FDFA salutes Nobel Peace Prize 2022 winners for their human rights work
Bern, 07.10.2022 - The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) congratulates this year's three Nobel peace prize laureates. These organisations and individuals have received this well-deserved award for their tireless work for human rights and other causes in extremely adverse conditions. The FDFA has long worked with Memorial in the Russian Federation and the Center for Civil Liberties in Ukraine and supports both organisations. The FDFA also works with Ales Bialiatski and his organisation Viasna Human Rights Centre.
The Center for Civil Liberties (CCL) has played a key role in Ukraine's democratic development for many years. In 2014, the CCL started its war crimes documentation and accountability work – work that has intensified since Russia's attack on Ukraine. The CCL is committed to the vision of an inclusive and participatory recovery of Ukraine. As part of its peace policy programme, the FDFA supports the CCL and other Ukrainian organisations in implementing this vision, which is also in keeping with the Lugano Principles adopted at the Ukraine Recovery Conference. The CCL is an example of Ukraine's vibrant civil society.
Memorial banned in Russia since December 2021
The NGO Memorial is one of the oldest and most important civil society organisations in the Russian Federation. From its foundation in 1989 until it was banned and dissolved in 2021–22, Memorial worked on historical documentation, education and memorialisation, focusing in particular on the Gulag and political repression in the Soviet Union. Another goal of Memorial was to promote human rights in the Russian Federation. As part of its human rights diplomacy, the FDFA supported various activities of Memorial, including historical exhibitions. The FDFA has condemned the closure of Memorial which is a clear sign of internal political repression and the shrinking of democratic space in the Russian Federation.
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