With the award, the committee wants to “honor three outstanding champions of human rights, democracy and peaceful coexistence in the three neighboring countries of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine,” said Reiss-Andersen. Byalyatski and the Memorial organization, which has been banned in Russia since the end of 2021, as well as the CCL together proved “the importance of civil society for peace and democracy”.
Committee chair Reiss-Andersen has been reluctant to directly criticize Russian President Vladimir Putin. When asked by a journalist if the award was a poisoned gift to Putin, who turned 70 on Friday, Reiss-Andersen said the award was not directed against Putin. However, his “authoritarian” government – like that in Belarus – suppresses human rights activists.
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier thanked the award winners in a statement for their “difficult and courageous work”. Byaljazki and the employees of Memorial and CCL had “nourished hope for democracy in their countries and presented a counter-model to the prevailing structures”.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres said the award “highlighted” the “power of civil society to advance peace.” Civil society groups are the “oxygen of democracy” and “catalysts for peace, social progress and economic growth”.
Memorial International chairman Jan Ratschinski said the Nobel Prize gave the organization “moral strength” in “depressing times”. The award is a support for all Russian human rights activists, he said as he left a Moscow court where Memorial’s trial is ongoing. Memorial representative Oleg Orlov added that he feared the award would not help ease the pressure on the organization.
The head of the Ukrainian human rights organization CCL, Oleksandra Matviychuk, said on the online service Facebook that she was “delighted” that her organization, together with “friends and partners” of Memorial and the organization founded by Byalyatsky Vyazna, had been awarded. Matviychuk also demanded that Putin and the Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko be brought before an “international tribunal” along with other “war criminals”.
Belarusian laureate Byalyatski is currently in prison in his homeland on charges of tax fraud. Nobel Committee chair Reiss-Andersen called on the authorities to release the 60-year-old. “We really hope that will happen and that he can come to Oslo to receive his honour,” she said.
The Belarusian laureate’s wife, Natalia Pinchuk, told AFP news agency that she was “overwhelmed by her feelings” and “grateful”. The Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tichanovskaya wrote in the short message service Twitter of “recognition for all Belarusians who fight for freedom and democracy”.
In 1996 Byalyatsky was one of the co-founders of Vyazna (English: spring), one of the most important non-governmental organizations in Belarus. She documents human rights violations and observes elections and plays an important role in the pro-democracy movement in the country.
Founded in 1989, the Russian organization Memorial is the oldest and most important human rights organization in Russia. At the end of 2021, the Russian Supreme Court first ordered a ban on Memorial, and later a Moscow court ordered its dissolution.
The Ukrainian Center for Civil Liberties (CCL), which was also awarded, was founded in 2007. After the start of the Russian war of aggression on February 24, it was involved, among other things, in documenting Russian war crimes against the Ukrainian civilian population.
The winners of the Nobel Peace Prize are awarded a gold medal, a certificate and prize money of ten million Swedish kroner (equivalent to around 920,000 euros). The official award ceremony will take place on December 10th in Oslo.
