The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize to the Ukrainian human rights organization Center for Civil Liberties, which has been identifying and documenting Russia's war crimes against civilians.
The prize was also awarded to human rights advocate Ales Bialiatski from Belarus and the Russian human rights organization Memorial.
The laureates "have for many years promoted the right to criticize power and protect the fundamental rights of citizens," stated the Norwegian Nobel Committee.
The winners are "champions of human rights, democracy, and peaceful coexistence between countries Belarus, Russia and Ukraine", said Berit Reiss-Andersen, chairman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee.
Jens Stoltenberg, the head of the Western military alliance Nato, has congratulated all three winners of the Nobel Peace Prize.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen applauded the "outstanding courage of the women and men standing against autocracy."
Writing on Twitter, von der Leyen said: "They show the true power of civil society in the fight for democracy. Tell their stories. Share their engagement. Help make the world a freer place."
French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted that the Nobel committee had honored "the unwavering defenders of human rights in Europe."
"Artisans of peace, they know they can count on France's support," Macron said to CNN.
Belarusian opposition politician Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who was forced into exile in Lithuania after running against strongman leader and Putin ally Alexander Lukashenko in an August 2020 election denounced by the international community as neither free nor fair, also extended her congratulations to Bialiatski.
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