The Russian NGO Memorial, which was banned in Russia, denounced the case it faced this Friday (7) when “the whole world congratulated us on the Nobel Peace Prize”.
While the whole world is congratulating us on the Nobel Prize, a case is being made at the Tverskoi court (in Moscow) for the confiscation of the Monument’s buildings.
NGO Memorial is a reference to the struggle for freedom and the memory of political repression in Russia and the USSR.
The 2022 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded this morning to Ales Bialiatski of Belarus, NGO Memorial and the Ukrainian Center for Civil Liberties.
According to the organizers, the winners “represent civil society in their country of origin” and support “the right to criticize power and protect the fundamental rights of citizens.”
After some controversial decisions in recent years, the Committee has refrained from commenting on political issues. Berit Reiss-Andersen, the head of the group, stated that the decision was taken because it was necessary to make it clear that “we are talking about two authoritarian regimes and a nation at war”, noting that the importance of civil society should be emphasized. in promoting society “non-aggression and non-war” values.
meet the winners
Ales Bialiatski is one of the main figures in opposition to Belarus’ current dictator Aleksandr Lukashenko, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Bialiatski was arrested by the Lukashenko regime in 2020 and remained behind bars. He was at the forefront of the pro-democracy movement in Minsk in the 1980s and “devoted his life to promoting democracy and the peaceful development of his homeland”.
He founded Viasna (Primavera) in 1996 and later developed into a human rights organization documenting the use of torture against political prisoners. After the winners were announced, Nobel organizers urged country authorities to release the activist. A spokesperson for the Belarusian opposition said Bialiatski is currently being held in “inhumane conditions”.
Image: Viktor Drachev/AFP
The country’s opposition leader, Pavel Latushko, said Nobel recognized “all political prisoners in Belarus”. “(The prize) is not just for him (Bialatski), but for all the political prisoners we currently have in Belarus,” he said.
Operating for over thirty years, the Russian Memorial is the oldest human rights group in the country. It was founded by Soviet dissidents, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate and nuclear physicist Andrei Sakharov, who dedicated themselves to preserving the memory of the millions of Russians who died or persecuted in labor camps under Josef Stalin.
In November 2021, a Russian court called for Memorial’s dissolution, accusing the group of “systematically violating” the obligations of its “foreign agent” status. Moscow also argued that it enforces laws to stop extremism and protect the country from outside influence.
The following month, the country’s Supreme Court ordered the dissolution of the Memorial, ending a year of intense crackdowns on critics and opponents of Vladimir Putin’s government.
The German office of the Russian organization Memorial also spoke about the award, which it calls “recognition of our work on human rights, and especially of our colleagues in Russia who have suffered and are subjected to indescribable attacks and oppression.”
The Ukrainian Center for Civil Liberties is an international human rights organization founded in Kyiv, Ukraine in 2007 and led by Ukrainian lawyer Oleksandra Matviichuk.
The organization has played an important role in documenting political arrests and disappearances in Ukraine in recent years, especially after the 2013 and 2014 demonstrations against President Viktor Yanukovitch. The group submitted certificates to the International Criminal Court (ICC) on crimes against humanity committed by the Yanukovitch regime during the wave of protests known as Euromaidan.
The group also participated in monitoring Russian movements in Crimea and Donbas, and gained attention for its performance after the Russian occupation. The center monitors, among other things, enforced disappearances that it claims were carried out on Ukrainian soil by Russian military forces. The center thanked the international community for their support.
Ukraine’s Center for Civil Liberties said on Twitter that it is “proud” to be one of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize winners. “Good morning with good news. We are proud.”
*With Estadao Content
source: Noticias
