WikiLeaks, Cuba dissidents in record Nobel field
Jury begins secretive process to select winner after record 241
nominations were submitted for 2011 Nobel Peace Prize
OSLO, Norway - A record 241 nominations were submitted for the 2011
Nobel Peace Prize and the Norwegian jury has now begun the secretive
process to select a winner, the panel's spokesman said Tuesday.
Russian human rights activist Svetlana Gannushkina, secret-spilling
organization WikiLeaks and Cuban dissidents are among the candidates who
have been publicly announced by those who nominated them.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee does not reveal the names of nominees and
doesn't discuss any candidates until the winner is announced in October.
Geir Lundestad, the permanent secretary of the committee, told The
Associated Press that 188 individuals and 53 organizations have been
nominated for the prestigious award.
"We have a record number of nominations this year, but there has been a
steady increase over time," he said. Last year the committee received
237 nominations.
The deadline for outside nominations was Feb. 1, but the five-member
committee added its own suggestions at a meeting Monday, said Lundestad,
who doesn't have voting rights.
"We have an active committee, which has added several proposals the last
years," he said.
Pundits have speculated that social media such as Facebook and Twitter,
which have been used to help organize dissent in countries with
oppressive governments, could be considered for the award, Reuters reported.
Imprisoned Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo won the Nobel Peace Prize last
year for his nonviolent struggle for human rights in his homeland. The
award infuriated China, which accused the Nobel committee of honoring a
criminal.
Lundestad said the impact of the prize was exceptional.
"We have never before experienced that the prize has been discussed at
the highest level in governments around the world," he said.
The Nobel Prizes also include awards in medicine, physics, chemistry and
literature. A sixth award, the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics, was
created by Swedish central bank in 1968 in memory of prize founder
Alfred Nobel.
The prize amount has been fixed at 10 million Swedish kronor ($1.6
million) in recent years. Lundestad said the sum will probably be the
same this year, but no final decision has been taken. The Nobel Peace
Prize will likely be announced on Oct. 7, he said.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/03/01/501364/main20037707.shtml
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