【Australian nuclear test survivor, Sue Coleman-Hazeldine took her story to the Vienna Conference】

「オーストラリア：核実験地帯におけるヒバクシャ・スー・コレマン・ヘーゼルダインさんの証言」

（ウイーン会議）

December 8, 2014　：2014年12月8日

“Enough.” Time for a ban. (movie)20210902 

「もう十分だ」

Indigenous Australian nuclear test survivor, Sue Coleman-Haseldine, spoke to over 150 governments at the Third Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons in Vienna on 8–9 December 2014.

2014年「核兵器の人道影響に関する会議」にて、オーストラリア原住民・核実験被害ヒバクシャの、スー・コレマン・ヘーゼルダインさんは、第3会議150か国政府代表の前でスピーチを行った。

The Kokatha-Mula woman was about three years old when the British nuclear weapons tests took place at Maralinga in the remote West of South Australia.

マラリンガ、南西オーストラリアの、そんなに人口の多くない土地で、英国が核実験を行ったとき、彼女はコーカサムラに住んでおり、当時3歳だった。

Coleman-Haseldine told delegations from over 150 governments that the British and Australian governments chose to conduct the tests at Maralinga and Emu Fields because they didn’t believe that the land was valuable.

コーレマン・ヘーゼルダインさんは、150か国の政府から派遣された代表に向かい、「英国とオーストラリア政府は、マラリンガとエム・フィールドという土地で、その地の本当の価値を知らず、その土地で核実験を行いました。」

“There are lots of different Aboriginal groups in Australia. For all of us our land is the basis of our culture. It is our supermarket for our food, our pharmacy for our medicine, our school and our church

「オーストラリアには、たくさんのアボリジニーが住んでいます。私たち、すべてのアボリジニーにとって、土地というのは、文化の基盤となるものです。この土地で、食物を育て、その食物を食べ、薬草を育てるので、（土地は）私たちの学校でもあり、教会でもあるのです。」

“These tests contaminated a huge area and everything in it but people hundreds of kilometers away were also impacted… I noticed people dying of cancer, something that was new to us,” Coleman-Haseldine told the conference.

「これら（核）実験で、その広大な土地は汚染され、そこにあったものすべてに影響し、数百キロも離れたところに住んでいる人までが、ガンを患って死んでいくのに気が付いたのです。こんなことが起こるなんて、なにも知りませんでした。」と、コレマン・ヘーゼルダインさんは、人々の前で語った。

While the British and Australian governments did not acknowledge Sue Coleman-Haseldine’s testimony at the conference, 44 states called for a prohibition of nuclear weapons due to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences.

コレマン・へーゼルダインさんの会議での証言を、英国とオーストラリア政府は認めなかったが、44か国は、その人道的にあまりにもひどい影響を及ぼす「核兵器」を禁止するよう求めた。

The Pope also sent a statement that was delivered at the conference, which declared his position that a ban on nuclear weapons is both necessary and possible.

ローマ法王も、この会議へ、声明を送った。「核兵器は禁止されるべきであるし、また、それは可能である。」という、彼の明確な、核兵器廃絶への姿勢を、その声明は示していた。

“I am convinced that the desire for peace and fraternity planted deep in the human heart will bear fruit in concrete ways to ensure that nuclear weapons are banned once and for all, to the benefit of our common home,” Pope Francis said.

「人々が平和を求める情熱に感服し、人間として深く心に植えつけられる兄弟愛が身を結ぶよう、核兵器が、二度と使用されることがないよう、具体策が示されなければならない。われらのこの共同の〚家〛のために。」、とフランシス教皇は語った。

The Australian Government continues to rely on the nuclear weapons of the United States in its security doctrine, despite half-hearted statements mentioning the ultimate goal of a nuclear weapons-free world.

「核兵器なき世界への道」の全きゴールを語るには、オーストラリアは、米国の安全保障ドクトリンの枠組みにおいて、核兵器に依存しているので、（その声の強さも）半分にならざるおえない。

 Prior to the Vienna conference, ICAN Australia wrote an open letter to the Australian Foreign Minister, Julie Bishop on behalf of more than 30 peace, health, humanitarian, union, Aboriginal, student and environmental organizations in Australia.

ウイーン会議開催に先立ち、ICANオーストラリア支部は、オーストラリア外務大臣ジュリー教に、オーストラリアの３０の平和、人道、ユニオン、アボリジニー、学生、環境団体を代表し、一通の公開レターを送った

The letter urged the Australian Government to support the commencement of negotiations for a treaty banning nuclear weapons, to commission research into the impact of a nuclear winter on agriculture in Australia, and to establish a defense posture that does not rely on US extended nuclear deterrence.

そのレターにて、オーストラリア政府は、核兵器禁止条約の交渉を始めることを支持するよう強く要望するものであり、「核の冬」がオーストラリア農業に影響することの調査、米国に依存しない防衛体制を確立すること、などを強く訴えている

At the conclusion of the Vienna conference, the Austrian government delivered the “Austrian pledge” in which it committed to work to “fill the legal gap for the prohibition and elimination of nuclear weapons” and pledged, “to cooperate with all stakeholders to achieve this goal”.

ウイーン会議の最後には、オーストリア政府が「オーストリア宣言」を提出し、「核兵器を禁止し廃絶するため、法的に抜けている部分を埋めるための法の確立」を訴え、「すべて、各国がこのゴールをめざすべき。」と締めくくった。

Vienna carried forward the momentum for negotiations to begin on a binding international instrument to outlaw and eliminate nuclear weapons and South Africa has said that it is considering its role in future meetings.

ウイーンでは、国際的な核廃絶の取り組みとして、記録されるべき前進への第一歩が踏み出され」、それは、次期開催を考慮する南アフリカへと引き継がれる。

As Sue Coleman-Haseldine told the Vienna conference, “If you love your own children and care for the children of the world, you will find the courage to stand up and say “enough”.

スー・コレマン・ヘーゼルダインさんは、ウイーン会議にて、「もし、あなた方があなた方自身の子供や孫の世界を愛そうとするのであれば、立ち上がって、もう十分だ！と、勇気を出していうべきだ」と語った。

Nuclear and the Humankind cannot Co-exist / Nuclear Victims Forum  / 竜安寺石庭　Ryoan Temple Stones Garden  

Architectural Witnesses to the  A-bombing
【My A-Bomb Experience and the Spirit of HIROSHIMA】

                                   By Miyoko Matsubara　

At Matsubara-san's house in summer 2014

I am honored to be given the opportunity to share with you my first-hand experience of the Atomic bombing of HIROSHIMA.

I am going to tell you how I was injured due to the bombing, how I struggled for survival,

 And how I dealt with the physical and mental traumas caused by the bombing.

My suffering is just one example of hundreds of thousands of people who were injured by the Atomic Bomb.

By sharing with you what I have gone through,

 It is my hope that you will realize the evil of wars and nuclear weapons, and that you become convinced that

Nuclear weapons have to be eliminated so that our sufferings will never be repeated.

70 years ago, in 1945, Japan was at war.

 Elementary school children between 8 and 11 years old were urged to evacuate to the countryside for protection from the air raids.

 Children under 7 years old remained in the city with their families.

Therefore, ordinary citizens, particularly children younger than seven, women, the weak, and elderly were left at home,

The majority of the A-Bomb victims were these innocent, ordinary people.

By the end of 1945, almost 140,000 people had perished as a result of the atomic bombing.

There was no summer vacation for students during the war.

At the time when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, I was only 12 years old,

Working as a mobilized student(gakuto doin学徒動員）, demolishing wooden houses（tatemono sokai建物疎開） in order to prevent fires.

 I was about a mile(apx.1.6~7km) away from the hypocenter.

Out of about 250 classmates, I was one of apx. fifty “JUST” survivor.

In the morning of August 6, 1945, the skies were perfectly clear, and as the sun climbed higher in the sky, the temperature rose rapidly.

 About 350,000 people were in the city on that day including more than 40,000 military personnel.

 Many students, including myself, were working on fix building demolition sites（建物疎開：Tatemono Sokai), or in factories or military facilities.

When I was working with my classmates, helping to dismantle wooden houses, my best friend, Takiko, suddenly shouted,

 I can hear the sound of a B-29.” I thought this was not possible, because the earlier air-raid alarm had already been cleared,

 and the few B-29’s spotted in the daytime had never attacked Hiroshima before.

I looked up and there, high in the sky, I could see white smoke trailing from the plane.

Suddenly, it dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima.

 I saw a flash, we say “Pika Don” in Japanese, and an explosion beyond description.

I heard an indescribable, deafening roar. My first thought was that the plane had aimed at me.

I have no idea how long I had been lying but when I regained consciousness, the bright sunny morning had turned into dark horrible night.

 I was enveloped in a dense, dusty mist.

Takiko, who had been standing next to me,　had simply disappeared.

I never saw her again. I could see no one.

Then I realized that maybe I had been thrown some distance by the blast.

 I  found myself lying on my right side.

I rose to my feet and was shocked when I looked at my hands.

 They were seriously burned and swollen about two or three times their normal size.

Most of my blue work clothes were gone.

The only clothes remaining on my body were dirty white underwear.

 The white color protected me from being scared to death, because as you know black absorbs light, and white reflects it.

I realized that my face, hands, legs had been burned and were swollen, with skin peeling off and hanging down in shreds.

For the next four days, I was on the verge of death.

I suffered from a lingering high fever, diarrhea, vomiting, and bleeding gums.

Half of my hair fell out.

Keloid scars started to develop on my face, arms, and legs.

Seven months later, I got healthy enough to return to school.

I kept studying hard, but because of my poor health and severe scars on my face, called keloids.

 I could not get a job even though I managed to graduate from school.

About ten years after the bombing, when I was a young adult,

There were numerous times when I deeply felt the pain of being discriminated against by my own society.

For example, when I was on the train no one been exposed to radiation and was therefore contaminated.

For the same reason, no man wanted to marry me.

Daily life was difficult, unbearable, and painful.

Life itself was hell.

 In 1953, a Christian society in Japan made it possible for me to undergo cosmetic and corrective surgeries.

I had twelve operations over a seven month period.

As a result, I was able to open and close my eyes and to straighten out my crooked fingers.

The operations made my life somewhat more bearable, and helped me regain some of my lost dignity.

After the operations, I returned to Hiroshima, wishing to express my gratitude to those who helped me by doing whatever I could to help

For the next eight years, I worked as a live-in caretaker for 30 sight-impaired orphans.

In 1962, my elder brother and his wife passed away, leaving behind their 3 children, ages 3. 5, and 9.

I decided to raise his children.

The children love me as their own mother, and their love has brought me endless joy and added much-needed sweetness to my bitter life.

However, the past continues to haunt me and other A-Bomb victims, called Hibakusha in Japanese.

In 1988, I was diagnosed with breast cancer and had to have an operation.

The operation got rid of the cancer, “but soon after that three polyps were found in my stomach.

The doctor says these polyps need to be checked regularly because they may develop into cancer.

Despite all the physical and mental pain caused to me by the bombing.

I feel energized whenever I think of all the things that I have to do to promote peace and nuclear disarmament.

The effect of the atomic bombing was far-reaching and ever lasting.

It indiscriminately took the lives of numerous innocent people in an instant.

Over more than six, or seven decades, after the war,

many people in Hiroshima are still suffering from the after-effects of radiation and getting older.

The war ended 70 years ago, but for the hibakusha,

the atomic bombing and the war are not just events of the past.

They continue to haunt us, both mentally and physically.

Radiation causes cancer.

Even after we recover from one form of cancer,

we live with the constant fear that the cancer will return or that a different form cancer.

In a sense, for the hibakusha, every day is “August 6”.

We have not escaped the war, nor will we ever.

It’s always with us.

At this point, I would like to emphasize that,

despite all the sufferings brought on by the atomic bomb to the Japanese people,

We must not forget or ignore the sinful role played by Japan in provoking wars in the past.

As one of the Japanese who has lived through and survived the wartime,

 I urge every Japanese to reflect on, and acknowledge, Japan’s invasion during the war.

In order not to present a one-sided story,

when I recount my A-Bomb experience to people who visit Hiroshima,
I always tell them about Japan's war crimes,
let them know that Japan was both a victim and a victimizer during the Second World War.

However, having gone through all the pain traumas caused by the Atomic Bomb,

 I feel that even Japan’s invasion in Asia did not justify the use of atomic weapons against it,

In fact, any act of aggression and invasion, past or future, should not be tackled by the use of nuclear weapons.

At Hijiyama(比治山)very close to Tsurumi-bashi(鶴見橋）on August 6

                     

                                

Ms. Matsubara passed away on February 10th, 2018, in her age of 85

 Nuclear and the Humankind cannot Co-exist / Nuclear Victims Forum  / 竜安寺石庭　Ryoan Temple Stones Garden  /   ひまわり / Ave Maria