The director of the Russian non-governmental organization (NGO) Memorial, Alexandr Cherkasov, said today that the awarding of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize to the entity rewards all activists and defenders of human rights in the post-Soviet space.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee announced today that, in addition to Memorial, a Russian human rights organization, another similar institution, the Ukrainian Center for Civil Liberties, and Belarusian activist Ales Bialiatski have been awarded the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize.
“This Nobel is for all those who are alive, for those who have died, for those who are in prison and for all those who have been murdered. The three [laureados] they are friendly organizations,” Cherkasov told the Spanish news agency EFE shortly after learning of the award.
Cherkasov, whose organization was dissolved last December by the Russian justice, stressed that the human rights activists in question are “a very large community” that operates in all the countries of the former Soviet Union and also in Eastern Europe.
“Not everyone is with us anymore. I remember [jornalista do jornal russo Novaya Gazeta] Ana [Stepanovna] Politkovskaya, who was also assassinated on October 7, 2006”, exemplified the director of the Russian NGO.
In addition, Cherkasov considered “very appropriate” that the date of the award coincides with the 70th birthday of Russian President Vladimir Putin, whom he accuses of creating “a third world dictatorship.”
“The Nobel committee could hardly congratulate Putin in any other way, but the reality is that it is a very opportune date,” he said.
Cherkasov also highlighted the determination of Ales Bialiatski, also awarded and held in a Belarusian prison, as well as the role played by the Center for Civil Liberties, the main Ukrainian organization for almost a decade.
“It’s about time they received the Nobel [da Paz]Cherkasov stressed.
Ales Bialiatski, 60, currently in prison in Belarus, founded the organization Viasna (Spring) in 1996 to help political prisoners and their families following the crackdown by the regime of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a renowned ally of Putin.
Cherkasov, director of what was once Russia’s leading human rights organization, said the award “inspires activists to keep working.”
At the same time, he considered “absurd” that the members of the Memorial do not understand if the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to the Center for Human Rights or to the one dedicated to the rehabilitation of Soviet reprisals.
Both organizations, which are under the “umbrella” of Memorial, were outlawed and disappeared at the end of 2021, a decision highly criticized in the West.
On the occasion, Cherkasov accused Putin of “trying to erase the memory” both of the repression committed during the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), “especially the Stalinist one”, and of the one he has committed during his term as president. since 2000.
“A [atuais] The Russian authorities only want to inherit past glories and do the same with the investigation of crimes. [de Estado] as they did in Argentina: ‘period. Enough!'” Cherkasov stressed.
The Russian NGO Memorial was created in 1987 to investigate and record crimes committed by the Soviet regime, but has also denounced numerous human rights violations in Russia.
For its part, the Center for Civil Liberties was created in kyiv in 2007 to promote human rights and democracy in Ukraine.
This year’s laureates come from three countries in focus due to the war in Ukraine, started by Russia on February 24 this year, with the support of Belarus, a country allied with Moscow.
Announcing the prize, Norwegian Nobel Committee chairwoman Berit Reiss-Andersen said the laureates represent civil society from the three countries.
“For many years they have promoted the right to criticize power and protect the fundamental rights of citizens. They have made a remarkable effort to document war crimes, human rights abuses and abuse of power,” he said.
“Together, they demonstrate the importance of civil society for peace and democracy,” added Reiss-Andersen.
In 2021, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to journalists Maria Ressa of the Philippines and Dmitry Muratov of Russia for defending freedom of the press and expression.
Source: TSF
