The Nobel Peace Prize for 2010
Over the past decades, China has achieved economic advances to which
history can hardly show any equal. The country now has the world’s
second largest economy; hundreds of millions of people have been lifted
out of poverty. Scope for political participation has also broadened.
China’s new status must entail increased responsibility. China is in
breach of several international agreements to which it is a signatory,
as well as of its own provisions concerning political rights. Article 35
of China’s constitution lays down that”Citizens of the People’s
Republic of China enjoy freedom of speech, of the press, of assembly, of
association, of procession and of demonstration”. In practice, these
freedoms have proved to be distinctly curtailed for China’s citizens.
For over two decades, Liu Xiaobo has been a strong spokesman for the
application of fundamental human rights also in China. He took part in
the Tiananmen protests in 1989; he was a leading author behind Charter
08, the manifesto of such rights in China which was published on the
60th anniversary of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human
Rights, the 10th of December 2008. The following year, Liu was sentenced
to eleven years in prison and two years’ deprivation of political
rights for”inciting subversion of state power”. Liu has consistently
maintained that the sentence violates both China’s own constitution and
fundamental human rights.
The campaign to establish universal human rights also in China is
being waged by many Chinese, both in China itself and abroad. Through
the severe punishment meted out to him, Liu has become the foremost
symbol of this wide-ranging struggle for human rights in China.
Oslo, October 8, 2010
中文翻译：
2010年诺贝尔和平奖
挪威诺贝尔委员会决定将2010年诺贝尔和平奖颁予刘晓波，表扬他长久以来在中国用非暴力方式争取基本人权。挪威诺贝尔委员会一向相信，人权与和平有着紧密关系。人权是达致艾尔弗雷德．诺贝尔在遗嘱中所言「国邦友好」的先决条件。
过去数十年，中国经济长足发展，史上罕见，成为世界第二大经济体系，数以亿计民众得以脱贫，参与政治的机会亦有所扩阔。
中国享有新地位，必须承担更多责任。中国不但以缔约国身份，违反多项国际协定，更违背了本国的政治权利条文。中国宪法第35条订明，「中华人民共和国公民有言论、出版、集会、结社、游行、示威的自由」。但实际上，中国民众的这些自由显然受剥削。
过去二十多年来，刘晓波一直是推动中国尊重基本人权最着力的代表人物。他参加了1989年天安门示威。他是争取中国尊重人权的《零八宪章》起草人；《宪章》在联合国《世界人权宣言》发表60周年、即2008年12月10日发表。翌年刘晓波因「煽动颠覆国家政权罪」，被判入狱11年，剥夺政治权利两年。刘晓波一直坚称，判刑违反了中国宪法，侵犯基本人权。
在中国国内外，尚有许多人为争取人权出力。刘晓波受到重罚，成为中国人权斗争最突出的象征人物。
奥斯陆， 2010年10月8日
