Nobel Peace Prize Amid Ukraine War Awarded to 'Anti-Russia' Activists and Human Rights Organizations

Belarusian Activist Ales Bialiatski
Russian NGO Memorial and Ukrainian NGO Center for Civil Liberties (CCL) Awarded

Berit Reiss-Andersen, Chair of the Nobel Committee, is announcing the 2022 Peace Prize laureate on the 7th (local time) in Oslo, Norway.
[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] Two activists and two civic groups dedicated to promoting human rights have been selected as the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize laureates.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee announced on the 7th (local time) that Belarusian activist Ales Bialiatski, Russian civic group Memorial, and Ukrainian civic group Center for Civil Liberties (CCL) have been chosen as this year’s Nobel Peace Prize recipients.

The Nobel Committee stated, "The laureates represent civil society in their respective countries," adding, "They have spent years criticizing power and advancing the right of citizens to protect their fundamental rights."

All of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize winners come from countries related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which began on February 24.

Bialiatski has been active in Belarus, where President Alexander Lukashenko, known as Europe’s last dictator, rules with an iron fist. He has long opposed the Lukashenko regime and has been detained since July last year on charges of tax evasion. Bialiatski’s side claims the charges are fabricated and politically motivated repression. Belarus is a representative pro-Russian country and served as a staging ground during the Ukraine invasion, leading to international sanctions.

Memorial is Russia’s oldest human rights organization, which researched and documented political repression in the former Soviet Union and post-Soviet Russia, and monitored human rights conditions in Russia and other former Soviet states. Founded in 1989 as a historical education group during the Soviet era, it expanded its activities to human rights in 1991. Last year, Russia dissolved Memorial’s headquarters and affiliated organizations, accusing them of colluding with foreign entities to harm national security.

The NGO CCL operates in Ukraine, where war crimes and various human rights abuses have been rampant due to the Russian invasion. Headquartered in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, it was established in 2007 and focuses on documenting facts to protect human rights even amid war.

The Nobel laureates were announced following the awards for Physiology or Medicine on the 3rd, Physics on the 4th, Chemistry on the 5th, Literature on the 6th, and Peace on this day. The Nobel season will conclude with the announcement of the Economics laureate on the 10th. Winners receive a gold medal and a prize of 10 million Swedish kronor (approximately 1.27 billion KRW).

The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded 103 times since its inception in 1901. Due to World War I and II and other reasons, no laureates were selected 19 times (1914?1916, 1918, 1923, 1924, 1928, 1932, 1939?1943, 1948, 1955?1956, 1966?1967, 1972).

Until last year, there were 69 solo laureates, 31 two-person joint laureates, and 3 three-person joint laureates, totaling 137 individuals. Organizations have received the Peace Prize 28 times up to last year, with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) winning three and two times respectively. Other recipients include the United Nations and the European Union.

The record for the most Peace Prizes awarded to a single entity is held by the ICRC, which has won three times. Henri Dunant, the founder of the ICRC, received the first-ever Peace Prize.

The youngest laureate was Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani human rights activist who survived a Taliban shooting, awarded in 2014 at the age of 17.

Only one person has ever declined the Peace Prize. Le Duc Tho, the North Vietnamese representative, was jointly awarded in 1973 with Henry Kissinger, then U.S. National Security Advisor, for leading the Paris Peace Accords to end the Vietnam War. However, he uniquely refused the prize, citing that true peace had not yet come to his country.