Nobel laureate: No lasting peace in Ukraine without justice
The Ukrainian rights activist who leads the group that won this year's Nobel Peace Prize says there will be no lasting peace in Ukraine until there is justice and human rights
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — There will be no lasting peace in Ukraine until there is justice and human rights, the head of the Ukrainian Center for Civil Liberties said Thursday as she arrived in Oslo to receive the Nobel Peace Prize with fellow human rights campaigners from Belarus and Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin "thinks he can do exactly what he wants,” Oleksandra Matviichuk told reporters upon arrival at the Oslo airport. “There will be no lasting peace in our region until we achieve justice.”
“Human rights and peace are inextricably linked,” Matviichuk said. “A state that systematically violates human rights does so not only against its own citizens, but against an entire region, an entire world. Russia is a great example of this," she said according to the Norwegian news agency NTB.
This year’s Nobel Peace Prize was shared by jailed Belarus rights activist Ales Bialiatski, the Russian group Memorial and the Center for Civil Liberties. The Norwegian Nobel Committee said the laureates “have made an outstanding effort to document war crimes, human right abuses and the abuse of power. Together they demonstrate the significance of civil society for peace and democracy.”
