Japan's Nihon Hidankyo, organization of atomic bomb survivors, awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
CBC
The Japanese grass roots group Nihon Hidankyo, comprised of survivors of Second World War atomic bombings, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo on Friday.
The committee said the award given to the group, also known as Hibakusha after the Japanese word referring to survivors of the bombing of the Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki, was timely given what it said were "alarming" and increasing threats to wield nuclear power in war.
"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 Norwegian Nobel Committee said in its citation.
The world's first atomic bomb destroyed Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945, killing an estimated 140,000 people between the initial blast and the following months. Three days later, the U.S. forces dropped a second nuclear bomb, on Nagasaki, killing another 70,000 people, according to estimates. Japan surrendered on Aug. 15.
"I can't believe it's real," Nihon Hidankyo co-chair Toshiyuki Mimaki told a press conference in Hiroshima, as he held back tears and pinched his cheek.
Mimaki, a survivor himself, said the award would give a major boost to the group's efforts to demonstrate that the abolition of nuclear weapons was possible.
"[The win] will be a great force to appeal to the world that the abolition of nuclear weapons and everlasting peace can be achieved," he said. "Nuclear weapons should absolutely be abolished."
Witnesses to the only two nuclear bombs ever to be used in conflict have dedicated their lives to the struggle for a nuclear-free world, with the group founded in 1956.
"The Hibakusha help us to describe the indescribable, to think the unthinkable, and to somehow grasp the incomprehensible pain and suffering caused by nuclear weapons," the committee said.
Nihon Hidankyo head Toshiyuki Mimaki told a news conference in Hiroshima that the prize as an encouraging sign for the disarmament movement.
"It would be a great force to appeal to the world that the abolition of nuclear weapons can be achieved," he said.
"Nuclear weapons should absolutely be abolished."
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said the honour was "extremely meaningful" for the country, in comments made while at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit (ASEAN) summit in Laos.
Without naming specific countries, Joergen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, warned that nuclear nations should not contemplate using their weapons.
A year into the Israel-Hamas war, foreign journalists have still not been allowed inside Gaza except on a limited number of supervised tours organized by the Israel Defence Forces. In the absence of that coverage, citizens and journalists inside Gaza have picked up their phones and cameras to document the devastation that the war has wrought and their resilience in the face of it.