The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Nihon Hidankyo, a Japanese organisation of survivors of the US atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, for its activism against nuclear weapons.
"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 on Friday.
Committee chair Joergen Watne Frydnes said the award was made as the “taboo against the use of nuclear weapon is under pressure”.
In September, 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.
Watne Frydnes said the Nobel Committee “wishes to honour all survivors who, despite physical suffering and painful memories, have chosen to use their costly experience to cultivate hope and engagement for peace”.
Hidankyo's Hiroshima branch chair, Toshiyuki Mimaki, who was at the city hall for the announcement, cheered and teared up when he received the news.
“Is it really true? Unbelievable!” Mimaki screamed.
Efforts to eradicate nuclear weapons have been honoured in the past by the Nobel committee.
The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons won the peace prize in 2017, along with Joseph Rotblat and the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs in 1995.
The 2024 prize was awarded against a backdrop of devastating conflicts raging in the world, notably in the Middle East, Ukraine and Sudan.
“It is very clear that threats of using nuclear weapons are putting pressure on the important international norm, the taboo of using nuclear weapons,” Watne Frydnes said in response to a question on whether the rhetoric from Russia surrounding nuclear weapons in its invasion of Ukraine had influenced 2024's decision.
"To uphold an international strong taboo against the use is crucial for all of humanity."
Alfred Nobel stated in his will that the peace prize should be awarded for "the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses”.
The 2023 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”.
In a year of conflict, there was speculation the Norwegian Nobel Committee would opt not to award a prize at all.
In the Middle East, persistently spiralling levels of violence have killed tens of thousands of people, including thousands of children and women.
The war, sparked by a bloody raid into Israel by Hamas-led militants on October 7, 2023 that left about 1200 people dead, mostly civilians, has spilled out into the wider region.
In the past week, Israel sent ground troops into Lebanon to pursue Hezbollah militants firing rockets into Israel, while Iran - which backs both Hamas and Hezbollah - fired a barrage of ballistic missiles into Israel.
Israel has yet to respond, but its defence minister vowed this week that its retaliation would be both devastating and surprising.
The war in Ukraine, sparked by Russia’s invasion, is heading toward its third winter with a massive loss of human life on both sides.
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.
The Nobel season ends on Monday with the announcement of the winner of the economics prize.
The Nobel prizes carry a cash award of 11 million Swedish kronor ($A1.6 million).
with Reuters
