Dear Amnesty International,
I truly believe that today’s turbulent world badly needs organizations like yours.
But I was ashamed to read your recent communication on Ukraine – Russia conflict. I do not challenge your evidence. I truly trust it. You state that both sides committed war crimes. Indeed, you are mathematically right.
However, your concluding observation is sending a highly distorted and misleading message: that both sides are allegedly equal in terms of the war crimes they committed.
All the evidence that you refer to in your post suggests that Russia committed major war atrocities which resulted in several thousand people killed. On the contrary, your own evidence proves that Ukraine committed minor offences which did not cause a single death.
I am not justifying those offences committed by the Ukrainian army. I sincerely would not like to be beaten by any soldier and truly empathize to struggled persons.
Nevertheless, these two types of war crimes are simply incomparable. The message you have sent is manipulative and dishonest – and that is wrong.
Given your high international reputation, this manipulative message was uncritically retranslated by major respected media like BBC. It affects attitudes and political decisions, and may be a factor in further escalation of the conflict. How does that outcome correspond with your organisational objective “To demand justice for those whose rights have been violated”?
With disappointment,
Yuriy Dzhygyr
[hr]Read more: Amnesty International communication on Russia-Ukraine conflict biased and inaccurate
