Santos and Timochenko. An end to a decades-long war.
Photo: AFP
Colombia tipped for Nobel Peace Prize after deal to end war
The peace agreement, signed on September 26, ended decades of war. The fighting between the government and FARC rebels had cost hundreds of thousands of lives in the South-American country.
A Colombian peace accord ending a half-century of war is widely tipped for the Nobel Peace Prize next week, returning the award to its roots after a run of wins for organizations including the European Union.
It would be the first award for Latin America since Guatemalan human rights activist Rigoberta Menchu won in 1992.
The prize might be shared by President Juan Manuel Santos and Marxist FARC rebel leader Timochenko - the nom de guerre of Rodrigo Londono - after they signed a deal on Sept. 26 to end a war that killed a quarter of a million people.
"The agreement ... is one of the most obvious peace prize candidates I've ever seen," said Asle Sveen, a historian who tracks the awards. Still, he said a prize may hinge on a "Yes" to the agreement in a referendum in Colombia on Sunday.
Colombian President Santos (left) and RARC leader Timochenko, at the signing ceremony. (Photo: AFP)
It would be the first award for Latin America since Guatemalan human rights activist Rigoberta Menchu won in 1992.
Other candidates for the 8.0 million Swedish crown ($934,000) prize include Svetlana Gannushkina, a Russia campaigner for human rights and refugees, Syria's White Helmets, a civilian group that seeks to rescue victims of air strikes, or Greek islanders who have aided Syrian refugees.
Others tips include negotiators of a deal over Iran's nuclear program or former US spy contractor Edward Snowden who leaked details of US surveillance.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the signing. (Photo: Reuters)
Kristian Berg Harpviken, head of the Peace Research Institute, Oslo, puts Gannushkina as his favorite, with Colombia second, saying such a prize would be an overdue rebuke to President Vladimir Putin.
"Ten years into the future there's a risk that it will be seen as major omission by the Nobel Committee," he said of a lack of criticisms of Russian restrictions on human rights and the annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region in 2014.
