Nobel Peace Prize for Anwar Ibrahim?

Malaysiakini tells us that:

Ten local non-governmental organisations have expressed support for former opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim's nomination for the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize.

Led by activists from the 1998 Reformasi movement, Otai Reformasi chair Saari Sungib told a press conference in Petaling Jaya today that they were informed of Anwar's nomination by an undisclosed party.

Their support, Saari said, was partly based on rights group Amnesty International's recognition of Anwar as a "prisoner of conscience" who must be freed.

"He (Anwar) has been twice recognised as Amnesty International's prisoner of conscience and Amnesty has also twice been awarded the Nobel Prize," he added.

Do you follow what Saari Sungip has said?

To wit, that because Amnesty has also twice been awarded the Nobel Prize, and that it has recognised Anwar as a prisoner of conscience, Anwar should therefore also get the same Peace Prize.

I have never heard such flabbergasting bullshit. Where is the connection?

Amnesty International received the Nobel Peace Prize for its work in human rights. The NGO's objective is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."

If Saari Sungip tells us Anwar Ibrahim has also done sterling work in human rights with an objective to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated, then okay, Anwar may be nominated for the same prize on the same basis as Amnesty International.

But did Saari Sungip say that of Anwar?

No, he didn't. His sole claim for Anwar to be nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize is that Amnesty International has identified Anwar as a 'prisoner of conscience'.

What is a 'prisoner of conscience'?

He or she is "a person who has been put in prison for holding political or religious views that are not tolerated in the state in which they live."

Is that in accordance with the criteria for being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize?

According to the Nobel Peace Prize criteria, the award goes to "the person who in the preceding year shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses."

Indeed that's what the word 'Peace' means.

Has Saari Sungip mentioned the above 3 criteria or at least one of them in nominating Anwar?

No!

Incidentally, does Saari Sungip know how many 'prisoners of conscience' Amnesty International has identified?

Please visit Amnesty International's website. By the by, I donate a regular monthly sum of money to Amnesty International for quite some years. You should too.

Malaysiakini reported that also at same press conference 5 days ago:

... national laureate A Samad Said pointed out that the Otai Reformasi group had previously raised the need for Anwar's contributions to be honoured in a more meaningful manner.

"He (Anwar) is a man of conscience, vision and action who is now languishing under lock and key.

"We do not want him to continue wasting in jail when he still has so much left to contribute."

Much as I adore Samad Said, and I'm not debating his wish not to have Anwar wasting his time in jail, I don't agree with (mis)using a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize as a means, via international pressure, to release Anwar from jail.

Oh, did I mention Tian Chua was also at the press conference? Wakakaka.

But you know, I personally reckon Anwar Ibrahim stands a very strong chance of winning the Peace Prize, not so much:

• because he is one of several dozens of 'prisoners of conscience' named by Amnesty International, or
   
• that he has been "the person who in the preceding year shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses"

... but because the Nobel Peace Prize Committee has suffered from a notoriety of politicization in selecting the winner, awarding the Prize NOT in accordance with the original aim of Alfred Nobel's wishes.

Wikipedia tells us:

It has been felt that the Peace Prize has been awarded in a reactionary way for more recent or immediate achievements, or with the intention of encouraging future achievements.

Some commentators have suggested that to award a peace prize on the basis of unquantifiable contemporary opinion is unjust or possibly erroneous, especially as many of the judges cannot themselves be said to be impartial observers.

In 2011, a feature story in the Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten contended that major criticisms of the award were that the Norwegian Nobel Committee ought to recruit members from professional and international backgrounds, rather than retired members of parliament; that there is too little openness about the criteria that the committee uses when they choose a recipient of the prize; and that the adherence to Nobel's will should be more strict.

In the article, Norwegian historian Øivind Stenersen argues that Norway has been able to use the prize as an instrument for nation building and furthering Norway's foreign policy and economic interests.

In another 2011 Aftenposten opinion article, the grandson of one of Nobel's two brothers, Michael Nobel, also criticised what he believed to be the politicisation of the award, claiming that the Nobel Committee has not always acted in accordance with Nobel's will.

Criticism summed up in the books of Norwegian lawyer Fredrik S. Heffermehl has instigated a call by 16 prominent Scandinavians for a criminal investigation.

Some of the 'jokers' awarded the Prize were, wakakaka, Menachem Begin, Yasser Arafat, Shimon Peres, and Henry Kissinger, all of whom have/had been accused of war crimes or terrorism or oppression.

Wiki also tells us: The awards given to Henry Kissinger prompted two dissenting Committee members to resign.

Henry Kissinger has been accused of "for war crimes, for crimes against humanity, and for offenses against common or customary or international law, including conspiracy to commit murder, kidnap, and torture."

fraternity between nations?
wakakaka 

Surely Anwar Ibrahim, despite his manmanlai bull and his criminal record as a sodomist, would not be as bad as the above-mentioned 'jokers' and therefore well within a good chance of winning the Nobel Peace Prize, wakakaka.

Good luck!