I whole heartedly congratulate Barack Obama for winning the Nobel Peace Prize. As is always the case with awards like this it is a shame that there can only be one given out as there are usually many deserving people and organizations. So I decided to write this diary as a shout out to some of the people that were being considered but did not receive the honor.
This list is by no means comprehensive and I am not an expert on any of the candidates, so if I got something wrong or there are corrections to be made please post them in the comments and I will update accordingly. That said join me over the jump for a look at the runners up.
This list is in no particular order. Since the nominations are technically secret I had to compile this list from news reports about those who were both publicly known to have been nominated, and those who were rumored to be. Okay here we go:
Sima Samar
Sima Samar is the Chairperson of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission . She is also the United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in Sudan. She was the first ethnic Hazara woman to graduate with a medical degree from Kabul University. She fled Afghanistan in 1984 after the communist government arrested her husband. He was never seen again. She worked with Afghan refugees in Pakistan and established the Shuhada Organization and Shuhada Clinic which deliver healthcare and education to Afghan women and girls. In 2002 she returned to Afghanistan to take a post in the Karzai government. She served first as Deputy President and then as Minister for Women's Affairs. She was forced to resign after recieving death threats for her questioning of Sharia Law. She has been a tireless and courageous advocate for Afghan women's rights, risking her life by speaking out against Sharia Law, the burqa, and the poor state of women's healthcare in Afghanistan among other things.
Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad
Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad of Jordan is a philosophy professor and a personal envoy and advisor to King Abdullah the II. He is closely associated with the Amman Message, which seeks to unify Islam against radical and violent interpretations, and create an interfaith dialogue between islam and the worlds other great religions.
Hu Jia
Hu Jia is a Chinese activist who's work has focused on the issues of democracy, HIV/AIDS, and environmentalism. He is the director of the June Fourth Heritage & Culture Association which conducts research and advocacy on the culture of the democracy movement in China. He also served as the executive director of the Beijing Aizhixing Institute of Health Education, and helped found Loving Source, an advocacy group dedicated to helping people with HIV/AIDS. He has been involved in causes as diverse as releasing political prisoners to rescuing endangered wildlife. In April of 2008 he was sentenced to three and a half years in prison under the charge of "inciting subversion of state power and the socialist system" for statements given in interviews and articles in the foriegn press. He is currently serving his sentence.
Morgan Tsvangirai
Morgan Tsvangirai is the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe. He is also the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change, an opposition party, which he founded in 1999. He came to prominence as a result of his activity in the Zimbabwean trade union movement, and in 1989 he became the Secretary General of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions. Under his leadership the ZCTU cut many of it's ties with the Mugabe government. In 2008 he ran for president against Mugabe. He won the first round of voting, but failed to achieve a majority. This result was widely disputed, however he initially decided to go ahead with a runnoff. As the election grew near he pulled out of the race citing probable violence against his supporters. In September of 2008 Tsvangirai signed a power sharing agreement with Mugabe that allowed Mugabe to remain president and Tsvangirai to be named Prime Minister. He has been a tireless worker for democracy and human rights in Zimbabwe for many years. He has survived three assasination attempts, and has survived brutal beating and torture at the hands of the Zimbabwe Special Forces. Earlier this year Mr Tsvangirai was injured and his wife was killed when the car they were in collided with a USAID truck.
Piedad Córdoba
Piedad Córdoba is a Columbian senator who is best known for her work in hostage negotiations with the FARC. She is the leader of Colombians for Peace, a group that is seeking a negotiated solution to the conflict between the government and the FARC. As a result of her work the FARC has unilaterally released 16 hostages. She was instrumental in the release of video of hostages that are still bieng held captive by the FARC. From what I can tell she is a very controversial figure in her home country, and has clashed with President Uribe on several occasions.
Greg Mortenson
Greg Mortenson is the co founder of the Central Asian Institute, the Founder of Pennies for Peace, and the co- author of Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission To Promote Peace One School At A Time. In 1993 Mortenson took part in a daring rescue of a fellow mountain climber on K2. He was so physically weak after the rescue that he got lost on the way back from the climb and ended up in a small Pakistani village where he was nursed back to health. He was so greatful to the villagers that he promised them he would build them a school. From that promise came his founding (with Jean Hoerni ) of The Central Asian Institute who's mission is to promote education and literacy in remote parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan, with a focus on the education of girls. CAI has built 131 schools that educate 54,000 students including 44,000 girls. He also founded Pennies for Peace which is a program where american school children can assist in fundraising for school construction in Afghanistan and Pakistan. In his quest to help school children he has endured being kidnapped, being caught in a firefight, and two fatwas from Islamic clerics.
Pete Seeger
Pete Seeger is an american folk musician and political activist. He is best known for writing songs such as “Where Have all the Flowers Gone”, “If I Had a Hammer”(with Lee Hays) and “Turn Turn Turn”. He was a member of the Weavers and of the Almanac Singers, both highly influential groups. He is also known for popularizing the spiritual “We Shall Overcome” which became an anthem in the American civil rights movement. In 1955 he was called to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee, and in dramatic fashion invoked his first amendment right free speech in order to refuse to answer questions. He has lent his name and music to countless protest and benefit concerts and his accomplishments and achievements are too voluminous to list here. Much of his music and life have been dedicated to the causes of peace, justice, disarmament, civil rights and environmental activism. Written on his banjo is the motto "This Machine Surrounds Hate and Forces It to Surrender."
So that's the list. I realize that some of the people on the list are controversial, but in addition to congratulating President Obama I thought it was important to take a minute and recognize some of the great work these people are doing for peace.