• Nobel Peace Prize winners include human rights activists in Belarus, Ukraine, & Russia.
• Three great defenders of human rights, democracy, and peaceful coexistence in the neighbouring countries.
• Bialiatski was taken into custody and is still being held without being tried.

Norway’s OSLO In a stern rebuke to Russian President Vladimir Putin on his 70th birthday, the Nobel Peace Prize for this year was given on Friday to the Ukrainian organization Center for Civil Liberties, the Russian organization Memorial, and the jailed Belarus rights campaigner Ales Bialiatski.

In order to commemorate “three great defenders of human rights, democracy, and peaceful coexistence in the neighbouring countries Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine,” according to Berit Reiss-Andersen, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee

“This year’s laureates have reinvigorated and honoured Alfred Nobel’s ideal of peace and fraternity between nations, a vision most needed in the world today,” she told reporters in Oslo. “Through their constant efforts in favour of human values and anti-militarism and principles of law.

Midway through the 1980s, Bialiatski helped organize the democratic movement in Belarus and has since worked to promote civil liberties and human rights in the repressive nation. He established the non-governmental Human Rights Center Viasna and received the Right Livelihood Award in 2020, often known as the “Alternative Nobel.”

Following that year’s anti-government protests, Bialiatski was taken into custody and is still being held without being tried.

Despite extreme personal adversity, Mr Bialiatski has persevered in his fight for democracy and human rights in Belarus “Reiss-Andersen stated, adding that the Nobel committee was requesting his release from the Belarusian government.

She claimed that the Nobel Committee was aware of the prospect that by bestowing the medal on him, Bialiatski may be subject to more scrutiny by Belarusian authorities.

The people behind these organizations, she continued, “have chosen to take a risk, pay a great price, and demonstrate courage to fight for what they believe in. “We certainly hope that this price will not have a detrimental impact on him, but we also pray that it won’t.

In order to ensure that the victims of communist repression would be remembered, Memorial was established in the Soviet Union in 1987. It has kept tabs on the whereabouts of political prisoners in Russia and compiled data on the country’s violations of human rights.

According to Reiss-Andersen, “the organization has also been leading efforts to counter militarism, advance human rights, and support governments that uphold the rule of law.

Reiss-Andersen responded that “we always give a medal for something and to somebody and not against anyone” when asked if the Nobel Committee was purposefully conveying a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who turned 70 on Friday.

Not for his birthday or in any other way, she said, “this prize is not addressing President Putin, except that his administration, as the government in Belarus, is reflecting an authoritarian government that is oppressing human rights activists.”

The suppression of civil society and human rights defenders, she continued, is “the focus that Mr. Putin has called on himself that is relevant in this context.” And that is what this reward is intended to address.

During a time of unrest in Ukraine, the Center for Civil Liberties was established in 2007 to advance democracy and human rights there.

Reiss-Andersen stated, “The center has taken a stand to empower Ukrainian civil society and pressure the authorities to turn Ukraine into a fully fledged democracy and to grow Ukraine into a state ruled by rule of law.

The organization has tried to compile evidence of Russian war crimes committed against Ukrainian citizens since Russia invaded Ukraine in February.

Reiss-Andersen claimed that “the center is playing a pioneering role with a view to bringing the guilty parties accountable for their actions.”

Volodymyr Yavorskyi, a spokeswoman for the Center for Civil Liberties, said the honor was significant for the group since “for many years we worked in a country that was invisible.”

He told The Associated Press, “This is a surprise for us. But the main tool against the war is human rights activism.

The honor continues a tradition of showcasing organizations and activists working to end conflict, ease suffering, and defend human rights.

The winners from the previous year have experienced hardship since obtaining the award. The government has been trying to silence journalists, but Dmitry Muratov of Russia and Maria Ressa of the Philippines have been fighting for the survival of their journalistic companies.

For “their efforts to defend freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and sustainable peace,” they received recognition last year.

The reward is worth 10 million Swedish kronor ($900,000) in cash and will be awarded on December 10. The funds come from a donation made in 1895 by Alfred Nobel, a Swedish inventor who founded the award.

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