How Did the Use of Weapons of Mass Destruction Violate the People of Hiroshima’s Human Rights?
Weapons of mass destruction are a violation of the people of Hiroshima’s human rights on several accounts. We the people of the United States live by the two words know as human rights, it is what this country was morally established on. The definition speaks to our hearts mind and our soul” the basic rights and freedoms to which all humans are entitled, often held to include the right to life and liberty, freedom of thought and expression, and equality before the law.”(3) First and for most, the people of Hiroshima are human just like the United States citizens. We enjoy the fact that we can go and come as we pleased and if any one tries to stop us or harm us we have the right to naturally defend ourselves, our belongings, our families, and our beliefs. On a daily bases the people of Hiroshima enjoy their natural rights in pursuits of their happiness whatever they chose them to be. They have families which includes a loving mother father and children, which they feed in the morning and kiss them good bye in hopes to see them when they return. The group of natives in the book called “Hiroshima” did just that, the morning of August 6th 1945.
Minutes before 8:15am this particular group of individuals, (Miss Sasaki, Dr. Fuji, Mrs. Nakamura, Father Kleinsorge, Dr. Sasaki and Rev. Tamimoto), were busy at their everyday activities enjoying their freedom, privacy, loved ones, work places, and churches. Then seconds after on August 6th at 8:15am their human rights were violated and their whole world changed. As I read vividly imagine through the novel “Hiroshima” my eyes begin to water and fill with tears. The horrifying vivid images after 8:15am on the 6th of August left Hiroshima in pieces. The Hiroshima group’s rights were more then violated they were stolen mutilated, and washed away. The United State did something that was unforgivable and inhuman. The United States had dropped an atomic bomb called “Little Boy” on Hiroshima with no warning, at least not an appropriate one.
The original idea of not warning Japan came from President Truman, he consulted with a few committees on if he should use the atomic bomb, one of them being the Interim committee. This committee decided on June 1, 1945 to use the bomb on Japan ASAP, with out a warning. The President had a soft heart and decided to warn them any way. The President’s warning was called Potsdam Proclamation, he stated, “The target will be a purely military one and we will issue a warning statement (know as the Potsdam Proclamation) asking the Japanese to surrender and save lives.”(1) That was violation one, the United States didn’t warn them about the weapon of mass destruction. Even the President knew that this bomb was a monster. He stated “We have discovered the most terrible bomb in the history of the world.”(1) They should have let Japan know it was a weapon of mass destruction and exactly what it was capable of doing. If you practice and believe in human rights you are allowed to take precautions and protect yourself by any means necessary, given the circumstances (use of A-bomb). Not letting them know, and using a weapon of mass destruction in a civilianized area was considered a war crime. War Crime” a violation of the laws or customs of war as embodied or recognized by international treaty, court decisions, or established practice -usually used in pl”.(8) It is very ironic that President Rosevelt composed a letter on September 1, 1939 on this very same crime. It stated,” The ruthless bombing from the air of civilians in unfortified centers of population during the course of the hostilities which have raged in various quarters of the earth during the past few years, which has resulted in the maiming and in the death of thousands of defenseless men, women, and children, has sickened the hearts of every civilized man and woman, and has profoundly shocked the conscience of humanity.”(4)
The act of this war crime, Hiroshima will never forget. This bomb has turned their country upside down. The Hiroshima group will never be the same. When the bomb detonated there was a flash that temporarily blinded everyone, accompanying that was a burst of fire that extended several hundred meters. “The explosive power was equivalent to 18.6 kilotons of TNT. It grew to a height of more than 12 km, boiling up in the shape of a mushroom forty seconds later; there was a blast of air along with a long and deafening roar of sound.” (2) The people of Hiroshima would have been able to save some of the women and children had they known the bombs severity. They probable would have surrender early.
Violation number two, the President states,” The weapon is to be used against Japan between now and August 10th I have told the Sec. of War, Mr. Stimson, to use it so that military objectives and soldiers and sailors are the target and not women and children. Even if the Japs are savages, ruthless, merciless and fanatic, we as the leader of the world for the common welfare cannot drop this terrible bomb on the old capital or the new (Kyoto or Tokyo).”(1) According to the International Law of the bombing of civilians, even if he thought the Japs (Japanese) were savages it clearly states,” the bombardment of cities, towns, villages, dwellings or buildings not in the immediate neighborhood of the operations of land forces is prohibited. In cases were the objectives specified in paragraph 2 (military facilities or objects) are so situated, that they cannot be bombarded without the indiscriminate bombardment of the civilian population, the aircraft must abstain from bombardment.”(4) Apparently the President skipped this part of the International Law. Considering the statistic, 100 to 120,000 civilian (including women and children) bodies were found dead or missing, this is not including the thousands that died from radiation some time later, and several 100,000 wounded. Some people say that because they were survivors that they should consider themselves lucky.
However, I don’t think luck had anything to do with them being put through hell during the horrific aftermath. All, of the Hiroshima group had experienced the pain and suffering whether it was the seeing or hearing of people, moreover (children) screaming for help as they slowly die in burning houses, witnessing people die after you’ve done all you can to help, experiencing the psychological aspect of it by observing a woman holding on to her dead baby for 4-6 days or your colleague running toward the fire to commit suicide. These are just a few things that those unfortunate victims of Hiroshima experienced. Others have felt the pain and torture of August 6, 1945. Some have suffered from round worms (eats away at your intestines), swollen inflamed, infected wounds that never heal, broken limbs that could not be fixed, and last but not least radiation sickness. A sickness that was incurable, it has to take its course. With this sickness the people of Hiroshima group suffered from horrific symptoms such as: fever over 102 degrees, abdominal pain, low white blood cells, anemia, hair loss, and wounds that never healed. From radiation sickness alone, has claimed the live of well over several thousand people.
The people of Hiroshima were truly violated with the use of weapons of mass destruction by the United States during President Truman’s term in office. However we can’t solely blame President Truman for violating the human rights of Hiroshima. President Truman had no indication that a weapon of mass destruction (the A-bomb) was the weapon of choice for Japan. As Vice President he knew very little. The idea of an Atomic bomb proposal was brought to the President Roosevelt’s attention by Leo Szilard a well know scientist, which President Roosevelt accepted. Leo Szilard was working on bomb development research project before President Roosevelt died in April, which left President Truman to take his place. President Truman was thrust into office and was given a tremendous amount of information on the war in his first few weeks in office. During President Truman’s term he was faced with an enormous amount of decisions that were very unclear and overwhelming to him including the bomb development project. President Roosevelt never talked to President Truman trustingly about the barbaric decision to bomb Japan or any other wartime events before he past away. To make matters worse President Truman never attended any foreign affair meetings therefore he was out of the loop. “I didn’t know what effect the situation {the change in Presidents} would have on the war effort, price control, war production and everything that entered into the emergency that then existed. I knew the President had a great many meetings with Churchill and Stalin. I was not familiar with any of these things and it was really something to think about but I decided the best thing to do was to go home and get as much rest as possible and face the music.”(1) President Truman then writes a letter to his daughter explaining to her how unprepared he was for the war against Japan. According to Doug Long, President Truman didn’t enjoy the spotlight of being the senator nor Vice President for the short span of three months. So naturally he wasn’t too fond of being the President. Even though the task at hand (the bombing of Japan) was thrown upon him at such short notice he still should have read the book (the rules and regulations on war) and abided by them. He could have prevented the humiliation and suffering of the Hiroshima group by taking in consideration of what is rightfully theirs, which is their humanity.
Situations like this one are occurring all around the world. People are violating women, children, poor, young, and, old using them as weapons of mass destruction with no regards to life. That is exactly why Human Rights Watch is at full force. This organization “believes that international standards of human rights apply to all people equally, and that sharp vigilance and timely protest can prevent the tragedies of the twentieth century from recurring.”(7) The Human Rights group was established in 1978 in New York City. They are an organization that consists of well over a 150 determined professionals that are willing to work hard for everyone’s rights. The group Intel’s a variety of specialist such as lawyers, journalists, academics, and other experts from all over the world. And they have no problem, with the help of groups such as the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), investigating every island, city, state, and country to try and but an end to the use of Chemical and Biological Weapons or also know as Weapons of Mass Destruction. It is a struggle till this day, not every one is welling to cooperate. However they are still willing to try, according to “the 1993 Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction (the Chemical Weapons Convention, CWC), and international treaty that came into force in April 1997, had gathered 118 ratifications. The organization for the Prohibition of chemical Weapons (OPCW), the agency set up the monitor the CWC’s implementation, reported that it had carried out more than 250 inspections on the territory of twenty-five States Party to the convention. Eight states declared former or existing chemical weapons production plants (china, France, India, Russia, South Korea, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Japan) and pledged to destroy their stockpiles of chemical agents.”(5)
You would think the United State would be the first to put down their (WMD) and welling to help other do the same, assuming we have learned a valuable lesson in the bombing of Hiroshima. However that is not the case unfortunately the United States still struggle with this issue. According to the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), “Cuba had alleged in 1996 that a United States Department aircraft, apparently on an approved flight to Grand Cayman, had dispensed the Thrips Palmi insect over Cuba in October that year, which caused significant crop damage.”(5) Of course the United States denied it, and because of some mysterious technical difficulties no further investigation was taken.
They can’t always be successful. However, the Human Rights Watch presses on to seek out those countries that are willing to change and help put a end to this madness.
Human Rights are very important to every one, if they are black white purple or pink. Human Rights need to be protected, cherished, and loved. With out them we are noting but human waste, with the help of weapons of mass destruction. No matter were they are from they deserve them, entering this world as an infant, you are entitled to them. No it was not solely Presidents Truman’s fault, nor was it his idea, but when he looked at a Hiroshima women, child, or family, that should have been enough to have respected their human rights.
1. Doug Long, (2005) The Harry Truman Diary and Papers
www.doug-long.com/hst:htm
2. Trinity and Beyond, (2005)
www.vce.com/trinity-birth.html
3. The Atomic Bomb Attacks, (2005)
http://www.ww2guide.com/atombomb.shtml
4. Laws and Customs of War on Land (Hague, II), (July 29, 1899)
International Law on the Bombing of Civilians
www.dannen.com/decision/int-law.html
5. HRW World Report (1999) Arms- Chemical and Biological Weapons
www.hrw.org/worldreport99/arms/arms2.html
6. Human Rights Watch Briefing Paper, (February 20, 2003) International Humanitarian Law Issues In A Potential War In Iraq
www.hrw.org/backgrounder/arms/iraq0202003.htm
7. Defending Human rights worldwide, About HRW
http://www.hrw.org/about/whoweare.html
8. http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=2&q=war%20crime
