Amnesty International Head in Ukraine Resigns Following Claims that Ukrainian Forces Are Violating the Laws of War.
GHRTV
16-08-2022
Ryan Haigh
International Justice and Human Rights Researcher
Global Human Rights Defence
On 5 August 2022, Oksana Pokalchuk, the executive director of Amnesty International resigned following an Amnesty International’s report claiming the Ukrainian army is violating the laws of war. Pokalchuk has been head of Amnesty’s Ukrainian office since 2016.
According to Pokalchuk, the report was prepared by a special “crisis team” that has extensive training in evaluating armed conflicts around the world. The report alleges two principal violations on the part of the Ukrainian army. First, that the army has set up military bases in residential areas, including schools and hospitals. Second, that the army has launched attacks from populated civilian areas. The report provides that Amnesty observed Ukrainian forces using hospitals as de facto military bases in five locations and that 22 of the 29 schools visited showed signs of military personnel being present. The fundamental issue with such military choices is that they have the potential to turn protected civilian objects into potentially justifiable military targets. Such a transition puts civilian welfare at greater risk during hostilities. The report noted that being in a defensive position does not modify Ukraine’s duty to adhere to international humanitarian law in this context. The full report is available at: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/08/ukraine-ukrainian-fighting-tactics-endanger-civilians/.
Personnel assigned to Amnensty’s mission in Ukraine were not consulted in the process of the crisis team authoring their report. Pokalchuk correctly notes that international humanitarian law does not create a blanket preclusion of creating military positions near civilian areas. Pokalchuk asserts that Ukrainian forces operating near civilian locations protects the population against Russian atrocities that may otherwise occur. Finally, Pokalchuk argues that Amnesty only gave the Ukrainian Ministry three days to respond to their claims, which is unreasonable.
Pokalchuk’s resignation was followed by the voluntary departure of additional Amnesty staff based in Ukraine. Despite his critique, Pokalchuk emphasized that Amnesty’s local offices continue to do exceptional work and the greatest harm of the report may be the loss of support for these offices in the future.
