Human rights organization Amnesty International wants after harsh criticism of their report on the conduct of the war by the Ukrainian army, review the manufacturing process. A thorough examination of the process will be carried out by external experts, according to a statement by the organization made available to the German Press Office on Saturday. The results of this examination are urgent.
In the coming week, Amnesty’s board of directors will determine the details of the process after which various national organizations can provide their input – including the Ukrainian amnesty organisation, whose head Oxanna Pokalchuk resigned in protest at the report.
In the report, Amnesty International accused the Ukrainian army of rooting itself in residential areas, thereby endangering civilians unnecessarily. Kyiv criticized that by focusing on abuses by soldiers of the attacked country, non-governmental organizations had a
The perpetrator-victim reversal operated. Critics have also partly questioned the methodology of the report.
Amnesty’s report on abuses by Ukrainian soldiers was widely covered in Russian state media, which barely reports on alleged crimes committed by Russian soldiers in Ukraine. Amnesty International continues to defend the report but expresses regret for the “pain and anger” it has caused.
Amnesty Germany’s branch said the result was “not communicated with sensitivity and precision” expected of the organization. “This also applies to the communications and subsequent reactions of the International Secretariat to public criticism.” In a statement on Friday, the organization wanted to be closely involved in the processing, where power relations should also be taken into account. “We want to understand what really went wrong and why, so we can take lessons and improve our human rights work.”
