Japan Press Weekly

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2015 February 4 - 10 [PEACE]

Hibakusha nominated for 2015 Nobel Peace Prize

Japan’s sole nationwide organization representing survivors of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and two individual A-bomb survivors (Hibakusha) were nominated as candidates for the 2015 Nobel Peace Prize, Akahata learned on February 3.

The candidates are the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo), Hidankyo representative Taniguchi Sumiteru who survived the A-bomb attack on Nagasaki, and Setsuko Thurlow who is a survivor of the Hiroshima atomic bombing and who now lives in Canada.

Their nomination for this year’s peace prize which will commemorate the 70th year since the 1945 U.S. A-bombings was recently made by the International Peace Bureau (IPB) to the Norwegian Noble Committee.

In the nomination letter to the committee, the Swiss-based worldwide peace organization stated that for the past 70 years, Hibakusha “have made the choice of activism, unceasingly recounting their experiences and struggles, and working constantly for a total ban and the elimination of nuclear weapons, appealing to governments and peoples all over the world.”

The IPB in the letter also stated that it “believes that the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to these courageous persons, and indeed to a courageous movement, would be a contribution of unique value and extraordinary importance to the worldwide community of nuclear disarmament advocates.”

Nihon Hidankyo Secretary General Tanaka Terumi said that it is “significant” for Hibakusha and their movement to become candidates for the Nobel Peace Prize, considering that this year marks the 70th anniversary of the A-bombings of the two cities. He also expressed his determination to further increase public support for the abolition of nuclear weapons through various activities, including Hibakusha testimonies at the NPT Review Conference scheduled for the end of April in New York.