ICRC, int'l groups laud granting of Nobel Peace to Japan's Hidankyo for denuclearization efforts

By Peter Kenny

GENEVA (AA) – The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) joined other international organizations on Friday in congratulating Japan's Nihon Hidankyo on receiving the Nobel Peace Prize for contributing to the elimination of nuclear weapons and the enforcement of international law.

“This recognition highlights the group’s vital role in drawing attention to the catastrophic effects and enduring humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons use. Nihon Hidankyo has long advocated for the complete prohibition and elimination of nuclear weapons, an objective that aligns with both humanitarian principles and international legal obligations,” the ICRC said in a statement issued from its headquarters in Geneva.

“The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), which Nihon Hidankyo called for and continues to promote, is a key step toward strengthening the framework of international law aimed at preventing future nuclear catastrophes.”

Next year marks the 80th anniversary of the development of the atomic bomb and the attacks on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which killed over 215,000 people and harmed countless others.

The ICRC said it stands with Nihon Hidankyo in its work to ensure that nuclear weapons are never used again and that international law is upheld to protect the dignity of all people, both in war and in peace.

The suffering of Hibakushas, survivors of the atomic bombing, which the Japanese Red Cross Society and the ICRC witnessed firsthand in 1945 and to which Nihon Hidankyo has tirelessly and courageously bear witness over decades, demonstrates why nuclear weapons must be banned, said the ICRC.

- Congratulations pour in

Meanwhile, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) also praised the award, congratulated the Japanese group, and urged all countries, including nuclear-armed states and their allies that support the use of nuclear weapons, to heed its call to eliminate nuclear weapons.

“It is extremely important that the hibakusha - the survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki - have been recognized for their lifelong work to bring the world’s attention to what nuclear weapons actually do to people when they are used. It is particularly significant that this award comes at this time when the risk that nuclear weapons will be used again is as high, if not higher, as it has ever been,” said ICAN Executive Director Melissa Parke.

ICAN was awarded the Peace Prize in 2017 for its work in advocating for the adoption of the TPNW.

“We call on the nuclear-armed states and their allies which support the use of nuclear weapons, including, of course, Japan, to heed their call to abolish these inhumane weapons to make sure what they have been through never happens again,” said Parke.

The Geneva-based World Council of Churches (WCC), representing more than half a billion Anglican, Protestant, and Orthodox Christians worldwide, also congratulated Hidankyo on receiving the Nobel Peace Prize.

Peter Prove, WCC director of the Commission of the Churches on International Affairs, said, “There is no security in these weapons, only permanent insecurity so long as they continue to exist. Human nature and the known history of errors and accidents make it clear that there are no hands in which such weapons can ever be considered safe.”

Separately, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said “The nuclear taboo held through several moments of high tension during the Cold War. But relations between the USA and Russia and their respective allies are today at their most toxic since the Cold War.”

According to SIPRI, it is an "extremely worrying sign" that, while the number of nuclear weapons has been decreasing since the end of the Cold War, it is now rising again.

The Swedish-based group noted that the nine nuclear-armed states, the US, Russia, UK, France, China, India, Pakistan, North Korea, and Israel, continued to modernize their nuclear arsenals, with several deploying new nuclear-armed or nuclear-capable weapon systems in 2023.