The Ukrainian Center for Civil Liberties, one of three Nobel Peace Prize winners announced Friday by the Norwegian committee, said it was “proud” to receive “a highly symbolic reward” amid the Russian invasion.
“We are proud,” reacted Alexandra Romantsova, one of the leaders of the organization for the defense and promotion of human rights, adding that she was aware, however, that “there is still much to be done for victory.”
Romantsova said she will hold a news conference on Saturday, noting that she is heading to Ukraine with the center’s leader, Olexandra Matviïtchouk.
“When we heard the news, we were shocked,” said Anna Trouchova of the organization’s press office in kyiv.
“We consider this award as a respectable recognition of our activity,” Trouchova added to the journalists who traveled, meanwhile, to the organization’s headquarters in the Ukrainian capital.
In announcing the award today, the Norwegian Nobel Committee noted that the Center for Civil Liberties has sought to “identify and document Russian war crimes against the Ukrainian civilian population” since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February this year.
“In collaboration with international partners, the center is playing a pioneering role in holding guilty parties accountable for their crimes,” the Norwegian committee added.
The Center for Civil Liberties (CCL) was created in 2007 and its “main mission is the defense of human rights,” explained the spokeswoman for the Ukrainian organization.
“Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February, we have been documenting Russian war crimes throughout the country. Another important activity is supporting the return of Ukrainians kidnapped by Russian forces,” Trouchova added.
The Center, in fact, today plays a “pioneering role” in documenting Russian war crimes in Ukraine.
The organization was born from the decision of several leaders of human rights organizations from nine countries in the post-Soviet space, with the aim of creating a support center for cross-border resources in kyiv to promote human rights.
The main mission is to defend the establishment of human rights, democracy and solidarity in Ukraine and in the region of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) for the affirmation of human dignity, according to the organization itself. .
CCL is one of the main actors in Ukraine for its influence in shaping public opinion and public policies, supporting the development of civic activism and active participation in international networks, as well as solidarity actions for the promotion of human rights in the region. of the OSCE.
The values that guide the organization are “respect for human dignity, freedom and human rights, impartiality, democracy, the rule of law, non-discrimination and solidarity.”
In 2013, in response to the violent crackdown on pro-European demonstrations, the organization created the Euromaidan SOS initiative to document human rights violations during protests and played a major role in establishing an advocacy network to help activists.
Subsequently, he transferred to the International Criminal Court (ICC) documented data on crimes against humanity committed by the regime of President Víctor Yanukovych, president of Ukraine between February 2010 and February 2014, when he was deposed after 93 days of intense protests.
In 2013, it also created the OZON group for public supervision of law enforcement agencies, courts and local self-government bodies in various regions of Ukraine.
In 2014, following the Russian occupation of the Crimean peninsula, the CCL was the first human rights group to send mobile groups to the region and Donbass to monitor human rights violations and created a list of political prisoners held in the territories. busy.
In 2011, with the organization of an international conference and the approval of the declaration “Importance of Public Awareness and Participation”, the organization has sought to broaden popular participation with projects such as the kyiv School of Human Rights and Democracy, created in 2017, a free educational platform in which, until 2021, more than 2,000 people from 20 countries have participated.
In 2020, CCL launched an international solidarity campaign in support of Belarusian civil society under the hashtag #BelarusWatch.
One of the goals of the CCL is the alignment of Ukraine’s criminal code with international criminal law, in particular with the pending ratification of the Rome Statute, which would make it a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Source: TSF
