Japanese organization Nihon Hidankyo, a grassroots movement of atomic bomb survivors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for its warning to countries that possess nuclear weapons not to use them.
Many survivors of the only two atomic bombs used in the conflict, known as “hibakusha” in Japanese, have dedicated their lives to the struggle for a nuclear-free world.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee said in its citation that the group was awarded the Peace Prize “for its efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons and for demonstrating through the testimony of witnesses that nuclear weapons should never again be used”. Is being received.
“Hibakusha help us describe the indescribable, think the unimaginable, and understand the incomprehensible pain and suffering caused by nuclear weapons,” the committee said.
“I can’t believe this is real,” Nihon Hidankyo co-chairman Toshiyuki Mimaki said at a press conference in Hiroshima, the site of the atomic bombing on August 6, 1945, during the closing stages of World War II. His cheek.
Survivor Mimaki said the award would be a major boost to her efforts to demonstrate that the abolition of nuclear weapons was necessary and possible and that governments were guilty of waging war while their citizens yearned for peace.
“(Victory) will be a major force to appeal to the world that the abolition of nuclear weapons and lasting peace can be achieved,” he said. “Nuclear weapons must be completely eliminated.”
In Japan, hibakusha, many of whom suffered visible wounds from radiation burns or developed radiation-related diseases such as leukemia, were often forcibly isolated from society and denied employment or employment in the post-war years. Had to face discrimination while seeking marriage.
“They are a group of people giving a message to the world, so as a Japanese I think it’s really wonderful,” Tokyo resident Yoshiko Watanabe told Reuters, crying openly in the street.
There were 106,825 atomic bomb survivors registered in Japan as of March this year, with an average age of 85.6 years, data from the country’s health ministry showed.
warning to nuclear nations
Without naming specific countries, Norwegian Nobel Committee Chairman Jørgen Watne Friednes warned that nuclear countries should not consider using nuclear weapons.
“In a world full of conflicts, where nuclear weapons are certainly part of it, we wanted to highlight the importance of strengthening the nuclear taboo, the international norm against the use of nuclear weapons,” Friedness told Reuters.
“We find it very worrying that the nuclear taboo is being undermined by … threats, but also given the situation in a world where nuclear powers are modernizing and upgrading their arsenals.”
Friedness said the world needed to hear “the painful and dramatic stories of the hibakusha.”
“These weapons should never be used again anywhere in the world… Nuclear war could mean the end of humanity, the end of our civilization,” he said in an interview.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly warned the West about potential nuclear consequences as Russia plans a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
He announced last month that Russia could use nuclear weapons if attacked with conventional missiles, and that Moscow would consider any attack on it backed by nuclear power as a joint attack.
This month, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said his country would move toward becoming a military superpower with nuclear weapons and would not rule out using them in the event of an enemy attack, while the escalating conflict in the Middle East raised some eyebrows. Experts have been inspired. There is speculation that Iran may resume its efforts to acquire a nuclear bomb.
Second Japanese winner
Next year will mark the 80th anniversary of the United States dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, which led to Japan’s surrender.
According to Dan Smith, head of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, with the award the committee was drawing attention to “a very dangerous situation” in the world.
“If there is a military conflict, there is a risk of it escalating to nuclear weapons… They (Nihon Hidankyo) are really an important voice to remind us about the destructive nature of nuclear weapons,” he told Reuters. ”
Smith said the committee had achieved a “triple attack”: drawing attention to the human suffering of atomic bomb survivors; the threat of nuclear weapons; And that the world has survived without their use for almost 80 years.
The awards body has regularly focused on the issue of nuclear weapons, most recently awarding the award to ICANN, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, which won the award in 2017.
This year’s award commemorates Elie Wiesel in 1986 and Russia in 2022, highlighting the importance of keeping the memory of horrific events alive as a warning for the future.
It is the second Nobel Peace Prize for a Japanese recipient in the award’s 123-year history, 50 years after former Prime Minister Isaku Sato won it in 1974.
The Nobel Peace Prize, worth 11 million Swedish crowns or about $1 million, will be awarded in Oslo on Dec. 10, the anniversary of the death of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, who established the prizes in his will in 1895.
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