3 human rights campaigners jointly clinch Nobel Peace Prize 2022
The Nobel Peace Prize 2022 was awarded jointly to Belarusian human rights activist Ales Bialiatski, the Russian human rights organization Memorial and Ukraine's Center for Civil Liberties. The award was announced at 2:30 pm (IST) on Friday by the Nobel committee. The head of the committee dismissed speculations about the choice of winners being an indication to Russian President Vladimir Putin on his birthday.
Why does this story matter?
It was speculated ahead of the announcement of winners that this year's awards would be centered on the Russia-Ukraine crisis as Norway — the home of the awards — is among the Western powers deeply interested in the conflict. Norway is one of the founding members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which Ukraine is insistent on joining, triggering Russia's insecurity.
Nobel committee officially announced the winners on Twitter
Bialiatski founded Viasna in 1996
Ales Bialiatski (60), who is currently serving a prison sentence for over a year for tax evasion, is the founder of the Viasna Human Rights Centre. Belarus is a former Soviet country and its current President, Alexander Lukashenko is a close ally of Putin. Viasna, which translates to Spring, was founded in 1996 and is said to be Belarus' most prominent human rights group.
Memorial is said to be chronicler of Soviet crimes
The head of the Nobel committee Berit Reiss-Andersen said the Memorial was founded in 1987 by activists in the former Soviet Union to ensure "the victims of the communist regime's oppression would never be forgotten." Said to be a chronicler of Soviet crimes, Memorial was banned by Putin in December 2021 after failing to register itself as a foreign agent as per the law.
Center for Civil Liberties has been documenting Putin's war crimes
Founded in 2007, the Center for Civil Liberties has been reportedly documenting Putin's war crimes on the Ukrainian populace, especially since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began in February this year. Reiss-Andersen said the center was founded to promote human rights and democracy in Ukraine. She said the organization has worked to strengthen Ukrainian civil society and push Ukraine towards full-fledged democracy.
Who else were the contenders?
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was considered the frontrunner in the race for his handling of the Russia-Ukraine crisis after assuming charge after a landslide victory in 2019. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi was on the list along with the World Health Organization, Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Belarusian leader of opposition Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, and climate activist Greta Thunberg among others.
Indians were in the race too
Pratik Sinha and Mohammed Zubair, the founders of India's leading fact-checking website Alt News, were also shortlisted for the award. The duo has been at the helm of debunking fake news in the age of post-truth and calling out hate speech. Zubair's arrest in July over a four-year-old tweet was condemned by journalists across the world. He was later awarded bail as pressure mounted.
What is the Nobel Peace Prize?
The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded each year to individuals or organizations who have made significant contributions to world peace. According to the will of Swedish scientist Alfred Nobel — the founder of the awards — the award is conferred on those who do the best work for fraternity among nations, standing down of armies, and for promoting or holding peace congresses.
How did it start?
Nobel left behind his wealth to establish the awards and the first award was conferred in 1901, five years after his death. Until last year, the award had 137 recipients including 109 individuals and 28 organizations. Sixty-nine awards have been given to one laureate, while 31 awards have been given to two persons and only twice the prize has been shared among three individuals.
Norwegian Parliament elects committee
The Norwegian Parliament elects a committee which awards the Nobel Peace Prize. This year's recipients will be awarded £800,000 equalling Rs. 7.37 crore. Mostly, the awardees donate some or all of their prize money to fund research within their fields. The winners will join Nobel laureates of last two years at the Nobel Week to be held in Stockholm, Sweden in December.
