Prominent Belorussian rights activist Ales Byalyatski is pictured arriving in Belarus' capital Minsk in 2014 after being released from jail. He was imprisoned again last year. The Norwegian Nobel Committee has awarded the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize to Byalyatski, the Russian human rights organisation Memorial and the Ukrainian human rights organisation Center for Civil Liberties. (File photo) Photo: SERGEI GAPON / AFP
Jailed Belorussian human rights activist Ales Byalyatski, Russian human rights organisation Memorial and Ukrainian human rights organisation Center for Civil Liberties have won the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize.
"The Norwegian Nobel Committee wishes to honour three outstanding champions of human rights, democracy and peaceful co-existence in the neighbour countries Belarus, Russia and Ukraine," said committee chair Berit Reiss-Andersen.
She called on Belarus to release Byalyatski from prison.
The prize will be seen by many as a condemnation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is celebrating his 70th birthday today, and Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, making it one of the most politically contentious in decades.
The award was not an anti-Putin prize, however, Reiss-Andersen said.
"We always give the prize for something and to something and not against someone," she told reporters.
Prize will 'help to attract attention to political prisoners'
Belorussian security police in July last year raided offices and homes of lawyers and human rights activists, detaining Byalyatski and others in a new crackdown on opponents of Lukashenko.
Authorities had moved to shut down non-state media outlets and human right groups after mass protests the previous August against a presidential election the opposition said was rigged.
The award of the peace prize to Byalyatski was recognition for the whole Belorussian people in standing up to Lukashenko, opposition spokesman Franak Viacorka said on Friday.
He told Reuters that Byalyatski was jailed in inhuman conditions and he hoped the honour would lead to his release.
"That's a huge sign of recognition for the Belorussian people, because the Belorussian people deserves it for their bravery in countering the tyranny of Lukashenko ... They deserve all the prizes in the world," said Viacorka, chief of staff to exiled Belorussian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who is a close friend of Byalyatski.
"Of course this prize will help to attract attention to political prisoners, Ales Byalyatski is one of them. He's kept in inhuman conditions and we hope it will help to release him and thousands of others from Lukashenko's and the KGB's cells," Viacorka said.
He said Byalyatski had started off as an anti-Soviet dissident in the 1980s and become a symbol of resistance to oppression not just in Belarus but around the world.
"All his life he dedicated to the defence of human rights, defence of the Belorussian nation, Belorussian culture, Belorussian society, from the Soviet empire and then from Lukashenko's dictatorship."
Tsikhanouskaya also congratulated Byalyatski on his win, calling the award "an important recognition for all Belarusians fighting for freedom and democracy", on Twitter.
Winning organisations say recognition brings pride and resolve
Ukraine's Center for Civil Liberties said it was proud to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
"Morning with good news. We are proud," it wrote on Twitter.
Memorial said that winning the award was recognition of its human rights work and of colleagues who continued to suffer "unspeakable attacks and reprisals" in Russia.
"It encourages us in our resolve to support our Russian colleagues to continue their work at a new location, despite the forced dissolution of MEMORIAL International in Moscow," said a statement by Memorial board member Anke Giesen to Reuters.
Laureates 'demonstrate the significance of civil society for peace and democracy'
The Nobel Peace Prize, worth 10 million Swedish crowns (NZ$1.6 million), will be presented in Oslo on 10 December, the anniversary of the death of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, who founded the awards in his 1895 will.
"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," the committee said in its citation.
"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."
- Reuters