Chinese, Russian activists nominated for Nobel
By Ian MacDougall , 02.02.10, 01:08 PM EST
By Ian MacDougall , 02.02.10, 01:08 PM EST
OSLO -- Nominees for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize reportedly include a Russian human rights group, a Chinese dissident and an inanimate object: the Internet.
As the submission deadline for the coveted award closed Tuesday, the Nobel Committee maintained its tradition of giving no hints - the contenders are kept secret for 50 years. But some nominations were announced by those who made them.
Erna Solberg, the head of Norway's Conservative Party, put forth Russian human rights activist Svetlana Gannushkina and her group Memorial. The organization, which is a frequent critic of the Kremlin, says the high-profile murder of Memorial rights activist Natalya Estemirova in July 2009 and the December 2008 raid of its St. Petersburg office by Russian authorities are among the many injustices it's faced because of its dogged activism.
"These are people who are at the forefront of human rights and are putting their lives at risk for their work," Solberg told The Associated Press.
Kwame Anthony Appiah, president of the PEN American Center and a Princeton philosophy professor, said in a statement that he had nominated Liu Xiaobo, a recently jailed Chinese dissident, for his "distinguished and principled leadership in the area of human and political rights and freedom of expression." The Chinese government urged the jury to disregard the submission.
"It would be completely wrong for the Nobel Prize committee to award the prize to such a person," Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said Tuesday when asked about Liu's nomination in Beijing.
Former Illinois Governor George Ryan - now imprisoned after being convicted of federal corruption charges - was nominated by Francis A. Boyle, a law professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, for his campaign to abolish the death penalty.
Last year's surprise choice of President Barack Obama, barely a year in office, sparked clamorous debate about whether the committee was awarding potential and promises rather than accomplishments. Some Nobel watchers say the committee could opt for a more conservative choice this year.
"I don't think they're likely to choose a topic that stretches the intentions" of the prize, said Kristian Berg Harpviken, the director of the independent Peace Research Institute, Oslo.
Still, he said the committee's willingness to court controversy with a contentious choice like Obama suggests that it won't necessarily settle on an anodyne laureate in 2010.
"It will try to reward an initiative that is high on the international agenda or an initiative that has contributed something new," Harpviken said.
Prize founder Alfred Nobel left vague instructions on how to select winners in his 1895 will, which stipulated that the peace prize should reward efforts to promote "fraternity between the nations and the abolition or reduction of standing armies."
The Nobel Committee, whose members are appointed by Norway's parliament, has at times widened the interpretation of peace to include efforts to protect human rights or the environment or fight climate change.
It's unclear though whether they would stretch as far as to honor the Internet, as proposed by the Italian version of Wired magazine, which cited its use as a tool to advance "dialogue, debate and consensus through communication" and to promote democracy. Signatories to its petition backing the nomination include 2003 peace laureate and exiled Iranian activist Shirin Ebadi - which would make it a legitimate entry - according to organizers.
The Internet petition didn't specify, however, who would accept the prize on behalf of the online community at the award ceremony, which is always held in Oslo on Dec. 10.
In another online petition, thousands of Michael Jackson fans have called for the late pop icon to be honored with the peace prize. That effort is doomed to fail, however, because posthumous nominations are not allowed.
Associated Press Writer Christopher Bodeen in Beijing contributed to this report.
As the submission deadline for the coveted award closed Tuesday, the Nobel Committee maintained its tradition of giving no hints - the contenders are kept secret for 50 years. But some nominations were announced by those who made them.
Erna Solberg, the head of Norway's Conservative Party, put forth Russian human rights activist Svetlana Gannushkina and her group Memorial. The organization, which is a frequent critic of the Kremlin, says the high-profile murder of Memorial rights activist Natalya Estemirova in July 2009 and the December 2008 raid of its St. Petersburg office by Russian authorities are among the many injustices it's faced because of its dogged activism.
"These are people who are at the forefront of human rights and are putting their lives at risk for their work," Solberg told The Associated Press.
Kwame Anthony Appiah, president of the PEN American Center and a Princeton philosophy professor, said in a statement that he had nominated Liu Xiaobo, a recently jailed Chinese dissident, for his "distinguished and principled leadership in the area of human and political rights and freedom of expression." The Chinese government urged the jury to disregard the submission.
"It would be completely wrong for the Nobel Prize committee to award the prize to such a person," Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said Tuesday when asked about Liu's nomination in Beijing.
Former Illinois Governor George Ryan - now imprisoned after being convicted of federal corruption charges - was nominated by Francis A. Boyle, a law professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, for his campaign to abolish the death penalty.
Last year's surprise choice of President Barack Obama, barely a year in office, sparked clamorous debate about whether the committee was awarding potential and promises rather than accomplishments. Some Nobel watchers say the committee could opt for a more conservative choice this year.
"I don't think they're likely to choose a topic that stretches the intentions" of the prize, said Kristian Berg Harpviken, the director of the independent Peace Research Institute, Oslo.
Still, he said the committee's willingness to court controversy with a contentious choice like Obama suggests that it won't necessarily settle on an anodyne laureate in 2010.
"It will try to reward an initiative that is high on the international agenda or an initiative that has contributed something new," Harpviken said.
Prize founder Alfred Nobel left vague instructions on how to select winners in his 1895 will, which stipulated that the peace prize should reward efforts to promote "fraternity between the nations and the abolition or reduction of standing armies."
The Nobel Committee, whose members are appointed by Norway's parliament, has at times widened the interpretation of peace to include efforts to protect human rights or the environment or fight climate change.
It's unclear though whether they would stretch as far as to honor the Internet, as proposed by the Italian version of Wired magazine, which cited its use as a tool to advance "dialogue, debate and consensus through communication" and to promote democracy. Signatories to its petition backing the nomination include 2003 peace laureate and exiled Iranian activist Shirin Ebadi - which would make it a legitimate entry - according to organizers.
The Internet petition didn't specify, however, who would accept the prize on behalf of the online community at the award ceremony, which is always held in Oslo on Dec. 10.
In another online petition, thousands of Michael Jackson fans have called for the late pop icon to be honored with the peace prize. That effort is doomed to fail, however, because posthumous nominations are not allowed.
Associated Press Writer Christopher Bodeen in Beijing contributed to this report.