An Austrian diplomat says a United Nations treaty banning nuclear arms would not exist without this year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner Nihon Hidankyo, a Japanese organization representing atomic bomb survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Alexander Kmentt is the director of the Disarmament, Arms Control and Non-Proliferation Department of the Austrian Foreign Ministry.
He served as chair of the first meeting of signatories to the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in 2022.
Of Nihon Hidankyo, he said, “Their message is even more important in today’s world where we are seeing nuclear threats and blackmail and the highest risk of nuclear conflict in decades.”
Kmentt said he has met aged but dynamic and resilient atomic bomb survivors, known as hibakusha, many times. He also said he was inspired by their commitment to preventing the world from enduring what they did.
In particular, Kmentt spoke about meeting late hibakusha Taniguchi Sumiteru in Nagasaki in 2014.
He said, “The photo of him as a boy with the burned back is one of the most iconic and telling images of the inhumanity of nuclear weapons.”
Kmentt also praised Taniguchi’s humility and positivity, despite all he suffered.
He said he was glad that the Nobel Prize recognizes Nihon Hidankyo for its efforts.