Belarusian activist Ales Bialiatsky, Russia’s human rights organization Memorial and the Ukrainian Center for Civil Liberties won the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to document human rights abuses, the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced on Friday. This award comes as Ukraine battles the Russian invasion, which has drawn accusations that numerous war crimes have been committed. The Norwegian Nobel Committee explained, in its motivation, that the Peace Prize winners have been promoting, for many years, the right to criticize power and to protect the citizens’ fundamental rights. „They have made an outstanding effort to document war crimes, human rights abuses and the abuse of power.” The committee’s motivation also shows that, together, they demonstrate the importance of civil society for peace and democracy.
