The Nobel Committee announced the laureates of the Nobel Peace Prize 2022. It was awarded to the Russian human rights organisation Memorial, which had been declared a “foreign agent” and liquidated in Russia by a court order, the Ukrainian human rights organisation Centre for Civil Liberties and Ales Bialiatski, founder of the Belarusian human rights organisation Viasna. Ales Bialiatski is currently being held in prison in Minsk, he and his colleagues were arrested in 2021 on criminal charges, which the human rights community believes to have been fabricated.
“The Peace Prize laureates represent civil society in their home countries. They have for many years promoted the right to criticise power and protect the fundamental rights of citizens. 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,” said the Nobel Committee in its announcement.
The Chair of the Civic Assistance Committee Svetlana Gannushkina headed the Migration and Law programme of the Memorial Human Rights Centre.
