Jailed activist Ales Bialiatski from Belarus, the Russian organisation Memorial and the Ukrainian Center for Civil Liberties group have won the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to document rights abuses.
The announcement was made on Friday at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Norway’s capital, Oslo.
“The Norwegian Nobel Committee wishes to honour three outstanding champions of human rights, democracy and peaceful co-existence in the neighbour countries Belarus, Russia and Ukraine,” said Committee Chair Berit Reiss-Andersen, who also called on Belarus to release Bialiatski from prison.
The Nobel Peace Prize, worth 10 million Swedish crowns, or about $900,000, will be presented in Oslo on December 10, the anniversary of the death of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, who founded the awards in his 1895 will.
“The Peace Prize laureates represent civil society in their home countries. They have for many years promoted the right to criticise power and protect the fundamental rights of citizens,” the Norwegian Nobel Committee said in its citation.
“They have made an outstanding effort to document war crimes, human right abuses and the abuse of power. Together they demonstrate the significance of civil society for peace and democracy.”
The office the human rights group Memorial in Moscow
A man leaves the office of the human rights group Memorial in Moscow [File: Evgenia Novozhenina/Reuters]
Memorial said that winning the award was recognition of its human rights work and of colleagues who continue to suffer “unspeakable attacks and reprisals” in Russia.
“It encourages us in our resolve to support our Russian colleagues to continue their work at a new location, despite the forced dissolution of MEMORIAL International in Moscow,” said a statement by Memorial board member Anke Giesen to Reuters news agency.
As for the Center for Civil Liberties, its representative Volodymyr Yavorskyi told the Associated Press news agency that the award was important because “for many years we worked in a country that was invisible”.
“We are shocked. Even in this morning we knew nothing. We are grateful for this award because we have made a titanic effort at the altar of peace, democracy and freedom. Effort that is still ongoing. The award will give us more strength and inspiration in our further efforts,” Oleksandra Matviichuk, the head of the Center for Civil Liberties, told Al Jazeera.
The organisation founded in 2007 to promote human rights and democracy in Ukraine “has taken a stand to strengthen Ukrainian civil society and pressure the authorities to make Ukraine a full fledged democracy, to develop Ukraine into a state governed by rule of law”, said Reiss-Andersen.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, the group has worked to document Russian war crimes against Ukrainian civilians.
“The center is playing a pioneering role with a view to holding the guilty parties accountable for their crimes,” said Reiss-Andersen.
