Atomic bomb survivors win Nobel Peace Prize for work against nuclear weapons

The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded on Friday to Nihon Hidankyo, a grassroots group of atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan.

"This grassroots movement of atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki, also known as 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.

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On receiving the prestigious prize, Nihon Hidankyo's head Toshiyuki Mimaki said: "Nuclear weapons should absolutely be abolished".

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In August 1945, two American atomic bombs killed an estimated 120,000 inhabitants of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

"A global movement arose whose members have worked tirelessly to raise awareness about the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of using nuclear weapons. Gradually, a powerful international norm developed, stigmatising the use of nuclear weapons as morally unacceptable. This norm has become known as the nuclear taboo”, The Nobel committee said.

"Nihon Hidankyo has provided thousands of witness accounts, issued resolutions and public appeals, and sent annual delegations to the United Nations and a variety of peace conferences to remind the world of the pressing need for nuclear disarmament", it added.

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