A Japanese organisation of atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki has won the Nobel Peace Prize for it’s “efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons”.
The group, known as Nihon Hidankyo or Hibakusha, which is a Japense term to describe the survivors of the atomic bombings, was awarded the prize in the Norwegian capital of Oslo on Friday morning.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee, announcing the award, said in its citation: “Hibakusha is receiving the Peace Prize 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.”
The committee said 286 candidates had been nominated for the prize this year, including 197 individuals and 89 organisations.
Jorgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said the award was made as the “taboo against the use of nuclear weapons is under pressure”.
Last year’s prize went to jailed Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi for her advocacy of women’s rights and democracy, and against the death penalty. The Nobel committee said it also was a recognition of “the hundreds of thousands of people” who demonstrated against “Iran’s theocratic regime’s policies of discrimination and oppression targeting women.”
The Nobel prizes carry a cash award of 11 million Swedish kronor (£811,000 ). Unlike the other Nobel prizes that are selected and announced in Stockholm, founder Alfred Nobel decreed the peace prize be decided and awarded in Oslo by the five-member Norwegian Nobel Committee.
Nihon Hidankyo was founded in August 1956 with three main objectives, including: the “prevention of nuclear war and the elimination of nuclear weapons”; the securing of “state compensation for the damages” caused by the atomic bombs dropped on Japan; and improvements to the current policies and measures for the protection and assistance for those affected by the bombings.
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