Seventy years after Hiroshima and Nagasaki: Reflections on the consequences of nuclear detonation

Interview with Peter Maurer and Tadateru Konoe

Thursday, 6 August 2015 marks the seventieth anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. This historic occasion provides an opportunity to reflect on the human cost of nuclear weapons, the subject of an upcoming edition of the International Review of the Red Cross, due to be published in 2016.

Earlier this year, ICRC President Peter Maurer and Tadateru Konoe, president of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and of the Japanese Red Cross, visited Hiroshima and heard the stories of hibakusha, survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and, three days later, Nagasaki.

In this interview, conducted after that visit, Presidents Maurer and Konoe reflect on the human cost of nuclear weapons and present the perspective of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement on the recent Conferences on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons. They discuss the Movement’s work toward the elimination of nuclear weapons and the challenges ahead for nuclear disarmament.