The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded on Friday to Nihon Hidankyo, a Japanese organisation of survivors of the US atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, “for its efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons.”
The survivors, known as the ‘hibakusha’, are living memorials to the horror of the attacks and have used their testimony to raise awareness of the human consequences of nuclear warfare, a New York Times report said.
Toshiyuki Mimald, leader of Nihon Hidankyo, was just 3 when he saw the flash from the nuclear weapon that wiped out some 100,000 lives in Hiroshima, Japan, in 1945.
Nearly eight decades later, he renewed his plea to abolish nuclear weapons, “We don't have much life left anymore,” said El Mimaki, who is now 82.
“I am not sure I will be alive next year,” he was cited as saying by the New York Times. The award has come at a time when global tensions, including the wars in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip, could escalate into a nuclear war.
While announcing the award, the Norwegian Nobel Committee expressed its fear that the “tabon” against the use of nuclear weapons was under threat. without identifying any countries in particular.
Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a shift in his country's nuclear doctrine, in a move aimed at discouraging the West from allowing Ukraine to strike Russia with longer-range weapons.
It appeared to significantly lower the threshold for the possible use of Russia's nuclear arsenal. This is not the first time the Norwegian Nobel Committee has bestowed the Peace Prize on a group or individual for their work in opposing the use of nuclear weapons.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on X that “the spectre of Hiroshima and Nagasaki still looms over humanity. This makes the advocacy of Nihon Hidankyo invaluable. This Nobel Peace Prize sends a powerful message. We have a duty to remember; and an even greater duty to protect the next generations from the horrors of nuclear war””
