Status: 06.08.2022 4:37 p.m
In a report, Amnesty International accused Ukraine of endangering civilians. This was followed by outrage from President Zelenskyj – and now the resignation of the head of Amnesty’s Ukraine office.
Oksana Pokalchuk, head of the Ukraine office of human rights organization Amnesty International, has resigned following the publication of an accusatory report on the Ukrainian army. Pokalchuk announced her resignation on Facebook. She accused Amnesty of hijacking Russian propaganda.
Pokalchuk describes the report as one-sided
“Unless you live in a country that’s being invaded by occupiers who are tearing it to pieces, you probably don’t understand what it’s like to condemn an army of defenders,” Pokalchuk said in the statement. Pokalchuk also writes that she tried to warn Amnesty officials that the report was one-sided and did not take Ukrainian positions sufficiently into account. However, she was ignored.
Amnesty caused outrage in Kyiv with the report presented on Thursday. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy then accused the organization of “putting victims and attackers on the same level, so to speak”. In the report, Amnesty International accused the Ukrainian army of endangering civilians by setting up bases in residential areas, schools and hospitals.
Pokaltschuk: Too little time to take a stand
Amnesty says the organization contacted Ukraine’s Defense Ministry officials on July 29, but they did not respond to a request for comment on the report’s findings in time for its August 4 release. Pokalchuk said that wasn’t nearly enough time. She complained:
As a result, the organization inadvertently issued a statement that sounded like support for the Russian narrative.
Instead, in an effort to protect civilians, the report has become a Russian propaganda tool, Pokalchuk wrote. Amnesty’s Secretary General Agnès Callamard said on Friday that the organization “stands completely” by its report.