Page 7 - UKRRptSept22

2.0 Politics
2.1 Amnesty International accuses Ukraine of war crimes
Amnesty International has accused Ukraine of war crimes during its ongoing military conflict with invading Russian forces. The humanitarian organisation said in a release on August 4 that the Ukrainian military's tactics "violate international humanitarian law and endanger civilians" by operating weapons out of bases established in residential areas while civilians are present. Russia has previously been accused by Amnesty International of violating multiple international laws during the war. The organisation on Wednesday said that Ukraine's alleged violations "in no way justify Russia's indiscriminate attacks." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy publically denied the accusations.
“We have documented a pattern of Ukrainian forces putting civilians at risk and violating the laws of war when they operate in populated areas,” said Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General. “Being in a defensive position does not exempt the Ukrainian military from respecting international humanitarian law.”
FM Kuleba: Amnesty International's report creates a 'false balance between criminal and victim.' Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba was "outraged" by the report accusing Ukraine's military of putting civilians in danger by creating bases and placing weapons in residential areas, including schools and hospitals. Russia has regularly been caught using this excuse to hit Ukraine's civilian areas, like in the March 9 attack on the maternity hospital in Mariupol. "Stop creating a false reality where everyone is a little guilty of something," Kuleba said.
Amnesty International chief dismisses Ukrainian critics as 'trolls.' Amnesty International Secretary General Agnes Callamard also equated Ukrainian and Russian critics to its reports. “Ukrainian and Russian social media mobs and trolls: they are all at it today attacking Amnesty investigations. This is called war propaganda, disinformation, misinformation," she tweeted. Amnesty International prompted a scandal by publishing an Aug. 4 report claiming that Ukrainian troops are endangering civilians by deploying weapons in residential areas. Previously Amnesty International has also been accused of whitewashing terrorists in the Middle East and helping the Kremlin's narrative on Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
Head of Amnesty International Ukraine criticises a report published by the main office. The head of Amnesty International Ukraine Oksana Pokalchuk said that the Ukrainian team wasn’t involved in the preparation of Amnesty’s report that accused Ukraine’s military of endangering civilians. According to her, Amnesty dismissed all arguments by the Ukrainian team regarding the incompleteness of the report, while the authors didn’t wait for a response from Ukraine’s Defense Ministry.
7 UKRAINE Country Report September 2022 www.intellinews.com