Boumédiène Benyahia - From Hiroshima to the Ontological Right to Peace - Towards a Global Convention

2025-08-06

“Peace is not a favour; it is a right that belongs to all humanity.”

 

August Memory

On August 6 and 9, 1945, Hiroshima and Nagasaki entered history as the first — and so far, the only — cities struck by nuclear bombs.
In a matter of seconds, both urban centers were obliterated, hundreds of thousands of lives lost or forever scarred.

 

Each year, the survivors — hibakusha — send a clear message: never again. This message is not only a moral appeal; it is a universal legal principle.

 

An Unfinished Disarmament

Over the past eight decades, several treaties have sought to regulate or eliminate nuclear weapons:

 

• Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT, 1970) — limits proliferation, commits to disarmament.
• Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW, 2017) — comprehensively bans these weapons and provides for victim assistance and environmental remediation.
• ICJ Advisory Opinion (1996) — the threat or use of nuclear weapons is generally contrary to humanitarian law; States have a binding obligation to negotiate disarmament.

 

Yet in 2025

• Nuclear arsenals are being modernised.
• New START will expire in 2026 without a clear successor.
• The CTBT is weakened by withdrawals and lack of ratifications.

 

Peace as an Ontological Right

In my Manifesto for the Recognition of the Ontological and Universal Right to Peace, I argue that peace is not merely a diplomatic goal or a moral ideal. It is an ontological right — a right inherent to human existence — and a precondition for the enjoyment of all other rights.

The nuclear threat is therefore not just a matter of international security. It is a constant violation of the fundamental right to live without fear of annihilation.

 

From Declaration to Convention

In 2016, the UN adopted a Declaration on the Right to Peace. Worthy, but non-binding.

 

The next step should be a Global Convention that:

 

• Legally recognises the right to live free from nuclear threat.
• Establishes positive obligations for States: verifiable disarmament schedules, victim assistance, environmental rehabilitation.
• Creates a monitoring mechanism through an International Right to Peace Index.

 

Why Now

• Memory: the last hibakusha are passing away.
• Politics: a looming legal vacuum after 2026.
• Ethics: destructive capabilities now exceed imagination.

"We must choose peaceful coexistence or mutual extinction.” — Shiro Suzuki, Mayor of Nagasaki, August 9, 2025

 

Alliances and Mobilisation

Such a convention will require:

• Support from networks such as ICAN or PAX.
• Engagement from spiritual traditions, all of which value peace as the fullness of being.
• Academic and civic mobilisation to bring the idea into the international agenda.

 

Conclusion

The 80th anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is not just a moment for reflection. It is a turning point.

 

Peace is not begged for. It is claimed, built, and protected.

Let us make the ontological right to peace a binding commitment.

 

So that never again will a nuclear mushroom cloud be the last landscape humanity beholds.

 

About Boumédiène Benyahia

Dr h. c. Boumédiène Benyahia in Peace Administration— 2025 Mahatma Gandhi Peace Award laureate (ISEA), Islamic scholar and linguist, founder of the Institut de la Parole and author of the Manifesto for the Ontological Right to Peace (IAJMRR, 2025). Coauthor of Cheminer vers soi avec Dieu, guide pratique de spiritualité musulmane (À C. É., 2025).

Photo : Unplash - Skaterlunatic