The Japanese anti-nuclear group Nihon Hidankyo, comprised of atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki, also known as Hibakusha, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday.
The group, established in 1956, was honoured “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,” according to Jorgen Watne Frydnes, the chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee in Oslo.
The Nobel Committee expressed concern that the international “nuclear taboo” established in response to the atomic bomb attacks of August 1945 was “under pressure”.
“This year’s prize emphasises the necessity of upholding this nuclear taboo. And we all have a responsibility, particularly the nuclear powers,” Frydnes told reporters.
Last year, the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize prize was given to imprisoned women’s rights campaigner Narges Mohammadi for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran.
The prize includes a gold medal, a diploma, and a prize sum of $1 million (913,000 euro).
The award will be presented at a formal ceremony in Oslo on December 10, the anniversary of the 1896 death of the prize’s creator, Swedish inventor and philanthropist Alfred Nobel.
The Peace Prize is the only Nobel awarded in Oslo, with the other disciplines announced in Stockholm.
On Thursday, South Korean author Han Kang was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for her work exploring the connection between mental and physical torment as well as historical events.
The Nobel season concludes Monday with the economics prize.
