AMERICAN FRIENDS SERVICE COMMITTEE NOMINATES ANTI-NUCLEAR ARMS ORGANIZATION FOR NOBEL PEACE PRIZE

Nihon Hidankyo Represents Hibakusha Survivors of Atomic and Hydrogen Bomb Blasts

Philadelphia, PA (January 25) The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), a Quaker humanitarian service organization, has nominated an organization in Japan that represents Hiroshima and Nagasaki survivors for the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize.

Nihon Hidankyo is an organization of Hibakusha survivors of the A-bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the subsequent H-bomb testing in the Bikini Atoll.

Founded in 1956, Nihon Hidankyo has worked for the abolition of nuclear weapons and the care and compensation of Hibakusha by the Japanese government. With chapters in all 47 prefectures (administrative districts) of Japan, one of Nihon Hidankyo s objectives is to improve current policies and measures on the protection and assistance for survivors. Its officers and members are all atomic bomb survivors.

Over the years, Nihon Hidankyo has help build the worldwide nuclear abolition movement and has testified at numerous United Nations sessions on nuclear test bans, nuclear non-proliferation, and disarmament. In recent years, Nihon Hidankyo has worked with a range of Japanese and other nongovernmental organizations to organize citizens' conferences focusing attention on the consequences of nuclear war and advocating for the abolition of nuclear weapons.

We must try to look with the eyes of the Hibakusha, writes AFSC general secretary Mary Ellen McNish in the nomination letter. Only with that vision might we overcome our denial of the atrocity of nuclear weapons and demand that governments eliminate rather than develop and spread them.

Nihon Hidankyo reminds us that we enter this new century with some 30,000 nuclear weapons spread across the world, the letter continues.

In its Hibakusha Declaration for the 21st Century, adopted at its annual conference in 2001, Nihon Hidankyo states: We want to open the door to peace before our lives end, to a Japan where the constitutional ideals prevail and a 21st century without war or nuclear weapons. The Door should lead to a Japanese Government that will acknowledge its responsibility for war, provide State compensation for the A-bomb damage and establish the country as a nation rejecting nuclear weapons and war. And it should lead to a U.S. that will apologize for dropping the atomic bombs and embark on the abolition of nuclear weapons.

The American Friends Service Committee is a faith-based organization working for peace, justice and reconciliation in 22 countries of the world. With national headquarters in Philadelphia and offices in 22 countries of the world, AFSC emphasizes people, not politics or ideology upholding the dignity and promise of every person.

The search for regional peace has been a major focus of the American Friends Service Committee s highly regarded international affairs work and the group has a long history working for peace and reconciliation in an atmosphere of war. In 1919 the Service Committee launched massive programs to feed millions of starving children in post-war Germany at the request of Herbert Hoover, who was director of the American Relief Administration at the time. During World War II, AFSC provided temporary aid, housing and other assistance to Japanese-Americans in efforts to get them out of internment camps.

In 1947, AFSC and the British Friends Service Council accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the Religious Society of Friends for humanitarian service, work for reconciliation, and the spirit in which these were carried out.

August 6 will mark the sixtieth anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing. To commemorate the anniversary and underscore the dangers of nuclear weapons Nihon Hidankyo is planning an international conference that month.

There are Hibakusha in countries around the world, including: Korea, Russia, Pacific Islands, China, India, Pakistan, and the United States. Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba of Hiroshima identifies three major contributions of the Hibakusha: first, they were able to transcend the infernal pain and despair that the bombings sowed and to opt for life; second, by telling their story they have effectively prevented a third use of nuclear weapons; and third, they have rejected the path of revenge and animosity that lead to extinction for all humankind and have, instead, worked to create a future of hope.

Visit http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hidankyo/nihon/english/ for additional information about Nihon Hidankyo. Information about AFSC can be found at www.afsc.org.

The American Friends Service Committee is a Quaker organization that includes people of various faiths who are committed to social justice, peace and humanitarian service. Its work is based on the belief in the worth of every person and faith in the power of love to overcome violence and injustice.