AMONG the Nobel prizes, the one given for ‘peace’ has been the subject of intense scrutiny.
Over the years, the choice of recipients for the peace prize has raised doubts about the intentions of the Norwegian committee entrusted with the task. An element of subjectivity is inevitable as ‘peace’ is not a pure science like physics or chemistry.
Many times, the winner has been a past or serving head of state.
Those were the ones that attracted particularly bad vibes. This is natural as the ‘head that wears the crown’ is the beehive of statecraft. And war and peace are integral elements of modern statecraft – ‘the purpose of all war is peace’ and ‘the more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war’ as they say!
Fair enough thus to reward statesmen who were at war if they currently are peaceniks. In fact, the Nobel committee’s “mandate is restricted to evaluate the work and efforts of the nominated candidates up to the moment it is decided” – stating the obvious as the committee is not endowed with clairvoyance.
But what if an awardee in the future exhibits a behaviour that is totally repugnant to the whole essence of the peace prize.
The world has seen in the past shades of such deviance in some leaders. Can the prize be recalled? Apparently “neither Alfred Nobel’s will nor the statutes of the Nobel Foundation mention any such possibility”.
As a matter of fact, the “Norwegian Nobel Committee never comment upon what the laureates may say and do after they have been awarded the prize”.
But time is ripe perhaps for a rethink. Not doing so may erode the sanctity of the solemn honour. The case in point is Ethiopia’s Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed. A winner of the Peace Prize in 2019 (for ending the war with Eritrea), he launched an all-out civil war on rebels of Tigray People’s Liberation Front in November 2020.
Once the darling of the West, he has few friends now after reports of extensive devastation, mass rapes and extra-judicial killings in this impoverished region.
The latest, if not the last, straw in the series of heinous acts is his call on citizens of Ethiopia to take up arms against the rebels – armed forces are apparently not enough! This is most unexpected from an elected leader – an open call for an internecine civil war.
Can the Nobel committee revisit the ‘no recall’ dictum?
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