The Belarusian lawyer Ales Bialiatski, the Russian organization Memorial and the Ukrainian Center for Civil Liberties are facing civil resistance against Putin.
The 2022 Nobel Peace Prize awarded this Friday to a Belarusian lawyer and two civil entities, one Russian and one Ukrainian. They all have the same thing in common: his struggle for respect for human rights and civil liberties against the oppression of the Russian regime and its vassal the Belarusian.
Berit Reiss-Andersen, president of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, in charge of awarding the Nobel Peace Prize each year, announced shortly after 11 a.m. European time that the winners this year are the Belarusian lawyer Ales Bialiatskithe Russian organization Memorial and the ukrainian Center for Civil Liberties.
Reiss-Andersen explained that the three laureates “represent civil society in their countries” and that “for many years they have promoted the right to criticize power and protect the fundamental rights of citizens. They have made an extraordinary effort to document war crimes human rights abuses and power abuses. Together they demonstrate the significance of civil society for peace and democracy.”
The Nobel Committee, in its press release, also explains that the winners in this edition, “with their constant efforts in favor of humanist values, anti-militarism and the principles of Law, have revitalized and honored the vision of Alfred Nobel for peace and brotherhood among nations, a much needed vision in today’s world.”
Who are they
The Ukrainian organization Center for Civil Liberties was founded with the aim of promoting human rights and democracy in Ukraine.
His work, says the Nobel Committee, “has strengthened Ukrainian civil society and pressured the authorities to make Ukraine a complete democracy”.
Since the Russian invasion, this organization “has been engaged in identify and document Russian war crimes against the Ukrainian population” and “plays a pioneering role in holding parties accountable for their crimes.”
Memorial, russian organization declared a foreign agent by the Kremlinwas founded in 1987, in the throes of the Soviet regime, by human rights activists who wanted the millions of victims of that regime. Memorial, says the Nobel Committee in an explanation that can resonate in countries with repressive pasts like Argentina“is based on the notion that confronting the crimes of the past is essential to prevent new crimes.
The award recalls that during the wars in Chechnya, the Memorial organization collected and verified information on abuses and war crimes perpetrated against the civilian population by Russian forces. Their leader in Chechnya, Natalia Estemirova, was murdered to shut down your work.
The third laureate is the Belarusian lawyer Ales Bialiatski. Since the mid-1980s, when Belarus was still part of the Soviet Union, he began his work in the democratic movement. Her life, recalls the Nobel Committee, “has been dedicated to promote democracy and pacifism in his country”.
Bialiatski is founder of the organization Viasna (Spring). Since 1996, this organization has defended human rights and promotes protests against the authorities for the use of torture against political prisoners.
Since 2020 he is imprisoned without trial. “Never”, recalls the press release from the Nobel Committee, “has he given an inch in his fight for human rights and democracy in Belarus”.
Brussels, special
ap