Oslo/The Japanese organization Nihon Hidankyo is the winner of the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize “for its efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons and to demonstrate through witness testimony that nuclear weapons should never be used again,” the organization announced this Friday. Norwegian Nobel Committee, based in Oslo.
In awarding this year’s Nobel Peace Prize to this organization, the committee wishes to honor all survivors of the atomic bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 – also known as hibakusha-–who, “despite physical suffering and painful memories, have decided to use their costly experience to cultivate hope and commitment to peace.”
“They help us describe the indescribable, think the unthinkable, and somehow understand the incomprehensible pain and suffering caused by nuclear weapons,” the committee noted.
“It is alarming that this taboo against the use of nuclear weapons is under pressure today,” the committee added.
On the occasion of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, the Norwegian committee also wishes to recognize “an encouraging fact” in the midst of current geopolitical tensions, that “no nuclear weapon has been used in war in almost 80 years.” “.
“The extraordinary efforts of Nihon Hidankyo and other representatives of the hibakusha have greatly contributed to the establishment of the nuclear taboo. “It is therefore alarming that today this taboo against the use of nuclear weapons is under pressure,” the committee added.
“Nuclear powers are modernizing and improving their arsenals; new countries appear to be preparing to acquire nuclear weapons; and nuclear weapons are threatened in ongoing wars. At this moment in human history, it is worth remembering what the nuclear weapons: the most destructive weapons the world has ever seen,” he emphasized.
Next year will mark 80 years since two American atomic bombs killed some 120,000 inhabitants of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, they recalled in Oslo. Furthermore, a comparable number died from burns and radiation injuries in the months and years that followed.
The committee also stressed that “the fate of those who survived the infernos of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (…) was hidden and neglected for a long time.”
“One day, the survivors of the atomic bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki will no longer be among us as witnesses of history”
“One day, the survivors of the atomic bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki will no longer be among us as witnesses of history, but with a strong culture of remembrance and continued commitment, new generations in Japan are carrying on the experience and message of witnesses,” the committee stated.
“They are inspiring and educating people around the world. In this way, they contribute to maintaining the nuclear taboo, an indispensable condition for a peaceful future for humanity,” he further maintained.
In 1956, local associations of hibakushaalong with victims of nuclear weapons testing in the Pacific, formed the Japanese Confederation of Organizations of People Affected by A and H Bombs. This name was shortened in Japanese to Nihon Hidankyo and would become the largest and most influential organization of ‘hibakusha’ from Japan.
