Nobel Peace Prize given to Japanese organization Nihon Hidankyo for its work against nuclear weapons

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.

Jørgen 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, Toshiyuki 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 (ICAN) 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.”

Beatrice Fihn, who was the executive director of ICAN when it won the Nobel, said honoring Nihon Hidankyo was “quite emotional.”

“We are partners in this fight,” she told The Associated Press.

The survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki "know nuclear weapons the best. ... They know how it feels like, how it looks like, how it smells when your city is burning from nuclear weapons use,” she said.

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.”

The United States dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki on Aug. 9, 1945, killing 70,000 people, three days after its bombing of Hiroshima killed 140,000. Japan surrendered on Aug. 15, 1945, ending World War II and its nearly half-century of aggression across Asia.

Nihon Hidankyo was formed in 1956 by survivors of the attacks and victims of nuclear weapons tests in the Pacific amid demands for government support for health problems.

“The atomic bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki, also known as the hibakusha, are selfless, soul-bearing witnesses of the horrific human cost of nuclear weapons,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a congratulatory statement.

“Nuclear weapons remain a clear and present danger to humanity, once again appearing in the daily rhetoric of international relations,” he added. “It is time for world leaders to be as clear-eyed as the hibakusha, and see nuclear weapons for what they are: devices of death that offer no safety, protection, or security.”

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 the “theocratic regime’s policies of discrimination and oppression targeting women.”

In a year of conflict, there was speculation the Norwegian Nobel Committee might opt to not 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 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.

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This version corrects the name of Nihon Hidankyo’s Hiroshima branch chairperson to Toshiyuki Mimaki, not Tomoyuki Mimaki.

Corder reported from The Hague, Netherlands, and Becatoros from Athens, Greece. Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo, Philipp Jenne in Vienna, Lori Hinnant in Paris and Vanessa Gera in Warsaw, Poland, contributed.

A worker of the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper hands out copies of an extra version to passersby in Tokyo, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024, after Nihon Hidankyo, or the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, won the Nobel Peace Prize. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)

A worker of the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper hands out copies of an extra version to passersby in Tokyo, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024, after Nihon Hidankyo, or the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, won the Nobel Peace Prize. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)

A person reads a copy of an extra version as workers of the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper hand out its copies to passersby in Tokyo, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024, after Nihon Hidankyo, or the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, won the Nobel Peace Prize. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)

Toshiyuki Mimaki, president of Nihon Hidankyo, or the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, reacts as he speaks to media members in Hiroshima, western Japan, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024, following Nihon Hidankyo's winning the Nobel Peace Prize. (Moe Sasaki/Kyodo News via AP)

Toshiyuki Mimaki, right, president of Nihon Hidankyo, or the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, speaks to media members in Hiroshima, Japan, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024, as he reacts to Ninon Hidankyo's winning the Nobel Peace Prize. (Moe Sasaki/Kyodo News via AP)

Toshiyuki Mimaki, president of Nihon Hidankyo, or the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, reacts as he speaks to media members in Hiroshima, western Japan, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024, following Nihon Hidankyo's winning the Nobel Peace Prize. (Moe Sasaki/Kyodo News via AP)

Toshiyuki Mimaki, president of Nihon Hidankyo, or the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, reacts as he speaks to media members in Hiroshima, western Japan, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024, following Nihon Hidankyo's winning the Nobel Peace Prize. (Moe Sasaki/Kyodo News via AP)

Masako Kudo, an official of Nihon Hidankyo, or the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, reacts as she speaks to media members at its Tokyo office in Tokyo, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024, following Ninon Hidankyo's winning the Nobel Peace Prize. (AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama)

Toshiyuki Mimaki, president of Nihon Hidankyo, or the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, speaks to media members in Hiroshima, western Japan, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024, following Nihon Hidankyo's winning the Nobel Peace Prize. (Moe Sasaki/Kyodo News via AP)

The head of the Nobel Committee, Jorgen Watne Frydnes, shows the logo of the Japanese organization Nihon Hidankyo, the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for 2024, at the Nobel Institute in Oslo, Norway, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. 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. (Javad Parsa/NTB Scanpix via AP)

In this 1945 file photo, a view of the devastation after the atom bomb was dropped, in Hiroshima, Japan. The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Nihon Hidankyo, a Japanese organization of survivors of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, for its activism against nuclear weapons. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - Doves fly over the Peace Statue during a ceremony to mark the 77th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing at the Peace Park in Nagasaki, southern Japan, on Aug. 9, 2022. The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Nihon Hidankyo, a Japanese organization of survivors of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, for its activism against nuclear weapons. (Kyodo News via AP, File)

FILE - Kazumi Matsui, right, mayor of Hiroshima bows, at Hiroshima Memorial Cenotaph, at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima, western Japan, Aug. 6, 2015. The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Nihon Hidankyo, a Japanese organization of survivors of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, for its activism against nuclear weapons. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)

The head of the Nobel Committee, Jorgen Watne Frydnes, announces at a press conference that the Japanese organization Nihon Hidankyo is the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for 2024 at the Nobel Institute in Oslo, Norway, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (Javad Parsa/NTB Scanpix via AP)

FILE - Smoke rises around 20,000 feet above Hiroshima, Japan, after the first atomic bomb was dropped, Aug. 6, 1945. The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Nihon Hidankyo, a Japanese organization of survivors of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, for its activism against nuclear weapons. (AP Photo, File)

The head of the Nobel Committee, Jorgen Watne Frydnes, announces at a press conference that the Japanese organization Nihon Hidankyo is the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for 2024 at the Nobel Institute in Oslo, Norway, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (Javad Parsa/NTB Scanpix via AP)

The head of the Nobel Committee, Jorgen Watne Frydnes, announces at a press conference that the Japanese organization Nihon Hidankyo is the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for 2024 at the Nobel Institute in Oslo, Norway, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (Javad Parsa/NTB Scanpix via AP)

The head of the Nobel Committee, Jorgen Watne Frydnes, announces at a press conference that the Japanese organization Nihon Hidankyo is the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for 2024 at the Nobel Institute in Oslo, Norway, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (Javad Parsa/NTB Scanpix via AP)

FILE - Assistant Secretary General of Nihon Hidankyo and atomic bomb survivor Masako Wada arrives to attends a conference on nuclear disarmament, at the Vatican, Friday, Nov. 10, 2017. Ninon Hidankyo has been awarded the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, File)

CORRECTS NAME - Toshiyuki Mimaki, president of Nihon Hidankyo, or the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, speaks in an anti-atomic bomb meeting in Hiroshima, Japan, Aug. 4, 2022. Ninon Hidankyo has been awarded the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize. (Kyodo News via AP)

The head of the Nobel Committee, Jorgen Watne Frydnes, announces at a press conference that the Japanese organization Nihon Hidankyo is the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for 2024 at the Nobel Institute in Oslo, Norway, Friday, Oct. 11, 2024. (Javad Parsa/NTB Scanpix via AP)

FILE - A close-up view of a Nobel Prize medal at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Md., Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2020. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

The Nobel Peace Prize is being announced against a backdrop of conflicts around the world

The Nobel Peace Prize is being announced against a backdrop of conflicts around the world

FILE - A bust of Alfred Nobel on display following a press conference at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, on Monday, Oct. 3, 2022. (Henrik Montgomery/TT News Agency via AP, File)

MAGDEBURG, Germany (AP) — Germany on Saturday was still in shock and struggling to understand the suspect behind the attack in the city of Magdeburg.

Identified by local media as 50-year-old Taleb A., a psychiatry and psychotherapy specialist, authorities said he has been living in Germany for two decades. He was arrested on site after plowing a black BMW into a Christmas market crowded with holiday shoppers Friday evening, killing at least five people and wounding about 200 others.

Prominent German terrorism expert Peter Neumann posted on X that he had yet to come across a suspect in an act of mass violence with that profile.

Taleb’s X account is filled with tweets and retweets focusing on anti-Islam themes and criticism of the religion while sharing congratulatory notes to Muslims who left the faith. He also described himself as a former Muslim.

He was critical of German authorities, saying they had failed to do enough to combat the “Islamism of Europe.”

He has also voiced support for the far-right and anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.

Some described Taleb as an activist who helped Saudi women flee their homeland. Recently, he seemed focused on his theory that German authorities have been targeting Saudi asylum seekers.

Neumann, the terrorism expert, wrote: “After 25 years in this ‘business’ you think nothing could surprise you anymore. But a 50-year-old Saudi ex-Muslim who lives in East Germany, loves the AfD and wants to punish Germany for its tolerance towards Islamists — that really wasn’t on my radar."

A person stands by flowers and candles placed outside St. John's Church near a Christmas Market, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)