at stake.” As a result, there is no guarantee that the leadership of a country possessing nuclear weapons would be sane enough not to use them when it considers, rightly or wrongly, that the country’s very survival is at stake.

　The 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, in force since 22 January 2021, has 70 parties, none of which is a country in possession of nuclear weapons. According to the Nobel Peace Prize winner International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), Russia, the USA, the UK, France, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea are in possession of 12,512 nuclear weapons, most of which are many times more powerful than the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima, and just one nuclear weapon detonated over New York City could cause 583,160 estimated fatalities (https://www.icanw.org/nuclear_arsenals).

　Full-scale wars are being waged in many parts around the globe. Heavy casualties and famine are rampant in war zones. The UN Secretary-General’s Annual Report on Children and Armed conflict on 26 June 2024 provides information from 2023 on 26 conflict situations where countless children across the world are enduring unprecedented suffering due to the appalling immediate and long-term consequences of these conflicts. The number of children killed – 5,301 – represents the equivalent of nearly 15 children killed every day. Rape and other forms of sexual violence increased by 25 per cent and affected 1,470 children, especially girls. The targeting of schools and hospitals continued to deprive children access to education and health services, with 1,650 verified attacks last year. The denial of humanitarian access increased over 32 per cent compared to the previous year, with 5,205 violations verified.

　The sufferings of children who have become collateral damage in wars although they played no part in the conflicts should remind us all of the total destruction of the Urakami Church in Nagasaki when the atomic bomb exploded some 500 metres away despite the fact that places of worships of any religion are not legitimate military targets. The charred head of the statue of the Madonna from the Church has become the Sata Foundation’s logo to serve our campaigns against nuclear weapons, our efforts to promote humanitarianism, and our aspiration for a world living in peace with the proper use of science and technology as well as for the allocation of scarce resources for the betterment of humankind of whatever nationality, race, religion or ethnicity.

　On Saturday 27 July 2024, the Sata Foundation organized the 19th edition of the Run for Peace Rally, held annually since 2005 except for 2020 due to COVID-19, in Chailly-sur-Armançon, France’s Burgundy, with several hundred participating cyclists. Bernard Hinault and Francesco Moser were the co-sponsors of this event comprising three courses along the roads of Auxois in Côte d’Or. The Rally pays tribute to the victims of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and alerts humankind to the peril of nuclear weapons, as well as expresses support for innocent victims of the wars all over the world. It also raises funds for the Sata Foundation’s mission and donates €2 per registration to the victims of the 2011 tsunami, which particularly affected the Tohoku region in Japan.
Please visit the website: https://www.courirpourlapaix.com/.

　With a view to enhancing the “understanding among peoples of all cultures, religions and beliefs of the value of peace and respect for universally recognized human rights”, which is part of the Sata Foundation's Mission Statement, since March 2023 the Sata Foundation Oxford ICJ Fellowship Award is given each year to support the living expenses in The Hague, Netherlands, of the candidate from the University of Oxford in the UK who is chosen by the International Court of Justice to work there for nearly one year. For more information,
please visit: https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/2023-2024-icj-judicial-fellows-programme
and
https://www.law.ox.ac.uk/sata-foundation-oxford-icj-fellowship-award.

Your kind support for the Sata Foundation is always much appreciated.

Yasuhiko Sata
Chairman of the Board of Directors
Sata Foundation