Nobel Peace Prize Winners Announced Amidst War in Ukraine

The Nobel Committee awarded this year’s Peace Prize to human rights activists from Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus (Wikimedia Commons).

The Norwegian Nobel Committee announced Belarusian human rights activist Ales Bialiatski, the Russian human rights organization Memorial, and the Ukrainian Center for Civil Liberties as the winners of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize on October 7. 

In an interview, the Nobel Committee spoke about the symbolic decision to award human rights activists at the center of the Ukraine war. “What we like to show is the importance of civil societies and the choices of individuals to stand up against injustices and against war,” said Berit Reiss-Andersen, Chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

The Committee said in its statement,“They have made an outstanding effort to document war crimes, human rights abuses, and the abuse of power.” Specifically, the Committee recognized the impact of their efforts to protect human rights and promote democracy in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. 

Ales Bialiatski, a 60-year-old Belarusian human rights activist, has led a nonviolent movement for democracy in Belarus since the 1980s. In 1996, he founded Viasna, a human rights organization that protested the constitutional amendments that gave President Alexander Lukashenko dictatorial powers. The organization also supports political prisoners and demonstrations and has grown to be the leading NGO in documenting human rights violations. 

Bialiatski has been imprisoned since July 2021 for alleged tax evasion, an imprisonment critics denounce as politically motivated.

Frank Viacorka, a Belarusian opposition politician and senior adviser to Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the leader of the Belarusian Democratic Movement, said in a statement. “This is the best person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize because, for many years, Bialiatski became the symbol of the global fight against tyranny and for the rights of ordinary people, of Belarussians.” 

The Russian human rights organization Memorial was founded in 1987. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the group documented political repression and human rights abuses before becoming one of the largest organizations in the country. In 2021, after years of being targeted by authorities, Memorial was shut down by Russia’s Supreme Court. However, Memorial continues to speak out against human rights violations and promote the right to political freedom. 

The Center for Civil Liberties (CCL) is a Ukrainian human rights organization founded in Kyiv in 2007. Their mission is to promote human rights and democracy. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the CCL has worked to document Russian war crimes against the civilian population. The Committee said, “The center is playing a pioneering role in holding guilty parties accountable for their crimes.”

The choice of these three Nobel Peace Prize winners - all involved with the war in Ukraine - has garnered a chorus of international praise. 

Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Union, commended the work of the Ukrainian, Belarusian, and Russian human rights activists. Von der Leyen said in a statement. “The Nobel Prize committee has recognised the outstanding courage of the women and men standing against autocracy. They show the true power of civil society in the fight for democracy.” 

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also praised the winners and their efforts to promote democracy saying, “They help keep governments accountable and carry the voices of the vulnerable into the halls of power.”

Not all are voicing their support. A senior aide to President Zelensky and the Foreign Ministry of Belarus criticized these selections. 

Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to President Zelensky, heavily criticized the decision to award organizations from Russia and Belarus, countries at the center of the invasion of Ukraine and the ongoing war. Mykhaylo Podolyak said in a statement on Twitter that the “Nobel Committee has an interesting understanding of the word ‘peace’ if representatives of two countries that attacked a third one receive the Nobel Prize together. Neither Russian nor Belarusian organizations were able to organize resistance to the war.”

Belarus condemned the Nobel Committee for awarding Ales Bialiatski the Nobel Peace Prize. Bialiatski is currently imprisoned without trial, and the award has increased support for his release. 

Anatoly Glaz, foreign ministry spokesman, said, “in recent years, a number of fundamental decisions of the Nobel Committee are so politicised that, excuse me, Alfred Nobel is tormented and turning in his grave.” 

As the war in Ukraine escalates, the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize recipients represent an important message to the world. They highlight the importance of documenting war crimes and human rights violations as Russian attacks become more intense. All three organizations have faced extreme adversity, but continue to advocate democracy and human rights in Eastern Europe and Russia.