Nobel Peace Prize awarded to survivors of Hiroshima, Nagasaki bombings

STOCKHOLM, October 11. /TASS/. Japan’s Nihon Hidankyo organization, made up of people who survived the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, will be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2024, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said.
The movement was honored “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 committee said.
Nihon Hidankyo is a Japanese organization of survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the United States. It was founded in 1956 and is found in all 47 prefectures of Japan. The movement’s main goals include “the prevention of nuclear war and the abolition of nuclear weapons, including the signing of an international treaty for their total prohibition and elimination.” In addition, Hidankyo members advocate for government payouts for all atomic bombing victims and improvements in Tokyo’s current policies toward the victims. The organization has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize several times since 1985.
The Nobel Peace Prize was first awarded in 1901. There were years when no winner was announced, the last time being in 1972. Other reasons for no award being given include World Wars I and II, disagreements among committee members, and a “lack of worthy candidates.”
The full list of nominees is traditionally kept strictly confidential and can only be made public 50 years after the award ceremony. Each year, however, information about the nomination of certain candidates is leaked to the media by organizations or individuals on the nomination committee. These include former and current members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee and its advisers, previous year’s Peace Prize winners, members of national parliaments, university professors specializing in history, philosophy, law or theology.
Reuters previously reported that a total of 286 candidates had been nominated for this year’s peace prize. The agency named Pope Francis and British naturalist David Attenborough among them, as well as UNRWA, the UN International Court of Justice and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.