Updated October 11, 2024 at 07:46 AM ET
A Japanese anti-nuclear weapons group made up of survivors of the atomic bombings in Japan during World War II has won the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee said it has awarded the Japanese organization Nihon Hidankyo "for its efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons and for demonstrating through witness testimony that nuclear weapons must never be used again," sending a message to countries that are considering acquiring or threatening to use them.
Committee Chair Jørgen Watne Frydnes said Nihon Hidankyo, made up of survivors of the August 1945 nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nakasaki by the United States, has been instrumental in the global movement that has kept nuclear weapons from being used in conflict for 80 years.
“These historical witnesses have helped to generate and consolidate widespread opposition to nuclear weapons around the world by drawing on personal stories, creating educational campaigns based on their own experience and issuing urgent warnings against the spread of nuclear weapons,” he said.
Frydnes said thanks to their work, nuclear weapons have been stigmatized as morally unacceptable. But he added that the long-held "nuclear taboo" is now under pressure.
“The nuclear powers are modernizing and upgrading their arsenals,” he said. “New countries appear to be preparing to acquire weapons, and threats are being made to use nuclear weapons as part of ongoing warfare.”
At a press conference in Hiroshima, Nihon Hidankyo's co-chair, Toshiyuki Mimaki, 81, held back tears and pinched his cheeks when the award was announced. "I can't believe it's real" he told reporters.
Mimaki is a Hiroshima survivor and said the award helped recognize the group's work. “It would be a great force to appeal to the world that the abolition of nuclear weapons can be achieved," he said.
He said the idea that nuclear weapons bring peace to the world is wrong.
“It has been said that because of nuclear weapons, the world maintains peace. But nuclear weapons can be used by terrorists,” he said. “For example, if Russia uses them against Ukraine, Israel against Gaza, it won’t end there. Politicians should know these things.”
The Nobel Committee’s award seemed to be a message for Iran, who some believe is trying to develop nuclear weapons, to North Korea, a nuclear power thought to be trying to expand its arsenal, as well as to Russia, which has lowered the threshold for when it would launch a nuclear attack.
Many had expected this year’s prize to be linked to the wars in Gaza, Ukraine or Sudan. Those conflicts were top of mind when the Nobel Committee made its decision, Frydnes said.
“When we look at the developments and the conflicts around the world, we see how crucial it is to uphold a nuclear taboo," he said. "To uphold the norm, saying nuclear weapons would never be used again.”
Frydnes said 120,000 inhabitants of Hiroshima and Nagasaki had been incinerated or had died in the months and years that followed from burns and radiation.
“Today’s nuclear weapons have far greater destructive power,” he said. “They can kill millions and would impact the climate catastrophically. Nuclear war could destroy our civilization.”
The award was announced at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Norway’s capital Oslo.
Copyright 2024 NPR
