This year’s award goes to Nihon Hidankyo. The Nobel Committee’s justification reads: “This grassroots movement of atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki, also known as Hibakusha, receives the Peace Prize for its efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons and for demonstrating through testimony that nuclear weapons must never be used again.” Jens Pettersson, Secretary General of the Swedish UN Federation, thinks it is absolutely right that Nihon Hidankyo is awarded this year’s prize. – I am surprised by the timing but overjoyed by the choice. We live in a world where the threat of nuclear weapons still exists and it is very welcome that grassroots work is rewarded, he says. – It is important to maintain the taboo that still exists around the use of nuclear weapons and then the survivors, the few who are left from Hiroshima and Nagasaki, play a big role in reminding us how terrible this weapon really is, Jan Pettersson continues. Putin, North Korea, USA The question is more topical than it has been for a long time, according to Jan Pettersson. – Currently, when we see Putin threatening nuclear weapons, when we see North Korea do it, and I dare not say what happens after the American presidential election either. Nuclear threat is something we must get away from. “Should have won several times” Gabriella Irsten, expert at Swedish Peace, agrees. – Such worthy winners, they should have won several times since 1945. These are people who really know what nuclear weapons mean, she says. Many of the Hibakusha, who survived the US atomic bombing of Japan, are approaching their 90s. – They may not be with us much longer. Their mission is to highlight the humanitarian consequences. Many of these still receive medical care because of the bombs, says Gabriella Irsten.
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