The Latest: Nobel winner stands up for persecuted minorities

The 25-year-old advocate for victims of sexual violence says will be thinking of her mother, who was slain by IS militants, and other Yazidis who were killed.

She says “we must work together with determination – to prove that genocidal campaigns will not only fail, but lead to accountability for the perpetrators and justice for the survivors.”

She also congratulated her co-winner, Dr. Denis Mukwege, “a man I admire greatly who has dedicated his life to helping women of sexual violence.”

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5:50 p.m.

President Donald Trump hasn’t commented on the new Nobel Peace Prize winners but his new ambassador to Congo has.

U.S. Ambassador Mike Hammer says in a Twitter post: “Congratulations Dr. Denis Mukwege! Looking forward to visiting Panzi Hospital and seeing firsthand your remarkable work against sexual violence and in support of survivors.”

This year’s Nobel Peace Prize is shared by Mukwege and Nadia Murad, an Iraqi woman who has become a global advocate for rape and torture victims — like herself — of Islamic State militants.

Berit Reiss-Andersen, chairwoman of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said the panel wanted to “send a message” that those who use sexual violence against women “have to be prosecuted and held responsible.”

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5:20 p.m.

The Congolese surgeon who shares this year’s Nobel Peace Prize says he is dedicating the award to “the women of all the countries of the world wounded by conflict and confronted by violence every day.”

Dr. Denis Mukwege spoke to jubilant colleagues and supporters at their hospital in eastern Congo, where news of the award arrived while Mukwege was finishing an operation.

The 63-year-old Mukwege said for nearly 20 years he has witnessed war crimes “against women, teenage girls, small girls, babies.”

He said “dear survivors around the world, I want to tell you that through this prize the world is listening to you and refuses indifference … We hope that the world will no longer delay taking action in your favour, with force and determination, because the survival of humanity depends on you. It’s you women who carry humanity.”

Mukwege shared the prize with Iraq’s Nadia Murad, a global spokeswoman for Yazidi women and girls kidnapped into sex slavery by Islamic State militants.

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4:50 p.m.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is hailing Nobel Peace Prize winners Dr. Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad as “defenders of human dignity.”

Guterres spoke Friday at the U.N., which in 2016 named Murad its first Goodwill Ambassador for the dignity of survivors of human trafficking.

She was among an estimated 3,000 female members of the Yazidi religious minority who were kidnapped, abused and sold into sex slavery by Islamic State militants in Iraq in 2014. Guterres noted that Murad’s “powerful advocacy” helped spur an ongoing U.N. investigation into possible war crimes committed by IS.

Mukwege, a surgeon who has treated many women who were raped in conflict-wracked Congo, has faced attempts on his own life. Guterres calls Mukwege “a fearless champion for human rights.”

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3:20 p.m.

The European Union says this year’s Nobel Peace Prize “celebrates the strength, the courage and the vision” of co-winners Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad, who were recognized for their work in combating the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war.

The EU was awarded the peace prize in 2012 for advancing peace, democracy and human rights in Europe. The block said in a statement Friday that the latest laureates “risked their own lives to help, protect and save others.”

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini praised the two, saying they “worked tirelessly within their communities to bring about change and put an end to the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war.”

European Parliament President Antonio Tajani commended their “courage and resilience.” He said that “in their fight for common human values, (they) richly deserve the Nobel Peace Prize.”

Murad and Mukwege previously won Europe’s top human rights award, the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.

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2:40 p.m.

Congolese surgeon Denis Mukwege says the news that he was a co-winner of the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize came while he was at the operating table.

In newly posted audio on the Nobel site, Mukwege says Friday he really doesn’t have time to chat but he described the moment that he heard the news as “touching.”

The doctor who treats rape victims in the central African nation that was been wracked for decades by conflict says he was nearing the end of his second operation of the day when he heard people crying.

Mukwege says “I can see in the faces of many women how they are happy to be recognized … this is really so touching.”

He and Yazidi activist Nadia Murad won for their campaigns to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war.

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2:10 p.m.

Iraq’s newly elected president has congratulated Yazidi activist Nadia Murad for being a co-winner of 2018 Nobel Peace Prize.

President Barham Saleh said that honouring Murad is an international recognition of the “catastrophe” that Yazidis were subject to by Islamic State militants. Murad was captured by IS militants at 19 and raped, beaten and tortured daily before escaping and becoming an international spokeswoman for victims.

State TV quoted Saleh, who was elected by parliament earlier this week, as saying the award is also recognizes all victims of “terrorism” in Iraq. State TV says Murad is the first Iraqi to win any Nobel prize.

She and Dr. Denis Mukwege, a gynecologist who treats rape victims in the Congo, won the 2018 prize for combating the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war.

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1:30 p.m.

Iraq is celebrating the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to former Islamic State captive Nadia Murad, saying she is the first Iraqi citizen to win the top international award.

Iraqi state TV interrupted its normal programs Friday for a special broadcast about Murad’s award of the Nobel Prize.

It reported that outgoing Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi expressed his happiness.

State TV correspondent in Europe Amer al-Moussawi said in his report that “this is a victory for the just cause that Iraqis fought for against international terrorism.”

Hussam Abdullah, head of the Yazidi Organization for Documentation, using an Arabic term to refer to IS, said “this win represents the international recognition of the genocide that was committed by Daesh.”

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1:25 p.m.

Congolese politicians are expressing pride but taking the opportunity to make political jabs after surgeon Denis Mukwege was announced as one of the winners of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize for his work on combating the use of sexual violence in war. He is the country’s first Nobel laureate.

“I am proud to be Congolese,” says the country’s top opposition leader, Felix Tshisekedi, in a Twitter post. “Good done for others always ends up being rewarded.”

Another opposition leader who was recently barred by the government as a candidate in December’s presidential election, Moise Katumbi, tweets that the award puts Congo in the global spotlight. But he adds that “it’s time for a new political leadership to end the tragedy of raped women.”

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1:10 p.m.

A U.N. spokeswoman says that the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad for their work in combating the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war is a “fantastic announcement.”

Alessandra Velluci told reporters in Geneva that “this is a cause that is very close to the United Nations and as you know we have a special representative who is also working towards this, and I’m sure that this Nobel peace prize will help advance the cause of ending sexual violence as a weapon of conflict.”

Murad is the U.N.’s Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking.

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12:55 p.m.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has welcomed the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad.

Merkel’s spokesman Steffen Seibert said Friday that the German chancellor has “great respect for their work.”

Seibert said Murad came to Germany in 2015 as part of a special program for female victims of violence and met Merkel in 2016 to discuss her work helping others.

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12:50 p.m.

A Dutch-based foundation named for Dr. Denis Mukwege has welcomed the announcement that he has been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

In a statement, The Mukwege Foundation says the award granted Friday to the Congolese gynecological surgeon and to Yazidi activist Nadia Murad sends “a clear message that sexual violence in wars is unacceptable and must stop.”

Mukwege is a special advisor to the foundation that works to end sexual violence in wars.

The foundation says it will “continue to work with Dr. Mukwege and his team, as well as Nadia Murad, towards a world in which sexual violence as a method of warfare is abolished and survivors receive the care they need.”

Praise also poured in from other colleagues and supporters of Mukwege.

“Well deserved and long awaited,” said the executive director of Human Rights Watch, Ken Roth.

“It is 10 years since I first proposed heroic Mukwege for Nobel Prize,” tweeted Jan Egeland, a former U.N. official who now leads the Norwegian Refugee Council.

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12:45 p.m.

Congo’s government is congratulating surgeon Denis Mukwege on his Nobel Peace Prize, while acknowledging that relations have been strained over the years.

Spokesman Lambert Mende tells The Associated Press that Mukwege has done “remarkable work” treating victims of sexual violence during years of conflict in the country’s east.

Mukwege in the past has criticized the Congolese government and accused its troops of having a culture of sexual violence.

Congo’s government spokesman says “we have not always been in agreement” and says Mukwege has had a tendency to “politicize” his humanitarian work. However, “we salute that a compatriot is recognized.”

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12:35 p.m.

Congo, the sprawling central African nation where 2018 Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Denis Mukwege works, has been called “the rape capital of the world,” by the U.N. secretary-general’s special representative on sexual violence in conflict.

Eastern Congo has seen more than two decades of bloody conflict among armed groups that either sought to unseat presidents or simply grab control of a piece of the country’s trillions of dollars in mineral wealth. Rape has been used as a vicious weapon of war.

Millions of people have been killed over the years and millions more have fled. Dozens of armed groups still roam the region and some now are disrupting attempts to fight a new Ebola outbreak in Congo’s northeast, causing alarm among health workers.

Armed men tried to kill Mukwege in 2012, forcing him to temporarily leave the country.

He won the peace prize Friday with Nadia Murad, a Yazidi woman who became a global spokeswoman for victims after being raped and tortured by Islamic State militants.

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12:15 p.m.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Nadia Murad was captured by Islamic State militants at 19 and raped, beaten and tortured daily before managing to escape.

Following treatment in Germany, Murad became a global spokeswoman for Yazidi women, telling their ordeal to the U.N. Security Council and being named a U.N. special ambassador.

Tens of thousands of Yazidis escaped to Mount Sinjar in Iraq in 2014, where they were surrounded and besieged by Islamic State militants. The U.S., Iraq, Britain, France and Australia flew in water and supplies until Kurdish fighters opened a corridor to allow them to flee.

The U.N. has called the IS assault a genocide, saying the Yazidis’ “400,000-strong community had all been displaced, captured or killed.” Of the thousands captured by IS, boys were forced to fight for the extremists, many of the men were executed and women and girls were sold into slavery.

Germany’s Yazidi community reached out, and the state of Baden Wuerttemberg established a program to bring women abused by IS to Germany, including Murad.

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12:10 p.m.

The head of the foundation behind the award known as the “alternative Nobel” says giving the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize to Congolese surgeon Denis Mukwege “is a fantastic choice,” because he “not only helps mend (women) physically but also restores their human dignity.”

Ole von Uexkull, head of the Right Livelihood Award Foundation, says the 2018 award “must be a clarion call to putting an end to violence against women everywhere around the world.”

He said Friday Mukwege was given the Right Livelihood Award in 2013 for “his courageous work healing women survivors of wartime sexual violence and speaking up about its root causes”.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee jointly awarded the peace prize to Mukwege and to Nadia Murad, a Yazidi who was a captive of the Islamic State group.

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12:05 p.m.

The Congolese gynecological surgeon who has won the Nobel Peace Prize for treating victims of sexual violence has previously called gender inequality a disgrace to society.

Dr. Denis Mukwege made the comments last year to an international assembly of the Lutheran church in Namibia. He said churches must speak out against sexual abuse, and he condemned what he called the “inhumanity” that some men show toward women.

Mukwege has treated thousands of women in Congo, many of whom were victims of gang rape in different conflicts. Armed men tried to kill him in 2012, forcing him to temporarily leave the country.

Mukwege won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday along with Nadia Murad, a spokeswoman for Yazidi women abused by the Islamic State group.

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11:40 a.m.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee says that Denis Mukwege is “the foremost, most unifying symbol, both nationally and internationally, of the struggle to end sexual violence in war and armed conflicts.”

Mukwege and his team have treated thousands of patients who have been raped or sexually abused in Congo’s long civil war.

“The importance of Dr. Mukwege’s enduring, dedicated and selfless efforts in this field cannot be overstated. He has repeatedly condemned impunity for mass rape and criticized the Congolese government and other countries for not doing enough to stop the use of sexual violence against women as a strategy and weapon of war,” the committee said in its citation Friday.

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11:35 a.m.

Nadia Murad, one of the two winners of the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize, has become a spokeswoman for Yazidi women abused by the Islamic State group.

In December 2015, she told the U.N. Security Council how she and thousands of other Yazidi women and girls were abducted, held in captivity and repeatedly raped after the Iraqi area of Sinjar fell to IS militants in August 2014. She escaped after three months in captivity.

A year after most IS-held areas were retaken by Iraqi security forces, around 3,000 Yazidi women and girls are still missing, most presumed dead.

At the age of 23, Murad was named the U.N.’s first Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking.

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11:30 a.m.

The head of the Norwegian Nobel Committee says this year’s Nobel Peace winners were chosen to draw attention to the fact that “women are … actually used as weapons of war.”

Berit Reiss-Andersen said after announcing the prize Friday that both laureates, Denis Mukwege of Congo and ethnic Yazidi Nadia Murad, had put their personal security at stake as activists on the issue.

Oyvind Sternersen, a Nobel historian, said “This is a Nobel bullseye; recognizing victims of war has a long history in the peace prize.”

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11 a.m.

The Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Denis Mukwege and Nadia Murad “for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict.”

The winners were named Friday by the Norwegian Nobel Committee.

Congolese doctor Mukwege has been a critic of the Congolese government and has treated victims of sexual violence. Murad is a Yazidi who was a captive of the Islamic State group.

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6 a.m.

The Nobel Peace Prize is always widely anticipated and sometimes controversial.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee, which will announce this year’s prize on Friday, has received nominations for 216 individuals and 115 organizations. But only a few dozen of them are known — the committee keeps the list of nominations secret for 50 years, although some candidates are revealed by their nominators.

Among those put forward this year are the Syrian civilian aid group White Helmets, Russia’s Novaya Gazeta newspaper, Edward Snowden and the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.

Last year’s winner was the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.

The 2018 prize is worth 9 million Swedish kronor ($1.01 million). Past winners who came under criticism include former U.S. President Barack Obama, who won in 2009 after less than a year in office.

The Associated Press

by Canadian Press

The Latest: Nobel winner stands up for persecuted minorities

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