The human rights organization Amnesty International has no way of verifying reports of alleged war crimes in Izyum. The Ministry of Defense in Kiev has revoked the organization’s accreditation, a spokesperson for the organization said.
“Amnesty International would be happy to help gather evidence of possible crimes and injustices committed in Izyum if it had local access. Unfortunately, we are no longer very present in Ukraine because the Ukrainian Defense Ministry has revoked our accreditation,” said a spokesman for the human rights organization on Tuesday.
Ukrainian government criticizes NGOs
The background could be the Ukrainian government’s criticism of the NGO. Amnesty International sparked controversy last month with a report on Ukraine. It accused the military of not paying enough attention to protecting the civilian population when defending cities. This would be contrary to martial law. However, legal experts have expressed doubts about whether the evidence presented was sufficient and Amnesty International has announced it will review the report.
As reported, more than 440 individual graves of civilians and some soldiers have been found after the recapture of Isjum. Some bodies showed signs of torture. Photos and reports from journalists on the ground correspond to the information provided by the Ukrainian government.
Guterres: Body findings ‘extremely disturbing’
Many leaders expressed their condolences and called for those responsible to be held accountable. UN Secretary-General António Guterres called the reports “extremely worrying” at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday. The war led to widespread destruction with massive violations of human rights and international humanitarian law.
Bishop Pavlo Honczaruk of Kharkov spoke of an “inhuman face” and took a photo of the graves himself on Tuesday. A corpse would have had no legs, another had broken legs. Together with Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, who traveled to Ukraine on behalf of the Pope, he also visited a torture chamber that Russian troops had set up in the basement of a police station. It was horrible.
Bishops under fire
Krajewski as well as a Catholic and a Protestant bishop came under fire on Saturday while unloading aid supplies near Zaporizhzhya. They immediately fled to safety and were unharmed, Krajewski said.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
