The 2022 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded on Friday to human rights advocate Ales Bialiatski from Belarus, the Russian human rights organization Memorial and the Ukrainian human rights organization Center for Civil Liberties.
The laureates, who are one individual and two groups, represent “civil society in their home countries. They have for many years promoted the right to criticize power and protect the fundamental rights of citizens,” the committee said.
The peace prize, which is awarded by a committee elected by the Norwegian Parliament, honors people and organizations “who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.”
The Norwegian Nobel Committee chose from 343 candidates, out of which 251 were individuals and 92 were organizations.
Last year, the Nobel Peace Prize was given to journalists Maria Ressa of the Philippines and Dmitry Muratov of Russia to honor their fight for freedom of expression.
In 2012, Ressa co-founded Rappler, a news website that has focused “critical attention on the (President Rodrigo) Duterte regime’s controversial, murderous anti-drug campaign.” Muratov was one of the founders of the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta in 1993.
The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to 134 laureates: 91 men, 18 women and 25 organizations since 1901.
