Heffermehl's Pioneering Struggle to Uphold Integrity of Nobel Peace Prize

Fredrik Heffermehl, a Norwegian lawyer, writer, and peace activist, passed away in late December. He saw himself as an tireless defender of true peace, aligning his advocacy with the genuine intentions of Alfred Nobel's will.

At the age of 85, Heffermehl, a vocal critic of the Nobel Peace Prize Committee in Norway, breathed his last. Convinced that the Nobel committees consistently violated the conditions of Alfred Nobel's will regarding the Peace Prize, he became a thorn in the side of the Norwegian Nobel Committee responsible for selecting the peace laureates.

Heffermehl understood Alfred Nobel's primary concern to be the reduction of armaments. Nobel aimed to contribute to a world free from the yoke of military weaponry and war, advocating international cooperation to replace confrontation. To this end, he annually proposed a list of qualified nominees for the Nobel Peace Prize.

He also consistently criticized many of the committee's choices, viewing them more as political prizes serving the agendas of the United States and the West.

In an interview, Heffermehl explained that the misuse of the well- intended recognition had led to the establishment of an alternative committee to scrutinize all nominations for the Prize.

"... The Norwegian politicians entrusted with the prize have been misusing it for a century or so for other purposes than intended, so therefore, we have started an alternative secretariat for the committee. The Nobel committee has a secretariat but they are adamant not to obey the will and Nobel's intention. They actually don't want to hear about Nobel at all. And they also voted in the Norwich parliament which is appointing the Nobel peace prize committee, the five member committee that decides who shall win the price and it was proposed last year that they must consider the intention of Nobel and this was rejected by 98.7 per cent of parliament. We are running an organization that is critical and the official committee. We are trying to get the prize respected and actually the intention of the Nobel."

He authored several books on the subject, including references to the hidden agenda behind the prize medal and insights into what Alfred Nobel truly desired.

The Nobel Committee in Norway, in 2015, responded at length to letters Heffermehl had sent to the parliament and the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm, asserting that it had managed the prize historically and in recent years as per the intentions of Alfred Nobel. The committee claimed Heffermehl's proposed actions were both unnecessary and inappropriate, asserting its role as the executor of Alfred Nobel's will, not anyone else.

Heffermehl, despite being dissatisfied with the majority of the committee's choices, held leadership roles in the Human Etisk Forbund in Oslo and participated in various organizations, including the International Peace Bureau and the International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Weapons, until the end of his active involvement.

During the time when the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Narges Mohammadi, he was engaged in sending emails expressing his opinions on the peace prize under the title "En tialsk forestilling," meaning an incorrect performance. He published his final book titled " The real Nobel Peace Prize - a squandered opportunity to abolish war" just a month before his death. In the book, he advocated for the Nobel Committee to promote peace education, emphasizing that peace must begin with the youth, creating hope and faith in the future.

In another section, he reviewed the composition of the Nobel committees and all Nobel Peace Prize laureates, demonstrating who received the prize in line with Nobel's intentions and who received it undeservedly. Since the atomic bombings by the United States in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, many have strived for the prohibition of nuclear bombs without receiving the Nobel Peace Prize.

Heffermehl highlighted the danger of a war culture that greatly contributes to the initiation of wars. He argued that children and adolescents engage in violent video games, media propagate war advertising, images, and enemy threats, and the current rhetoric of nuclear attacks issues warnings. This pervasive intrusion leads to the inevitability of war and creates indifference and inaction.