NUNZIUM

The 2022 Peace Prize is awarded to human rights advocate Ales Bialiatski (60 - Belarus), the Russian Human Rights Organization Memorial, and the Ukrainian human rights organization Center for Civil Liberties. The laureates "have for many years promoted the right to criticize power and protect the fundamental rights of citizens. They have made an outstanding effort to document war crimes, human rights abuses, and the abuse of power. Together they demonstrate the significance of civil society for peace and democracy". The Memorial has been founded in 1989 to commemorate the crimes committed under Joseph Stalin's reign in the Soviet Union, and it was based in Moscow until its forced dissolution in 2022 for violations of "foreign agent law". The Center of Civil Liberties was founded in Kyiv in 2007. The organization is engaged in an attempt to make Ukraine more democratic and to improve the public control of law enforcement agencies and the judiciary. It also documented war crimes during the ongoing invasion of Russia in Ukraine. Ales Bialiatski is known for his work with the Viasna Human Rights Centre, based in Minsk until Belarus ordered its closure in 2003. This was an organization providing assistance to political prisoners. In 2010 controversial presidential elections were held and both Visa's offices and Bialiatski's home have been searched by state security forces repeatedly. Bialatski was summoned in the same year to the Public Prosecutor's office and warned that as Viasna was an unregistered organization, the government would seek criminal proceedings against it if the group continued to operate. More recently, following the Belarusian protests in 2020-2021, Viasna's members have been further prosecuted with politically motivated charges. Ales Bialiatski, now Nobel Peace Laureate, has been imprisoned Since 14 July 2021 for alleged tax evasion. Human rights defenders consider him a prisoner of conscience.