For Immediate Release: October 11, 2024
Media Contacts: Daryl G. Kimball, executive director, (202) 462-8270 ext. 107; Shizuka Kuramitsu, (202) 463-8270 ext. 104
(WASHINGTON, DC)—“The Arms Control Association warmly congratulates Nihon Hidankyo (the Japan Confederation of A & H Bomb Sufferers) for the well-deserved recognition from the Norwegian Nobel Peace Prize Committee for their persistent efforts on behalf of the Hibakusha to move the world closer to the peace and security of a world free of nuclear weapons,” said executive director, Daryl G. Kimball, Executive Director.
“The Nobel Peace Prize award to the Hibakusha in this, the 80th anniversary year of the U.S. atomic attacks on the people living in the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, serves as a reminder of the devastating human impacts of nuclear weapons use, nuclear weapons development and production, nuclear testing, and the risk of a global thermonuclear war,” said Shizuka Kuramitsu, research assistant, and native of Hiroshima.
“As we approach the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, human civilization remains precariously tethered to the existence of nuclear weapons and the threat they might be used again,” Kuramitsu cautioned.
“This year’s Nobel Peace Prize is also a call to action for the leaders of the world’s nuclear-armed states and nonnuclear weapon states, to implement concrete steps to refrain from nuclear threats, avert dangerous and destabilizing nuclear competition, and to return to the negotiating table to conclude effective risk reduction and disarmament measures,” Kimball said.
Unfortunately, all of the major nuclear weapon states are spending tens of billions of dollars modernizing their arsenals. Some, including Russia, are recklessly threatening nuclear first use. And the regime designed to prevent the use, testing, and proliferation of nuclear weapons is under stress. The last remaining agreement limiting the world's two largest arsenals, the 2010 New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), will expire on February 5, 2026. "We need to see disarmament commitments translated into action,” Kimball urged.
In June, UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned: "We need to move back from the nuclear brink.”
At the September Summit for the Future, UN member states, including the major nuclear weapon states, expressed “deep concern over the state of nuclear disarmament” and promised to advance the goal of a world free of nuclear weapons; uphold “our respective obligations and commitments” set out in treaties, protocols, and established norms; and “take all steps to prevent nuclear war.”
“To start, we call upon Presidents Biden and Putin to pledge that their nations will not increase their arsenals even after New START expires; we urge China, France, and the United Kingdom to pledge not to increase their deadly stockpiles, and for all five to pledge not to threaten nuclear weapons use. These steps would reduce tensions and create the conditions to advance nuclear disarmament involving all states," Kimball said.
"We also call upon the leaders of the world’s nuclear-armed states, as well as Japan and other states that subscribe to nuclear deterrence theory, to recognize the experience of the Hibakusha, reaffirm their message that nuclear weapons must be eliminated before they eliminate all of us, and congratulate Nihon Hidankyo for the Nobel Peace Prize honor," Kimball urged.
As Japan’s former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said at the
G7 Summit and
on other occasions: "Conveying the reality of the nuclear attack is important as a starting point for all nuclear disarmament efforts.”
“Japan's leaders should take this opportunity to contribute more to necessary efforts to advance nuclear disarmament, provide more support for research of nuclear effects, and provide more assistance for victims and survivors of nuclear weapons use and nuclear testing,” Kuramitsu added.
