Nobel Peace Prize Awarded to Activists from Ukraine, Russia, Belarus

Nobel Peace Prize Awarded to Activists² from Ukraine, Russia, Belarus

Human rights activists from Ukraine, Belarus and Russia won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the 2022 prize to imprisoned³ Belarus activist¹ Ales Bialiatski, the Russian group Memorial and the Ukrainian organization Center for Civil Liberties.

Berit Reiss-Andersen, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said it wanted to honor "three outstanding champions of human rights, democracy and peaceful coexistence."

She told reporters that their efforts "have revitalized and honored Alfred Nobel's vision of peace and fraternity between nations, a vision most needed in the world today."

When asked whether the Nobel Committee was expressing its disapproval⁴ of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Reiss-Andersen said the prize was not against anybody. But she called the governments of Russia and Belarus "authoritarian⁵" and said they were "suppressing human rights activists."

The prize comes during the largest war in Europe since World War II. The Russian invasion with Belarus' help has destroyed cities, displaced millions of Ukrainians and killed many more.

"We are talking about two authoritarian regimes and one nation fighting a war and we would like to highlight the importance of civic⁶ society."

Ales Bialiatski

Ales Bialiatski was one of the leaders of the democracy movement in Belarus in the mid-1980s. He founded the non-governmental organization Human Rights Center Viasna.

Bialiatski was detained following protests in 2020 against the re-election of Belarus' President Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Putin. The activist remains⁷ in jail without trial and faces up to 12 years in prison if found guilty.

Speaking of Bialiatski's personal suffering, Reiss-Andersen said the prisoner "has not yielded one inch in his fight for human rights and democracy in Belarus."

The Nobel committee also called on the Belarus government to release the prisoner.

Belarus' Foreign Ministry⁸ denounced the Nobel Committee for honoring Bialiatski. A spokesman called the committee's recent choices "politicized."

Memorial

Memorial was founded in the Soviet⁹ Union in 1987 to make sure the victims of communist repression¹⁰ would be remembered. It has continued to gather information on human rights abuses and the condition of political prisoners in Russia.

Russia's highest court ordered it shut down in December. The move was part of the suppression of rights activists, independent media and opposition¹¹ supporters.

Tatyana Glushkova, a leader of the Memorial Human Rights Defense¹² Center, said she and her co-workers were "very, very happy" to have the importance of their work recognized.

Glushkova said the government is threatened because her organization documents the similarities between Putin's government and that of former dictator Joseph Stalin.

Glushkova said the award was handed to the group on the day it had to appear in court in Moscow — this time on a case related to its office building in the central part of the city.

Center for Civil Liberties

The Center for Civil Liberties was founded in 2007 to support human rights and democracy in Ukraine during a period of disorder¹³ in the country.

Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February, the group has worked to document Russian war crimes against Ukrainian civilians¹⁴.

"The center is playing a pioneering role with a view to holding the guilty parties accountable for their crimes," said Reiss-Andersen.

A researcher at the center, Volodymyr Yavorskyi, said the award was important for the organization because "for many years we worked in a country that was invisible."

The prize carries an award of almost $900,000 and will be presented in a ceremony on December 10.

Last year, the committee awarded the peace prize to Dmitry Muratov, the editor of the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta, and Philippine reporter Maria Ressa, for their efforts to protect freedom of expression.

Words in This Story

yield - v. to bend or to break under pressure

pioneering - adj. using new and better ideas for the first time

invisible - adj. impossible to see

1 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

2 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 imprisoned   

下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was imprisoned for two concurrent terms of 30 months and 18 months. 他被判处30个月和18个月的监禁，合并执行。
• They were imprisoned for possession of drugs. 他们因拥有毒品而被监禁。

4 disapproval   

n.反对，不赞成

参考例句：

• The teacher made an outward show of disapproval.老师表面上表示不同意。
• They shouted their disapproval.他们喊叫表示反对。

5 authoritarian   

n./adj.专制(的)，专制主义者，独裁主义者

参考例句：

• Foreign diplomats suspect him of authoritarian tendencies.各国外交官怀疑他有着独裁主义倾向。
• The authoritarian policy wasn't proved to be a success.独裁主义的政策证明并不成功。

6 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。

7 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

8 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

9 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

10 repression   

n.镇压，抑制，抑压

参考例句：

• The repression of your true feelings is harmful to your health.压抑你的真实感情有害健康。
• This touched off a new storm against violent repression.这引起了反对暴力镇压的新风暴。

11 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

12 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

13 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

14 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。