Zelenskyy Criticises Amnesty International
While Russian State Television uses the report for propaganda
The Amnesty International report published yesterday that blames Ukraine (the victim) for the deaths of civilians and for endangering them has been criticised by the entire world except for Russia. Russian state television used the report to justify their claims that Ukraine was to blame for the deaths of civilians and not them, omitting the fact that they targeted civilians.
Zelenskyy has publicly criticised the organisation, stating that Russia can never justify killing civilians in an unprovoked war, and victim blaming from a human rights association has done little to further human rights at all.
The Ukrainian branch of Amnesty International has also criticised the report and has stated that they did not approve of it and did not contribute to it. The Secretary General of Amnesty International (Agnes Callamard) has received calls to resign after she defended the report, claiming that trolls and ‘social media mobs’, have criticised the report. A hashtag calling for her resignation was trending. These trolls she calls who criticised the report included Ukrainian government ministers, Zelenskyy himself, international military analysts and experts, politicians around the world, and supporters of Amnesty.
Today on the anglomovnomu website amnesty international released the material in which the actions of the armed forces of Ukraine were criticized. It was created based on data collected by foreign researchers and researchers from the Crisis Response Department of our organization's global office.
The Ukrainian office was not involved in the preparation or writing of the text of the publication. And, unfortunately, already at the initial stage of this report, we have entered a dead corner where our team's arguments about the inadmissibility and incomplete of such material were not taken into account.
On their part, the representatives of the Ukrainian office did everything they could to prevent this material from being published. While our repeated objections were answered with a firm no, we also did everything we could to minimize the spread of the material. We asked authors to send us all versions of the material in advance (unfortunately, it did not happen), we convinced them to ask for an official comment from the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, but unfortunately, they did not give enough time to receive no answers and published this study without their comment. We also categorically refused to publish this press release on our website or translate it into Ukrainian, because of its, in our opinion, unilateralism. We are very sorry that even after all the possible arguments "against" we were still not heard.
Every person from the Ukrainian Amnesty office knows that the Russian Federation is responsible for the crimes of aggression against Ukraine. Moreover, a large part of our team are people who personally had to save themselves and loved ones from the war with Russia, leaving everything behind. Some of us have already been displaced or refugees twice.
Since February 24, Ukrainian colleagues and I have worked tirelessly to ensure that all war crimes are verified and recorded for the international community. We have released more than two dozen materials about crimes committed by the Russian Federation in Ukraine. Many of the materials have had international resonance and will be repeatedly used in international institutions in the process of Restoration of Justice.
But you're right, bureaucracy, misunderstanding of the local context, flexible system of work, ignoring the opinion of the Ukrainian team and the position of the human rights community in Ukraine, all of this prevented us from stopping today's release at the stage of the idea how to its was meant 2 be. Nevertheless, with all the mentioned phenomena, we fought to the last. And we will continue to fight in different forms and in different positions, no matter what it costs us.
I and the Ukrainian office team believe in human rights, we believe in Ukraine's victory, we believe that all war crimes perpetrators must be brought to justice.
Amnesty International Team in Ukraine
I read the report myself and it is indeed amateur at best, and dangerous for failing to understand warfare, only taking into account humanitarian law (which is pretty wishy washy and unrealistic at times). The claims that the Ukrainian army should set up bases outside of residential areas is unrealistic as many of the small Ukrainian villages are are tiny and are out in the woods already. Amnesty International make ridiculously impractical suggestions for the army to build camps away from the residential areas, which means that they can’t go in to protect civilians as they are miles away. There is also the issue of facilities and infrastructure, and soldiers need space to sleep, toilets, and cooking facilities. Structures such as schools, and churches are able to accommodate these more efficiently, and soldiers have evacuated residents to other buildings wherever possible.
There are a few scattered quotes from civilians, but again they might be out of context when someone is talking of a loved one being killed. That doesn’t mean the Ukrainian army was to blame. The blame is solely on the Russians choosing civilians targets, and the report by claiming the Ukrainian army is to blame helps no one except the Russians.
Day 163 (5 August)
Three more ships loaded with grain have left Ukraine headed for Turkey. So far, the agreement is working, but there is a long way to go before there can any trust for peace talks.
Erdogan of Turkey will meet Putin in Sochi to discuss the situation in Ukraine.
The Amnesty International report has been used by the Russians to further their propaganda and has potentially harmed and endangered Ukrainians.
This is because they are blaming the Ukrainian army for their military tactics and claim they are responsible for the deaths of civilians. They failed to take into account missile attacks where there are no army bases or camps, where public transport hubs have been attacked (railways stations and bus stops). These are the places where civilians have been killed.
Amnesty International are standing by the report that is not balanced, and in doing so are now being accused of corruption. Who sponsored the report? Did a deluge of Ukrainians appeal to them to investigate?
The only ones who would do so are the proxies, as many Ukrainians have been evacuated and those left do so because they have no family to stay with in other parts, or wish to stay and defend their country knowing the risks. It is Amnesty International that are spreading misinformation, and while there are some facts, it is based on limited observations that might be out of context. Very often, witnesses will speak thinking that the organisation will help them when in fact they have done the opposite. The report failed to note that the Russians targeted educational facilities, hospitals, and churches where there are civilians and where the military were not based.
The war in Ukraine has affecting the health of the seriously ill as hospitals have been targeted and destroyed. Patients are being moved to other facilities across the EU.
Orban of Hungary has been giving several speeches recently, in Romania and also the USA. However, he can’t hop across the border to visit Zelenskyy in Ukraine. He is the only EU leader who has not visited Kyiv or Zelenskyy as far as I know. His recent comments have been called Nazi like, and led to a cabinet advisor resigning (Zsuzsa Hegedus) due to his anti-migration views. He has said Europeans are free to mix, but he doesn’t want Hungary to become a mixed race. Hungary joined the EU primarily for the freedom of movement benefits, where many Hungarians took advantage of this and left Hungary to find a better life with freedoms. I know this for a fact as I worked for an agency that hired Hungarians because they were willing to do anything for a full-time job so that they could remain in the UK.
“We are willing to mix with one another, but we do not want to become peoples of mixed race."
"…those whom we do not want to let in will have to be stopped at (Hungary's) western borders." (Viktor Orban)
The dangers as I have stated before is the Orban has not criticised Putin, and has been critical of sanctions, stating they don’t work and urges Ukraine to agree to a peace deal. His actions and words are not in line with the positions that NATO and the EU hold, so why is Hungary’s defiance being tolerated? Despite the EU trying to reduce their reliance on gas from Russia, Hungarian ministers are seeking to buy more from Russia after the Foreign Minister visited Moscow last week. Hungary have gone rogue and they don’t care, so they have the EU and NATO benefits, and also Russian protections. This doesn’t help the EU, NATO or Ukraine at all, and yet like Putin, Orban is getting away with doing what he wants. The EU, NATO and Visegrád 4 should consider steps to remove Hungary from their alliances if they want to retain any credibility.
Russia and Iran have created closer ties with Russia launching a spy satellite that will be used to spy on Ukraine, and the ‘Khayyam’ will be used later to spy on activities in the Middle East. As you can see, the Russian invasion has changed the geopolitical position of several countries, and with Hungary moving towards an authoritarian regime within the EU and NATO, there are obvious dangers and concerns about the stability of the alliances let alone world peace.
Russia claims it is ready to discuss a deal of a prisoner swap for Paul Whelan and Brittney Griner despite the offer being made weeks ago. The Russians want to make a counter offer and add a Vadim Krasikov (in a German prison) to the proposed Viktor Blout. Griner is guilty of her crime though, and admits to possession of the cannabis vapes, which was a stupid thing to do. She was also in Russia to play club basketball when tensions in Russia were already high, and so her choice of actions has led to these consequences.
There’s non so blind as will not see. Blaming the victims should not be an option. I applaud the resilience of the Ukrainian people.
Blaming the victims!!! Unbelievable!!!