Ales Bialiatski from Belarus and human rights groups from Russia and Ukraine win Nobel Peace Prize
Ales Bialiatski from Belarus, the Russian human rights organization Memorial and the Ukrainian human rights organization Center for Civil Liberties were jointly honoured for the Nobel Peace Prize. It┬аwas announced Friday in Oslo.
“The Peace Prize laureates represent civil society in their home countries. They have for many years promoted the right to criticize 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.”
Bialiatski, 60, has been an advocate for democracy in Belarus since the 1980s and formed the rights organization Viasna, which means “spring.”
He was imprisoned between 2011 and 2014 for tax evasion, charges his supporters said where politically motivated. Arrested again┬аin July 2021 on unclear charges, he┬аremains┬аin pre-trial detention.
Widespread protests rocked Belarus after the August 2020 presidential election, when autocrat Alexander Lukashenko┬аwon with an improbable 80 per cent of the vote. Several opposition politicians and activists fled the country, and others reported being subjected to beatings and abuse while imprisoned.
Belarusian opposition politician Pavel Latushko heraled the award on Friday.
“It’s not only for him but for all political prisoners which we have now in Belarus,” Latushko said. “It motivates all of us to struggle and we are sure we will win with the dictatorship of Lukashenko.”
Russia’s Memorial was established in 1987, with Nobel Peace laureate Andrei Sakharov among its founders. It worked to expose dictator Joseph Stalin’s crimes and other Soviet-era repression.
As part of efforts to silence voices critical of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin has gone to court to try and shut down Memorial International, Russia’s most prominent human rights group.
In 2016, Memorial was declared a “foreign agent” in Russia тАФ a label that implies additional government scrutiny and carries strong negative connotations that can discredit the targeted organization. Beginning in late 2021, the Kremlin began taking court action┬аto remove┬аits legal status as a protected organization.
The Center for Civil Liberties was founded in Kyiv in 2007 to promote democracy. Since Russia’s invasion on Feb. 24, it has worked to help document Russian war crimes against civilians.
The Nobel Peace Prize is worth 10 million Swedish kronor (over $1.2 million Cdn) and will be presented in Oslo on Dec. 10, the anniversary of the death of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, who founded the awards in his 1895 will.
