The Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations (AFUO) has urged Amnesty International Australia to join the Canadian Section (English Speaking) of the organisation in acknowledging the recent Amnesty report on Russian strikes in Ukraine provided insufficient context and legal analysis, ignored Ukrainian input and in the end, failed to protect human rights and civilians.
In a 11 Aug media release, the Canadian Section (English-speaking) has apologised to Ukrainian colleagues, the Ukrainian community at large, and its members, and thrown its support behind a comprehensive and independent review of the internal processes that led to the report, and led to “failings from an institution of our stature, particularly in times of conflict…challen[ging] our core principle of impartiality”.
The Canadian Section (English speaking) has also condemned Russia’s use of the report to justify its illegal aggression, and reiterated that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is an “unjustified act of aggression and a grave violation of international law.”
“Amnesty International Australia needs to do the right thing and support public calls for an independent review of the report. It needs to help rebuild trust in the organisation, which has been shattered as a result of this one-sided and deeply flawed report,” said Mr Stefan Romaniw OAM, AFUO Co-Chair.
In an opinion piece published in The Washington Post on the weekend, Oksana Pokalchuk, who resigned as chief of the Ukrainian office of Amnesty International upon the release of the report, explains the Ukrainian office was not consulted, in violation of Amnesty’s aims of international solidarity and respecting local expertise.
She also considers the report contradicts its main objective and states “far from protecting civilians, it further endangered them by giving Russia a justification to continue its indiscriminate attacks.”
Members of the local Sydney Ukrainian-Australian community will be rallying outside the Amnesty International Australian office today:
Date: Tuesday 16 August
Time: 12pm
Location: Amnesty International Australia office at 79 Myrtle Street Chippendale
