Nobel Peace Prize winner calls for nuke disarmament

December 10, 2017

Oslo- The head of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, the winner of this year's Nobel Peace Prize, on Saturday underscored the importance of eliminating nuclear weapons from the world.

"We are facing a clear choice right now. The end of nuclear weapons or the end of us," said Beatrice Fihn, executive director of the group, known as ICAN.

At a press conference on the day before the prize award ceremony on Sunday, Fihn stressed the need to effectuate the U.N. treaty to ban nuclear weapons adopted in July and achieve full nuclear disarmament early.

Setsuko Thurlow, who survived the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima, western Japan, on Aug. 6, 1945, was also present at the conference.

Regarding her experience, she said: "This is unacceptable human suffering. No human being should ever experience what we experienced." Thurlow, who lives in Canada, will attend the award ceremony together with Fihn.

Fihn referred to increasing tensions over North Korea's nuclear weapons and missile development.

"Nuclear weapons do not prevent conflicts. They caused this conflict," she said, rejecting the view that nuclear deterrence helps strengthen security.

Thurlow criticized Japan for lacking consistency, saying that the country relies on nuclear deterrence provided by the United States and refuses to sign the nuclear weapons ban treaty while stressing its status as the world's only atomic-bombed country. Jiji Press