Open Appeal from Nobel Laureates to Alexander Lukashenko, the UN Secretary-General, the Leadership of Poland and Other Countries to Support Political Amnesty in Belarus
We, the undersigned Nobel laureates, welcome the adoption of the amnesty law and the first steps towards the release of severely ill prisoners in Belarus.
We urge Alexander Lukashenko to show humanity and compassion by freeing all citizens recognized by human rights defenders as political prisoners. It is unacceptable to subject the people of your country to severe trials and harsh conditions solely for their beliefs. Every person has the right to their opinion and deserves respect for their individuality. You have a unique opportunity to turn the page on the past and enter history not only as an uncompromising ruler but also as a political leader who has shown wisdom and compassion, responsible to your people and their future.
Implementing a comprehensive political amnesty and returning to internationally recognized norms of law and principles of humanity will be a significant political act, symbolizing a new stage in the history of Belarus. We hope that our appeal, along with the voices of other people of goodwill, will be heard and that this step will lay the foundation for the beginning of the process of national unity and reconciliation.
All citizens who have suffered for their views, active civic stance, and protest actions deserve freedom. Among them are journalists, scientists, doctors, workers, public figures, and human rights defenders, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski.
We call on the authorities and their opponents to respect each other's positions and to overcome differences through dialogue and mutual respect.
We are pleased that our open call for the release of people imprisoned for their convictions has resonated with the governments of many countries around the world.
We express our gratitude and support to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, President of Poland Andrzej Duda, Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski, participants of the civil initiative "Ultimatum", diplomats, and human rights defenders for their active efforts aimed at freeing political prisoners in Belarus.
We appeal to opinion leaders, trade unions, journalists, and all people of goodwill to make every effort to secure the swift release of citizens who have suffered for their principles.
July 12, 2024
Signatures:
Nobel Prize in Literature
Svetlana Alexievich, Nobel Laureate in Literature (2015), Belarus. Awarded for her polyphonic writings, a monument to suffering and courage in our time.
John Coetzee, Nobel Laureate in Literature (2003), South Africa. Awarded for his well-crafted composition, characterized by analytical brilliance and engagement with the plight of the outsider.
Herta Müller, Nobel Laureate in Literature (2009), Germany. Awarded for her work that, with the concentration of poetry and the frankness of prose, depicts the landscape of the dispossessed.
Nobel Peace Prize
Mairead Corrigan Maguire, Nobel Peace Prize (1976), Northern Ireland. Awarded for her efforts to end the violent conflict in Northern Ireland.
Oscar Arias, Nobel Peace Prize (1987), President of Costa Rica (1986-1990, 2006-2010). Awarded for his work for lasting peace in Central America.
Jose Ramos-Horta, Nobel Peace Prize (1996), President of Timor-Leste (2008-2012; from 2022 to the present). Awarded for his work towards a just and peaceful solution to the conflict in East Timor.
Jody Williams, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (1997), USA. Awarded for her work towards banning and clearing anti-personnel mines.
Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (2003), Iran. Awarded for her efforts for democracy and human rights, especially concerning women and children in Iran.
Tawakkol Karman, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (2011), Yemen. Awarded for her non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work in Yemen.
Kailash Satyarthi, Nobel Peace Prize (2014), India. Awarded for his tireless efforts and dedication to ending child labor and ensuring the right to education for all children.
Juan Manuel Santos, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (2016), President of Colombia from 2010 to 2018. Awarded for his resolute efforts to bring the country's more than 50-year-long civil war to an end.
Dmitry Muratov, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (2021), co-founder, publisher, and former editor-in-chief of Novaya Gazeta, Russia. Awarded for his efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, a prerequisite for democracy and lasting peace.
Maria Ressa, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (2021), Philippines. Awarded for her efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace.
Oleksandra Matviichuk, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (2022), Head of Centre for Civil Liberties, Ukraine. Awarded for her work in promoting civil liberties and human rights in Ukraine.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry
John Polanyi, Nobel Prize in Chemistry Laureate (1986), Canada. Awarded for his contributions concerning the dynamics of chemical elementary processes.
Yuan-Tseh Lee, Nobel Prize in Chemistry Laureate (1986), Taiwan. Awarded for his contributions concerning the dynamics of chemical elementary processes.
Jean-Marie Lehn, Nobel Prize in Chemistry Laureate (1987), France. Awarded for the development and use of molecules with structure-specific interactions of high selectivity.
Elias James Corey, Nobel Prize in Chemistry Laureate (1990), Professor at Harvard University, USA. Awarded for his development of the theory and methodology of organic synthesis.
Peter Agre, Nobel Prize in Chemistry (2003), USA. Awarded for the discovery of aquaporins, which are channels in cell membranes that facilitate the transport of water.
Roger Kornberg, Nobel Prize in Chemistry (2006), USA. Awarded for his studies of the molecular basis of eukaryotic transcription.
Gerhard Ertl, Nobel Prize in Chemistry Laureate (2007), Germany. Awarded for his studies of chemical processes on solid surfaces.
Martin Chalfie, Nobel Prize in Chemistry Laureate (2008), USA. Awarded for the discovery and development of the green fluorescent protein, GFP.
Dan Shechtman, Nobel Prize in Chemistry Laureate (2011), Israel. Awarded for the discovery of quasicrystals.
Arieh Warshel, Nobel Prize in Chemistry Laureate (2013), Israel. Awarded for the development of multiscale models for complex chemical systems.
Jean-Pierre Sauvage, Nobel Prize in Chemistry Laureate (2016), France. Awarded for the design and synthesis of molecular machines.
Richard Henderson, Nobel Prize in Chemistry (2017), United Kingdom. Awarded for developing cryo-electron microscopy for the high-resolution structure determination of biomolecules in solution.
Joachim Frank, Nobel Prize in Chemistry Laureate (2017), USA. Awarded for developing cryo-electron microscopy for the high-resolution structure determination of biomolecules in solution.
David MacMillan, Nobel Prize in Chemistry Laureate (2021), USA. Awarded for the development of asymmetric organocatalysis.
Moungi Bawendi, Nobel Prize in Chemistry Laureate (2023), USA. Awarded for the discovery and synthesis of quantum dots.
Nobel Prize in Physics
Sheldon Lee Glashow, Nobel Prize in Physics Laureate (1979), USA. Awarded for contributions to the theory of the unified weak and electromagnetic interaction between elementary particles.
Klaus von Klitzing, Nobel Prize in Physics Laureate (1985), Germany. Awarded for the discovery of the quantized Hall effect.
Jerome I. Friedman, Nobel Prize in Physics Laureate (1990), USA. Awarded for investigations concerning deep inelastic scattering of electrons on protons and bound neutrons, which have been of essential importance for the development of the quark model in particle physics.
William D. Phillips, Nobel Prize in Physics Laureate (1997), Joint Quantum Institute, University of Maryland, USA. Awarded for development of methods to cool and trap atoms with laser light.
Steven Chu, Nobel Prize in Physics Laureate (1997), USA. Awarded for development of methods to cool and trap atoms with laser light.
Gerard 't Hooft, Nobel Prize in Physics Laureate (1999), Netherlands. Awarded for elucidating the quantum structure of electroweak interactions in physics.
Wolfgang Ketterle, Nobel Prize in Physics Laureate (2001), Germany. Awarded for the achievement of Bose-Einstein condensation in dilute gases of alkali atoms, and for early fundamental studies of the properties of the condensates.
Anthony J. Leggett, Nobel Prize in Physics Laureate (2003), USA. Awarded for pioneering contributions to the theory of superconductors and superfluids.
John C. Mather, Nobel Prize in Physics Laureate (2006), USA. Awarded for the discovery of the blackbody form and anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background radiation.
David Wineland, Nobel Prize in Physics Laureate (2012), USA. Awarded for groundbreaking experimental methods that enable measuring and manipulation of individual quantum systems, paving the way for advances in quantum computing and precise timekeeping.
Arthur McDonald, Nobel Prize in Physics Laureate (2015), Canada. Awarded for the discovery of neutrino oscillations, which shows that neutrinos have mass.
Michel Mayor, Nobel Prize in Physics Laureate (2019), Switzerland. Awarded for the discovery of an exoplanet orbiting a solar-type star.
Alain Aspect, Nobel Prize in Physics Laureate (2022), France. Awarded for his experiments with entangled photons, establishing the violation of Bell inequalities and pioneering quantum information science.
Pierre Agostini, Nobel Prize in Physics Laureate (2023), France. Awarded for experimental methods that generate attosecond pulses of light for the study of electron dynamics in matter.
Ferenc Krausz, Nobel Prize in Physics Laureate (2023), Hungary. Awarded for his experimental methods that generate attosecond pulses of light for the study of electron dynamics in matter.
Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Harold Varmus, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Laureate (1989), USA. Awarded for their discovery of the cellular origin of retroviral oncogenes.
Sir Richard J. Roberts, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Laureate (1993), Chief Scientific Officer at New England Biolabs, United Kingdom. Awarded for their discoveries of split genes.
Eric Wieschaus, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Laureate (1995), USA. Awarded for their discoveries concerning the genetic control of early embryonic development.
Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Laureate (1995), Germany. Awarded for their discoveries concerning the genetic control of early embryonic development.
Stanley B. Prusiner, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Laureate (1997), USA. Awarded for his discovery of Prions – a new biological principle of infection.
Louis J. Ignarro, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Laureate (1998), USA. Awarded for their discoveries concerning nitric oxide as a signaling molecule in the cardiovascular system.
Paul Nurse, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Laureate (2001), United Kingdom. Awarded for their discoveries of key regulators of the cell cycle.
Barry Marshall, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Laureate (2005), Australia. Awarded for their discovery of the bacterium Helicobacter pylori and its role in gastritis and peptic ulcer disease.
Craig Cameron Mello, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Laureate (2006), USA. Awarded for their discovery of RNA interference - gene silencing by double-stranded RNA, which has become an important research tool in the study of gene function and regulation.
Mario R. Capecchi, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Laureate (2007), USA. Awarded for his discoveries of principles for introducing specific gene modifications in mice by the use of embryonic stem cells.
Jack W. Szostak, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Laureate (2009), Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University Professor, Department of Chemistry, University of Chicago USA. Awarded for his discoveries concerning the protection of chromosomes by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase.
Carol Greider, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (2009), USA. Awarded for the discovery of how chromosomes are protected by telomeres and the enzyme telomerase.
Jules Hoffmann, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Laureate (2011), France. Awarded for their discoveries concerning the activation of innate immunity.
Randy Schekman, Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine (2013), USA. University of California, Berkeley. Awarded for his discoveries of the mechanisms regulating vesicle traffic in cells.
May-Britt Moser, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Laureate (2014), Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway. Awarded for their discoveries of cells that constitute a positioning system in the brain.
Edvard I. Moser, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Laureate (2014), Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway. Awarded for their discoveries of cells that constitute a positioning system in the brain.
Gregg L. Semenza, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Laureate (2019), USA. Awarded for their discoveries of how cells sense and adapt to oxygen availability.
Charles M. Rice, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Laureate (2020), USA. Awarded for the discovery of Hepatitis C virus.
Sir Michael Houghton, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Laureate (2020), United Kingdom. Awarded for the discovery of Hepatitis C virus.
Harvey J. Alter, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (2020), USA. Awarded for the discovery of Hepatitis C virus.
Nobel Prize in Economics
Sir Oliver Hart, Nobel Prize in Economics Laureate (2016), Professor at Harvard University, United Kingdom. Awarded for his contributions to contract theory.
The letter was signed by 65 Nobel Prize winners.