Ukrainian human rights attorney Oleksandra Matviichuk heads the non-profit organization Center for Civil Liberties. Founded in 2007, the purpose of the organization was to pressure Ukraine’s government to make the country more democratic. Since the 2014 Russian annexation of Ukraine the Center has been documenting political persecution in Crimea and crimes in the territory controlled by the Russian-backed separatist Luhansk People’s Republic and Donetsk People’s Republic. The organization also started international campaigns for the release of illegally imprisoned people in Russia, Russian-annexed Crimea and Donbas.

Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine Center for Civil Liberties also started to document Russian war crimes committed during the war. 

Matviichuk won the 2022 Right Livelihood Award “for building sustainable democratic institutions in Ukraine and modeling a path to international accountability for war crimes.”

The Centre for Civil Liberties was awarded the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize, jointly with Ales Bialiatski and Russian organization Memorial. The Norwegian Nobel Committee said in 2022 that the organization was “playing a pioneering role in holding guilty parties accountable for their crimes.” This was the first ever Nobel Prize awarded to a Ukrainian citizen or organization.