Activists and organizations fighting for human rights in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus honored

Belarusian political activist Ales Bialiatski, Russian human rights organization Memorial and Ukrainian Civil Liberties Center have been awarded the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize.

The Nobel Committee said they were honored for their work to protect citizens’ human rights and demonstrate the importance of civil society in building peace and democracy.

The committee says the winners represent civil society in their home countries and have “for many years supported the right to criticize power and protect citizens’ fundamental rights.”

The Committee highlighted the “extraordinary” efforts of these two organizations and activists to “document war crimes, human rights abuses and abuses of power”.

The award highlights the work of “three leading defenders of human rights, democracy and peaceful coexistence in neighboring Belarus, Russia and Ukraine”.

The Nobel highlighted the recipients’ continued efforts in favor of “humanist values, anti-militarism and principles of law” honoring a vision of peace and fraternity among nations that is “much needed in today’s world.”

“This is recognition for them, not against anyone,” said a spokesperson for the organization.

Russia, led by Vladimir Putin, has been at war with Ukraine since February this year.

Award for ‘creative spirits’

One of the initiators of the democracy movement that emerged in Belarus in the mid-1980s, Ales Bialiatski (1962) devoted his life to promoting democracy and peaceful development in his home country.

Providing support to the arrested protesters and their families, the Nobel Committee founded the Viasna (Spring) organization in 1996 “in response to the controversial constitutional reforms that gave the president dictatorial powers and triggered widespread protests”.

Viasna later evolved into a large human rights organization that “documented and protested the authorities’ torture of political prisoners.”

Despite enormous personal difficulties, Bialiatsky did not take a step forward in the fight for human rights and democracy. Activists imprisoned between 2011 and 2014 and detained again in 2021 after participating in massive opposition protests following the 2020 election, claim that the election holding Aleksandr Lukashenko was rigged.

The spokesperson responsible for announcing the Nobel Peace Prize said: “We ask the authorities to release him (Bialiatski). But we know that there are thousands of political prisoners in Belarus and it is unrealistic to think that they will release him.” .

“Bialiatski is being held in very difficult conditions. We hope this award will help lift his spirits,” the committee said. said.

From the USSR to the present

The human rights organization Memorial was founded in 1987 in the former Soviet Union. Its founders include Nobel Peace Prize laureate Andrei Sakharov and human rights activist Svetlana Gannushkina.

Memorial’s motto is based on the idea that it is necessary to address past crimes in order to prevent new crimes. After the collapse of the USSR, the entity became the largest human rights organization in Russia.

“In addition to establishing a documentation center on the victims of the Stalinist era, the party collected and systematized information on political repression and human rights violations in Russia,” the committee said.

Thus, they note, it has become the most reliable source of information “on political prisoners in Russian detention centers.”

The organization has also been at the forefront of efforts to combat militarism, promote human rights and rule of law government.

The monument gathered and verified information about abuses and war crimes against the civilian population by Russian and pro-Russian forces during the Chechen wars. In 2009, Natalya Estemirova, head of Memorial’s branch in Chechnya, was killed for this job.

Memorial was listed as a “foreign agent” by the Russian government, and they decided to close their documentation center in December 2021. Commenting on the forced shutdown, party chairman Yan Rachinsky said, “No one is planning to give up.”

Award in Ukraine

The Center for Civil Liberties was established in Kyiv, Ukraine in 2007, with the aim of promoting human rights and democracy in the country.

“The Center took a stance to strengthen Ukrainian civil society and to pressure the authorities to make Ukraine a full-fledged democracy,” the Nobel Foundation said.

To transform Ukraine into a state governed by the rule of law, the Civil Liberties Center actively advocates Ukraine’s participation in the International Criminal Court.

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Center for Civil Liberties undertook to detect and document Russian war crimes against the Ukrainian civilian population.

In collaboration with international partners, the center plays a leading role in holding those responsible for their crimes accountable.