The 2024 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Nihon Hidankyo, a grassroots Japanese organization of atomic bomb survivors for its efforts “to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons.”
The Norwegian Nobel Committee praised the group “for demonstrating through witness testimony that nuclear weapons must never be used again.”
The organization, also known as Hibakusha, was formed by survivors of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.
“One day, the atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki will no longer be among us as witnesses to history,” the committee said, announcing its decision in Oslo on Friday.
“But with a strong culture of remembrance and continued commitment, new generations in Japan are carrying forward the experience and the message of the witnesses,” it said.
Dan Smith, the director of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), told CNN he was “delighted” that the Hibakusha had been awarded this year’s prize.
“As the Soviet and US leaders Gorbachev and Reagan said in 1985, nuclear war can never be won and must never be fought. The Hibakusha remind us of that every day,” Smith said.
“In Nagasaki it is said, the bomb on Nagasaki was the second time a nuclear weapon was used in war: Let it be the last!”
Nuclear taboo now ‘under pressure’
The committee lauded Nihon Hidankyo for helping to maintain the nuclear taboo, which it said was “a precondition of a peaceful future for humanity.” It said the decision highlighted an encouraging fact that no nuclear weapon has been used in war in nearly 80 years.
However, it conceded that this year’s prize has been awarded when “this taboo against the use of nuclear weapons is under pressure.”
Announcing the prize, Jørgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the committee, said: “the stories and testimonies of the Hibakusha is an important reminder of how unacceptable is the use of nuclear weapons.”
