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Comment: A-bomb survivors have fueled efforts of Nobel Peace Prize winners

by Noritaka Egusa, Editor-in-Chief

This isn’t asking the impossible. Why is it that the A-bomb survivors or the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo) can’t be selected as the co-winner of the Nobel Peace Prize? As a citizen of the A-bombed city of Hiroshima, I would like to honestly express my disappointment.

The Nobel Peace Prize for 2017 has been awarded to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), which contributed significantly toward the adoption of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Behind the awarding of the prize to ICAN is the rising sense of crisis over current global conditions in which continuing nuclear proliferation may lead to the kind of catastrophe that destroyed the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The A-bomb survivors, who endured dreadful burns and the loss of beloved family members, have vowed that they will never let other people face the hell that they have been forced to suffer. There can be no doubt that the appeals of the A-bomb survivors are tied to ICAN’s efforts and helped mobilized public opinion for adopting the nuclear weapons ban treaty.

Today’s international order, where nuclear threats are countered with nuclear threats, is exceedingly fragile and dangerous. When a rogue nation begins developing nuclear weapons, it is extremely difficult for the nuclear powers to put a stop to this development, even with their overwhelming nuclear deterrence. The current tensions involving North Korea and the rest of the global community is an obvious case in point.

As long as nuclear weapons exist, the prospects for peace in the world and the future of our species are both dim. The real meaning of the nuclear weapons ban treaty is reflected clearly in the message that this year’s Nobel Peace Prize sends to the world.

To date, the struggle to realize the abolition of nuclear weapons has been repeatedly undertaken by such organizations and individuals as the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), the Pugwash Conferences, and former U.S. President Barack Obama, who were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts. Despite this, the path toward a world without nuclear weapons remains long. This is the sad reality.

However, the agonized cries of the aging A-bomb survivors make us aware that we cannot and must not ever give up.

As we squarely face the catastrophic tragedies of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, we must work together with the A-bomb survivors to convey their experiences to the world and to the generations that follow. The prize to ICAN is a call for all human beings to take up, with conviction, the inheritance of the survivors’ accounts.

We, the generations who were born after the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, must continue with determined and dogged efforts to advance the world toward nuclear abolition. We cannot simply sit back and do nothing, assuming that the aim of abolition will eventually arrive on its own accord.

(Originally published on October 7, 2017)

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