The Japanese anti-nuclear organization Nihon Hidankyo, a grassroots movement of Hibakusha, or survivors of the atomic bombs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, was given the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee chair in Oslo, Jorgen Watne Frydnes, presented the group with the award “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 group was founded in 1956.
The international “nuclear taboo,” which emerged in reaction to the atomic bomb bombings of August 1945, alarmed the Nobel committee, which stated that it was “under pressure.”
“This year’s prize is a prize that focuses on the necessity of upholding this nuclear taboo. And we have all a responsibility, particularly the nuclear powers,” Frydnes told reporters.
The esteemed award was given to the imprisoned women’s rights activist Narges Mohammadi last year in recognition of her battle against Iranian women’s persecution.
Along with a certificate and gold medal, the prize package includes $1 million (913,000 euros).
The prize will be given out on December 10 at a ceremonial event in Oslo, marking the anniversary of the Swedish inventor and philanthropist Alfred Nobel’s death in 1896.
The other Nobel Prizes are announced in Stockholm, whereas only the Peace Prize is given out in Oslo.
Author Han Kang of South Korea won the Nobel Prize in Literature on Thursday for her investigation into the relationship between historical events and mental and bodily suffering.
The economics prize will conclude the Nobel season on Monday.
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