Nobel Peace Prize Awarded to Activists from Ukraine, Russia, Belarus
2022-10-08
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1Human rights activists from Ukraine, Belarus and Russia won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday.
2The Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the 2022 prize to imprisoned Belarus activist Ales Bialiatski,
3the Russian group Memorial and the Ukrainian organization Center for Civil Liberties.
4Berit Reiss-Andersen, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said it wanted to honor "three outstanding champions of human rights, democracy and peaceful coexistence."
5She 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."
6When asked whether the Nobel Committee was expressing its disapproval of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Reiss-Andersen said the prize was not against anybody.
7But she called the governments of Russia and Belarus "authoritarian" and said they were "suppressing human rights activists."
8The prize comes during the largest war in Europe since World War II.
9The Russian invasion with Belarus' help has destroyed cities, displaced millions of Ukrainians and killed many more.
10"We are talking about two authoritarian regimes and one nation fighting a war and we would like to highlight the importance of civic society."
11Ales Bialiatski was one of the leaders of the democracy movement in Belarus in the mid-1980s.
12He founded the non-governmental organization Human Rights Center Viasna.
13Bialiatski was detained following protests in 2020 against the re-election of Belarus' President Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Putin.
14he activist remains in jail without trial and faces up to 12 years in prison if found guilty.
15Speaking 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."
16The Nobel committee also called on the Belarus government to release the prisoner.
17Belarus' Foreign Ministry denounced the Nobel Committee for honoring Bialiatski.
18A spokesman called the committee's recent choices "politicized."
19Memorial was founded in the Soviet Union in 1987 to make sure the victims of communist repression would be remembered.
20It has continued to gather information on human rights abuses and the condition of political prisoners in Russia.
21Russia's highest court ordered it shut down in December.
22The move was part of the suppression of rights activists, independent media and opposition supporters.
23Tatyana Glushkova, a leader of the Memorial Human Rights Defense Center, said she and her co-workers were "very, very happy" to have the importance of their work recognized.
24Glushkova said the government is threatened because her organization documents the similarities between Putin's government and that of former dictator Joseph Stalin.
25Glushkova 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.
26The Center for Civil Liberties was founded in 2007 to support human rights and democracy in Ukraine during a period of disorder in the country.
27Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February, the group has worked to document Russian war crimes against Ukrainian civilians.
28"The center is playing a pioneering role with a view to holding the guilty parties accountable for their crimes," said Reiss-Andersen.
29A 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."
30The prize carries an award of almost $900,000 and will be presented in a ceremony on December 10.
31Last 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.
32I'm Caty Weaver.
1Human rights activists from Ukraine, Belarus and Russia won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday. 2The Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the 2022 prize to imprisoned Belarus activist Ales Bialiatski, the Russian group Memorial and the Ukrainian organization Center for Civil Liberties. 3Berit Reiss-Andersen, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said it wanted to honor "three outstanding champions of human rights, democracy and peaceful coexistence." 4She 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." 5When asked whether the Nobel Committee was expressing its disapproval of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Reiss-Andersen said the prize was not against anybody. But she called the governments of Russia and Belarus "authoritarian" and said they were "suppressing human rights activists." 6The 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. 7"We are talking about two authoritarian regimes and one nation fighting a war and we would like to highlight the importance of civic society." 8Ales Bialiatski 9Ales 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. 10Bialiatski was detained following protests in 2020 against the re-election of Belarus' President Alexander Lukashenko, a close ally of Putin. The activist remains in jail without trial and faces up to 12 years in prison if found guilty. 11Speaking 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." 12The Nobel committee also called on the Belarus government to release the prisoner. 13Belarus' Foreign Ministry denounced the Nobel Committee for honoring Bialiatski. A spokesman called the committee's recent choices "politicized." 14Memorial 15Memorial was founded in the Soviet Union in 1987 to make sure the victims of communist repression would be remembered. It has continued to gather information on human rights abuses and the condition of political prisoners in Russia. 16Russia's highest court ordered it shut down in December. The move was part of the suppression of rights activists, independent media and opposition supporters. 17Tatyana Glushkova, a leader of the Memorial Human Rights Defense Center, said she and her co-workers were "very, very happy" to have the importance of their work recognized. 18Glushkova said the government is threatened because her organization documents the similarities between Putin's government and that of former dictator Joseph Stalin. 19Glushkova 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. 20Center for Civil Liberties 21The Center for Civil Liberties was founded in 2007 to support human rights and democracy in Ukraine during a period of disorder in the country. 22Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February, the group has worked to document Russian war crimes against Ukrainian civilians. 23"The center is playing a pioneering role with a view to holding the guilty parties accountable for their crimes," said Reiss-Andersen. 24A 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." 25The prize carries an award of almost $900,000 and will be presented in a ceremony on December 10. 26Last 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. 27I'm Caty Weaver. 28The Associated Press reported this story. Hai Do adapted the story for Learning English. 29_______________________________________________________________________ 30Words in This Story 31yield - v. to bend or to break under pressure 32pioneering - adj. using new and better ideas for the first time 33invisible - adj. impossible to see