‘Every step towards disarmament is important,’ nuclear test survivors warn

Artist and anti-nuclear activist Karipbek Kuyukov walked through the halls of UN Headquarters in New York on Monday alongside diplomats, scientists and survivors, carrying the message he has conveyed throughout his life: no one should ever again suffer as his generation did.

Kuyukov, who paints while holding a brush with his lips and toes, was among the participants in the symbolic walk ahead of the General Assembly’s high-level meeting on the occasion. International Day Against Nuclear Testsmarked annually on August 29.

The short procession, which was part of the #StepUp4Disarmament campaign, ended in front of a large photo on display at the General Assembly building, depicting people demanding the closure of the Semipalatinsk site.

“I want to tell our story, the story of Kazakhstan,” Kuyukov said UN News.

456 nuclear tests

Between 1949 and 1989, the Semipalatinsk site witnessed 456 nuclear tests. Hundreds of thousands of people living in the area are exposed to high levels of radiation, the impacts of which will be felt by families for generations.

“My parents were living witnesses of the test, and as a result, I was born without arms,” Kuyukov said.

He was 20 years old when Kazakh poet Olzhas Suleimenov launched the Nevada-Semipalatinsk anti-nuclear movement.

‘The whole nation rises’

“The whole nation rose up against this monster, against the Semipalatinsk polygon,” he recalled.

The movement reaches far beyond Kazakhstan.

Kuyukov recalled standing at a protest with a chief of the Shoshone tribe, whose lands lie near the United States test site in Nevada, and joining a peaceful rally at the gates of Semipalatinsk with activists from French Polynesia, where France is conducting tests on Mururoa Atoll, and from Japan.

Closed for good

On 29 August 1991, the Semipalatinsk site was closed, a date later proclaimed by the General Assembly, on the initiative of Kazakhstan, as the International Day against Nuclear Tests. This year marks 35 years since its closure.

“I can say with pride that my country, Kazakhstan, started its path to sovereignty with this peaceful decision,” Kuyukov said. “I believe this is a great honor for us and can be a valuable example for other countries.”

Every step counts

Speaking to walk participants, UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu said the silence that prevailed in Semipalatinsk 35 years ago “did not happen by chance”.

“This was achieved through the determination of people, communities and leaders who rejected nuclear testing,” he said.

Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan to the UN Kairat Umarov described the trip as “a very simple but very powerful way to remind us that every step towards disarmament is important”.

This year also marks the 30th anniversary of the opening of the signing of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). Robert Floyd, Executive Secretary of the CTBT Organization, told young people taking part in the event that disarmament was “a successful journey across generations”.

“There will come a time when your generation will lead, make decisions, be in the boardroom and be in the meeting room,” he said. “And we will support your big steps forward.”

No one is immune

Speaking later at the General Assembly, Nakamitsu warned that concerns about the possible resumption of nuclear explosives testing had resurfaced amid deep geopolitical tensions.

He recalled the Secretary-General’s message: “the world must never witness another nuclear explosion.”

That President of the General AssemblyAnnalena Baerbock, emphasized that the impact of nuclear explosions knows no limits.

“In a world as interconnected as ours, no ‘remote region’ is immune from the impacts or dangers of nuclear testing,” he said.

Five generations of cancer

Among the speakers was Tina Cordova, a fourth-generation survivor of the 1945 Trinity trials in New Mexico, who also walked the symbolic walk that morning.

“We were the first people to be exposed to radiation anywhere in the world when ash fell from the sky days after the bomb,” he told the Assembly, describing five generations of cancer in his family. “We were never warned before or after the danger, so we lived our lives abroad as we always did.”

He closed his speech with an appeal to delegates, saying that “after 81 years, it is time for us to free our families, children and grandchildren from the nuclear threat.”

Message to the younger generation

For Mr Kuyukov, the fight now is about who comes next. Seeing young people join the movement against nuclear weapons always reminds him that “in war, it is innocent children who suffer first.”

“The future is in their hands,” he said. “They must also ensure a safe world for the next generation. We have experience and we can share it because we know how it is done.”

When asked what he would say to world leaders at a time when, according to him, the situation in the world has become very tense, the artist called for reconciliation.

“To reach a new world – a world full of kindness, mercy and compassion – we need to let go of old grievances and past mistakes and leave them in history,” he stressed. “Now, we can only move forward together, showing the way to the new generation.”