Human rights groups from Ukraine and Russia along with a Belarusian activist have won the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize.
The prize went to Memorial and the Center for Civil Liberties along with Ales Bialiatski, who is in prison in Belarus for human rights activism, CNN reported.
The Nobel laureates were awarded for their “outstanding effort to document war crimes, human right abuses and the abuse of power.”
“They have for many years promoted the right to criticize power and protect the fundamental rights of citizens,” the Nobel Committee said in a statement.
Ukraine’s Center for Civil Liberties has “engaged in efforts to identify and document Russian war crimes against the Ukrainian civilian population” since the war began in February.
“In collaboration with international partners, the center is playing a pioneering role with a view to holding the guilty parties accountable for their crimes,” the Nobel Committee said.
Memorial, which was launched in 1987 and became one of Russia’s preeminent human rights groups after the fall of the Soviet Union, was closed by order of a Russian court earlier in the year.
Belarusian activist Bialiatski has made a career of exposing human rights abuse in Belarus, beginning in the 1980s. He was arrested in 2020 during nation-wide protests against President Alexander Lukashenko.
“He is still detained without trial. Despite tremendous personal hardship, Mr. Bialiatski has not yielded an inch in his fight for human rights and democracy in Belarus,” the committee said.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen praised the winners for the “outstanding courage of the women and men standing against autocracy.”
The three winners will split the prize money of $900,000. The ceremony to award the prizes will take place on December 10.