Amnesty has defended its report, in which it says that the Ukrainian army endangered civilians. According to the organization’s Ukrainian representative, Ukraine was not given enough time to respond to the report’s allegations.
Human rights organization Amnesty International published on Thursday critical of the Ukrainian army report (you switch to another service) has raised outrage in Ukraine as well as many who support Ukraine in the war. Ukrainians have criticized the report as sympathizing with Russia and repeating Russian disinformation.
In its published report, Amnesty International accused the Ukrainian army of endangering the lives of civilians by establishing military bases in populated areas, including schools and hospitals.
At Amnesty’s office in Ukraine, the report did not receive a warm reception. The latest twist in the story occurred when the head of Amnesty’s Ukraine office Oksana Pokalchuk announced that he was resigning from his position due to the scandal report published by the organization.
Pokalchuk accuses the organization of spreading Kremlin propaganda.
Pokalchuk: Not enough time was given to comment on the report
Pokalchuk says that he warned the Amnesty management about the one-sidedness of the report before its publication, but his comments were ignored.
Amnesty says it contacted the defense authorities in Kyiv on July 29 and presented its material. The organization says it had not received a response to its contact by the time the report was published.
Pokalchuk says that not enough time was given to give an answer.
– As a result, the organization unintentionally published a report that goes along with Russia’s narratives. Instead of trying to protect civilians, the report became a tool for Russian propaganda.
Amnesty’s report has been received with joy in the Russian state media and its message has been repeated in the Russian media with satisfaction.
Amnesty itself, on the other hand, has defended its heavily criticized report.
Secretary General of Amnesty of Agnes Callamard according to the report is careful work.
– The results are based on the evidence we collected during our extensive research. They are based on the same strict standards and determined processes as all Amnesty International’s work.
According to Callamard, Ukraine’s response to the report jeopardizes the discussion on the topic altogether. At the same time, Callamard pointed out that Amnesty has also published several reports on Russian war crimes in Ukraine.
In its report, Amnesty listed 19 locations where Ukrainian forces have put civilians at risk. These included, among others, the regions of Kharkiv, Donbass and Mykolaiv.
Amnesty’s Secretary General Callamard has also commented on Pokalchuk’s resignation from his position and says that the organization is sorry for his resignation, but respects the decision.
– Oksana has been a valued employee of Amnesty and has led Amnesty’s Ukrainian office for seven years, achieving a lot of success in the field of human rights.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has again criticized the report in harsh words. Zelenskyi stated that Amnesty is trying to pardon the “terrorist state” Russia and shift the responsibility from the aggressor to the victim.
– If someone prepares a report in which the attacker and the victim are considered equal in some way, then that cannot be allowed.