human rights lawyer
Clooney: Russian atrocities made possible by ignorance
Amal Clooney, with her husband George Clooney, is a human rights activist. Photo: Richard Shotwell/Invision via AP/dpa
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“From Darfur to Myanmar to Yemen”: The human rights lawyer and wife of Hollywood star George Clonney denounces watching conflicts.
According to human rights lawyer Amal Clooney, the atrocities allegedly committed by Russian soldiers in Ukraine were made possible by years of turning a blind eye to other conflicts.
“For too long we have watched as perpetrators have murdered, tortured and raped without consequences in mass violations of human rights – from Darfur to Myanmar to Yemen,” said Clooney at a meeting of the states of the UN Security Council in New York. The meeting discussed how Russia can be held accountable for violations of the laws of war.
In the past, perpetrators committed crimes believing they would get away with it. “And they were right,” said Clooney, referring to human rights violations in Syria. The actions in Bucha in Ukraine reminded her of massacres in Syria. The images of killed Ukrainian civilians from the suburbs of the capital Kyiv caused horror around the world earlier this month.
A total of more than 400 bodies were found in Bucha, some with their hands tied behind their backs. The Ukrainian secret service spoke of “mass murder”. Russia denies having anything to do with the atrocities. International investigations are now underway. There are numerous calls for those responsible to be brought before an international court.