On receiving the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize: A statement by Memorial

Today the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded:

to Ales Bialiatski, the Belarussian rights activist and political prisoner;

to the Ukrainian Centre for Civil Liberties (Kyiv);

and to Memorial.

We are grateful to the Nobel Committee for honouring us with this award.

Memorial’s guiding mission is to protect human rights, help the victims of political repression, and fight against State violence. Memorial is a network, a movement, and the people who form both.

We work in Russia, Ukraine and other countries, promoting the cause launched by Andrei Sakharov and Arseny Roginsky more than thirty years ago.

Like other non-governmental organisations in Russia, Memorial has faced severe persecution from the State. Yet Liberty and Remembrance cannot be banned. We have not ceased in our labours nor shall we discontinue our efforts, no matter what the circumstances may be.

We never forget the plight of Ales Bialiatski and other political prisoners in Russia and Belarus, nor that of our Ukrainian colleagues who must work as war rages around them.

The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded at a time when Russia is conducting a war of conquest against Ukraine, when the rights and liberties of people in Russia are constantly violated. Now more than ever we should recall the thesis propounded by Andrei Sakharov many years ago. Peace, Progress and Human Rights, he said, are indissolubly linked: not one of them can be achieved if the others are neglected (1 December 1975).

A State that neglects the human rights of its citizens
inevitably becomes a threat to peace.

Memorial, 7 October 2022