The Japanese organization Nihon Hidankyo, made up of survivors of the atomic bombs that the United States dropped on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, won the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee justified its decision in the movement’s efforts to achieve a world “free of nuclear weapons and to demonstrate through witness testimonies that nuclear weapons should never be used again,” said the president of the Committee, Jorgen. Watne Frydnes.
From the organization that brings together the so-called hibakusha (the name given to those affected by the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki) they welcomed the award and hoped that it would serve to end these weapons.
The request to end this type of weapons was also supported by the authorities of the Asian country.
“The hibakusha are aging and there are fewer and fewer people capable of testifying to the insignificance of possessing atomic bombs and its absolute evil“, declared the mayor of Hiroshima, Kazumi Matsui, as reported by the AFP agency.
68 years fighting Armageddon
Nihon Hidankyo is an organization founded in 1956 and seeks “prevent a nuclear warincluding the signing of an international agreement for the total prohibition and elimination of nuclear weapons,” reads its website.
To achieve its goal, the group sends survivors from around the world to share their testimonies of the “atrocious damage” and suffering caused by the use of nuclear weapons.
The movement represents the 174,080 survivors of atomic bombers residing in Japan (according to figures from March 2016), as well as those living in Korea and other parts of the world.
“I never dreamed that this could happen,” Toshiyuki Mimaki, co-president of the organization, told reporters as soon as he learned of the recognition.
Mimaki hoped that rulers and citizens understand that nuclear weapons do not make the world safer. On the contrary, in their opinion, they make it more dangerous.
“It has been said that thanks to nuclear weapons the world maintains peace, but nuclear weapons can be used by terrorists (…) For example, if Russia uses them against Ukraine, Israel against Gaza, it will not end there. Politicians should know these things,” the activist warned, according to AFP.
The Nobel Institute’s decision has been applauded inside and outside Japan.
“This is something extremely significant”declared Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
For her part, the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, stated that the award was a “powerful message.”
“The specter of Hiroshima and Nagasaki continues to hover over humanity. This makes the work of Nihon Hidankyo invaluable,” he wrote on his X account (former Twitter).
“We have a duty to remember and an even greater duty to protect future generations from the horrors of nuclear war”concluded the European leader.
The work of the award-winning organization began almost a decade after the devastation caused by the two atomic bombs that the United States dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in order to achieve Japan’s surrender in World War II.
The group had been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize “many times” in the past and In 2005 he received a special mention of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, it is recalled on its site web.
On August 6, 1945, an American bomber dropped the uranium bomb on Hiroshima, southern Japan, which killed about 140,000 people.
Three days later, a second weapon was dropped on Nagasaki. Two weeks later, Japan surrendered, ending the war.
In a dangerous moment
The award to Nihon Hidankyo comes as the threat of the use of nuclear weapons has been revived following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
In the last two years, Russian President Vladimir Putin and other senior Russian officials have warned that they would be willing to use these types of weapons if they consider that the existence of the Russian state is at risk or if its territory is attacked.
With its decision to recognize Nihon Hidankyo, the Nobel committee has avoided awarding most controversial candidates.
In recent weeks there had been speculation about the possibility that the United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNWRA) would be awarded.
Although the agency is the main provider of humanitarian aid to civilians in the Gaza Strip, its activity has not been without controversy in the current conflict in the Middle East. A few months ago nine of its employees were fired for their alleged participation in the Hamas attack against Israel on October 7 of last year.
More than 12,000 people signed a petition urging the Nobel Committee not to award the prize to UNWRA.
Another of the nominees mentioned was the International Court of Justice, the main UN court.
The court is currently considering allegations that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza and has issued a statement urging Israeli authorities to refrain from genocidal acts.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee stated that it received 286 applications for this year’s award, a number comprising 197 individuals and 89 organizations.
Iranian human rights activist Narges Mohammadi won the award in 2023, when she was honored for her work fighting oppression of women in Iran.
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