On the day before the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize ceremony, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Oleksandra Matviychuk joined NED President and CEO Damon Wilson to discuss her vision for ensuring international justice and accountability for Russia’s war crimes in Ukraine. Matviychuk is accepting the award on behalf of the leading Ukrainian human rights organization Center for Civil Liberties (CCL), a NED partner and recipient of the 2022 NED Democracy Award. Since its founding in 2007, CCL has monitored political persecutions, documented war crimes and crimes against humanity, and advocated for victims of war crimes in Ukraine.
“We need justice for all victims of war crimes regardless of who they are, their social role, what types of crime they endured, and whether or not media is interested in their cases,” said Matviychuk, calling for the international community to act. “The life of each person matters.”
Matviychuk said the voices of human rights defenders were not heard before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. “Human rights and peace have a very inextricable connection,” she said. “And we have to base our political decisions also on a human rights basis because a state which systematically violates human rights obligations sooner or later become a threat to the whole region.”
