Status: 08/08/2022 05:19 a.m
In a report, Amnesty International accused Ukraine of endangering civilians. This was followed by sharp criticism from Kiev. The organization has now made its regret clear – and defended the report.
Human rights organization Amnesty International has defended its controversial report on the Ukrainian army’s conduct of the war, while expressing regret at its impact.
“Amnesty International deeply regrets the pain and anger caused by our press release regarding the combat tactics used by the Ukrainian military,” the organization said in a statement. Amnesty adheres to the main findings of the report.
Head of Ukraine’s Amnesty branch resigns
In the report published on Thursday, Amnesty International accused the Ukrainian army of entrenching itself in residential areas, thereby unnecessarily endangering civilians.
The head of Amnesty’s Ukrainian branch, Oxanna Pokalchuk, resigned in protest. “With the aim of protecting civilians, this study has instead become a tool of Russian propaganda,” she accused her colleagues.
Amnesty: “Want to clarify crucial points”
Kyiv criticized that the non-governmental organization had operated a perpetrator-victim reversal by focusing on misconduct by the army of the attacked country. “While we fully stand by our findings, we regret the pain caused and want to clarify a few key points,” Amnesty International said.
The organization found Ukrainian violations of martial law at 19 different locations. However, this does not justify the Russian war crimes. “Russia is solely responsible for the abuses it has committed against Ukrainian civilians,” it said. Amnesty has addressed these crimes several times in recent months.
Amnesty’s report on violations by the Ukrainian army was extensively covered in Russia’s state media, which hardly reported on alleged crimes committed by Russian soldiers in Ukraine.