This Friday, October 11, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the Japanese anti-atomic weapons organization Nihon Hidankyo, which brings together survivors of the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Nihon Hidankyo “receives the peace prize for his efforts in favor of of a world without nuclear weapons and for demonstrating, through testimonies, that nuclear weapons must never be used again,” said the chairman of the Norwegian Nobel committee, Jørgen Watne Frydnes.
The Japanese movement was founded on August 10, 1956, 68 years ago. By awarding this prize, the Nobel committee warned against a weakening of the taboo on the use of nuclear weapons. “No nuclear weapon has been used in war for almost 80 years,” noted the president of the Nobel committee. “It is therefore alarming to see that today this taboo against the use of nuclear weapons is under pressure,” he stressed.
“Maintain the nuclear taboo”
Discourses surrounding the war in Ukraine have recently awakened concerns about a weakening of this taboo, in particular with the threat of Russian President Vladimir Putin to review his doctrine on the use of the supreme weapon. “This year’s prize is one that emphasizes the need to maintain the nuclear taboo. And we all have a responsibility (to do so), especially the nuclear powers,” added the chairman of the Nobel committee.
Last year, the Nobel Peace Prize went to Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi, imprisoned in her country, for her fight against the compulsory veil for women and against the death penalty.