human rights
Amnesty Secretary General: Putin hates Ukrainians
Agnes Callamard during an interview in Istanbul in January 2019. Photo: Cemal Yurttas/DHA/AP/dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
In order to prove genocide, precise evidence is required. Agnès Callamard from Amnesty International explains what statements, comments and appearances by Putin one should pay attention to.
According to the Secretary General of the human rights organization Amnesty International, the Russian leadership around President Vladimir Putin has a “hatred” against all Ukrainians.
“There are statements, comments and appearances by Putin and other Russian leaders that show how they ignore and hate the Ukrainian people, in which they talk as if Ukraine does not exist,” Agnes Callamard said on Ukrainian television. “And it is precisely these statements that we will use as part of the evidence when we discuss the issue of genocide.”
The violence used in this war was due to the systems thinking created by the leadership. “Violence becomes the main mode of action, it is tolerated and sometimes even glorified… There is no control and this creates the conditions for violent behavior, there is a regime of impunity…” Callamard was quoted as saying by the Unian agency.
There is no evidence that the military leadership demands torture or murder from the soldiers. “But we have evidence that the leadership is not stopping these crimes. So they repeat themselves over and over again,” said Amnesty’s Secretary-General.
Amnesty’s mission in this war is to provide the world with information on the extent and nature of crimes being committed by Russian troops in Ukraine. «We want to show that this war is not only a Ukrainian problem or a problem of Europe and NATO. Russian aggression is a problem for the whole world,” Callamard was quoted as saying.
In the past few days, Callamard and a delegation have visited the Kyiv suburbs, where dozens of civilians have been victims of Russian violence.