Nobel Peace Prize to Japan Organization10/11 06:21

   

   (AP) -- The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded Friday to Nihon Hidankyo, a 
Japanese organization of survivors of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and 
Nagasaki, for its activism against nuclear weapons.

   Jorgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said the award 
was made as the "taboo against the use of nuclear weapons is under pressure."

   Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a shift in his 
country's nuclear doctrine, in a move aimed at discouraging the West from 
allowing Ukraine to strike Russia with longer-range weapons. It appeared to 
significantly lower the threshold for the possible use of Russia's nuclear 
arsenal.

   Watne Frydnes said the Nobel committee "wishes to honor all survivors who, 
despite physical suffering and painful memories, have chosen to use their 
costly experience to cultivate hope and engagement for peace."

   Hidankyo's Hiroshima branch chairperson, Tomoyuki Mimaki, who was standing 
by at the city hall for the announcement, cheered and teared up when he 
received the news.

   "Is it really true? Unbelievable!" Mimaki screamed.

   Efforts to eradicate nuclear weapons have been honored before by the Nobel 
committee. The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons won the peace 
prize in 2017, and in 1995 Joseph Rotblat and the Pugwash Conferences on 
Science and World Affairs won for "their efforts to diminish the part played by 
nuclear arms in international politics and, in the longer run, to eliminate 
such arms."

   This year's prize was awarded against a backdrop of devastating conflicts 
raging in the Middle East, Ukraine and Sudan.

   "It is very clear that threats of using nuclear weapons are putting pressure 
on the important international norm, the taboo of using nuclear weapons," Watne 
Frydnes said in response to a question on whether the rhetoric from Russia 
surrounding nuclear weapons in its invasion of Ukraine had influenced this 
year's decision.

   "And therefore it is alarming to see how threats of use is also damaging 
this norm. To uphold an international strong taboo against the use is crucial 
for all of humanity," he added.

   EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on X that "the spectre of 
Hiroshima and Nagasaki still looms over humanity. This makes the advocacy of 
Nihon Hidankyo invaluable. This Nobel Peace Prize sends a powerful message. We 
have the duty to remember. And an even greater duty to protect the next 
generations from the horrors of nuclear war."

   Alfred Nobel stated in his will that the peace prize should be awarded for 
"the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or 
reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace 
congresses."

   Last year's prize went to jailed Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi for her 
advocacy of women's rights and democracy, and against the death penalty. The 
Nobel committee said it also was a recognition of "the hundreds of thousands of 
people" who demonstrated against "Iran's theocratic regime's policies of 
discrimination and oppression targeting women."

   In a year of conflict, there had been some speculation that the Norwegian 
Nobel Committee that decides on the winner would opt not to award a prize at 
all. The prize has been withheld 19 times since 1901, including during both 
world wars. The last time it was not awarded was in 1972.

   In the Middle East, spiraling levels of violence in the past year have 
killed tens of thousands of people, including women and children. The war, 
sparked by a bloody raid into Israel by Hamas-led militants on Oct. 7, 2023, 
that left about 1,200 people dead, mostly civilians, has spilled into the wider 
region.

   In the past week, Israel sent ground troops into Lebanon to pursue Hezbollah 
militants firing rockets into Israel, while Iran --- which backs both Hamas and 
Hezbollah --- fired ballistic missiles into Israel. Israel has yet to respond, 
but its defense minister vowed this week that its retaliation would be both 
devastating and surprising.

   The war in Gaza has killed more than 42,000 people, according to Gaza's 
Health Ministry, which doesn't differentiate between civilians and combatants 
in its count but says more than half are women and children. In Lebanon, more 
than 1,400 people have been killed, with thousands more injured and around 1 
million displaced since mid-September, when the Israeli military dramatically 
expanded its offensive against Hezbollah.

   The war in Ukraine, sparked by Russia's invasion, is heading toward its 
third winter with a massive loss of human life on both sides.

   The U.N. has confirmed more than 11,000 Ukrainian civilian dead, but that 
doesn't take into account as many as 25,000 Ukrainians believed killed during 
the Russian capture of the city of Mariupol or unreported deaths in occupied 
regions.

   The Nobel prizes carry a cash award of 11 million Swedish kronor ($1 
million). Unlike the other prizes that are selected and announced in Stockholm, 
founder Alfred Nobel decreed the peace prize be decided and awarded in Oslo by 
the five-member Norwegian Nobel Committee.

   The Nobel season ends Monday with the announcement of the winner of the 
economics prize, formally known as the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic 
Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel.