Rights advocate Ales Bialiatski, 2 organizations win 2022 Nobel Peace Prize

By Seda Sevencan

ISTANBUL (AA) – The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to rights advocate Ales Bialiatski from Belarus and two human rights organizations from Russia and Ukraine on Friday.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the laureates, Russian human rights organization Memorial and the Ukrainian human rights organization Center for Civil Liberties besides Bialiatski, for their "outstanding effort to document war crimes, human right abuses and the abuse of power."

"The Peace Prize laureates represent civil society in their home countries. They have for many years promoted the right to criticise power and protect the fundamental rights of citizens,” the committee said.

Last year's Nobel Peace Prize had gone to journalists Maria Ressa and Dmitry Muratov for their "courageous fight for freedom of expression" in the Philippines and Russia.

The previous year, it was awarded to the UN World Food Program for its efforts to combat hunger.

Previous winners of the award include former US Presidents Jimmy Carter (2002) and Barack Obama (2009), as well as Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai (2014), the EU (2012), the UN and its then Secretary-General Kofi Annan (2001).​​​​​​​