Anti-nuclear campaign ICAN wins 2017 Nobel Peace Prize amid North Korea, Iran crises
International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons was recognised for its decade-long effort to achieve a treaty-based prohibition of the weapons
Nuclear disarmament group, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for its decade-long campaign to rid the world of the atomic bomb as nuclear-fuelled crises swirl over North Korea and Iran.
More than 70 years since atomic bombs were used on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Nobel committee sought to highlight ICAN’s tireless non-proliferation efforts.
The decision sent a strong message to nuclear-armed nations at a time when US President Donald Trump has threatened to tear up a 2015 deal curbing Iran’s nuclear abilities and who last month alarmed delegates at the UN General Assembly by warning he may be forced to “totally destroy” North Korea over Pyongyang’s atomic weapons programme.
This is a time of great global tension, when fiery rhetoric could all too easily lead us, inexorably, to unspeakable horror
Announcing the prize in Oslo, Norwegian Nobel committee president Berit Reiss-Andersen said: “[ICAN ] is receiving the award for its work to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons and for its groundbreaking efforts to achieve a treaty-based prohibition of such weapons.
“We live in a world where the risk of nuclear weapons being used is greater than it has been for a long time.”
But she stressed that the committee’s decision was not aimed at any particular world leader.
“We’re not kicking anyone’s leg with this prize.”