Human rights advocate Ales Bialiatski from Belarus, the Russian human rights organisation Memorial, and the Ukrainian human rights organisation Center for Civil Liberties have been awarded the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize, the Nobel Committee reports.
“The Nobel 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. 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 committee’s statement reads.
Ales Bialiatski is the founder of the human rights organisation Vesna. He was one of the initiators of the democracy movement that emerged in Belarus in the mid-1980s and “has devoted his life to promoting democracy and peaceful development in his home country”.
“Government authorities have repeatedly sought to silence Ales Bialiatski. He was imprisoned from 2011 to 2014. Following large-scale demonstrations against the regime in 2020, he was again arrested. He is still detained without trial. Despite tremendous personal hardship, Mr Bialiatski has not yielded an inch in his fight for human rights and democracy in Belarus,” the committee notes.
The Russian human rights organisation Memorial was founded in 1987 by people that “wanted to ensure that the victims of the communist regime’s oppression would never be forgotten”. Among the founders of the organisation, there were Nobel Peace Prize laureate Andrei Sakharov and human rights advocate Svetlana Gannushkina.
The Nobel Committee points out that “in addition to establishing a centre of documentation on victims of the Stalinist era, Memorial compiled and systematised information on political oppression and human rights violations in Russia”. The organisation has also been “at the forefront of efforts to combat militarism and promote human rights and government based on rule of law”.
“When civil society must give way to autocracy and dictatorship, peace is often the next victim. During the Chechen wars, Memorial gathered and verified information on abuses and war crimes perpetrated on the civilian population by Russian and pro-Russian forces. In 2009, the head of Memorial’s branch in Chechnya, Natalia Estemirova, was killed because of this work,” the Nobel Committee statement reads.
In Russia, the organisation was deemed a “foreign agent” by the government and later liquidated by court order.
The Center for Civil Liberties was founded in Kyiv in 2007. Its purpose was to advance human rights and democracy in Ukraine. It is noted that the organisation “has actively advocated that Ukraine become affiliated with the International Criminal Court”.
“After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Center for Civil Liberties has engaged in efforts to identify and document Russian war crimes against the Ukrainian civilian population. In collaboration with international partners, the center is playing a pioneering role with a view to holding the guilty parties accountable for their crimes,” the statement reads.
“By awarding the Nobel Peace Prize for 2022 to Ales Bialiatski, Memorial and the Center for Civil Liberties, 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. Through their consistent efforts in favour of humanist values, anti-militarism and principles of law, this year’s laureates have revitalised and honoured Alfred Nobel’s vision of peace and fraternity between nations – a vision most needed in the world today,” the statement concludes.
The Nobel Prize week is taking place in Stockholm from 3 to 10 October.
In October 2021, editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta Dmitry Muratov and Filipino journalist Maria Ressa were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for “their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace".
