Head of Amnesty Ukraine resigns after critical NGO report

Ukrainian soldier on patrol in an area near the front line in the Donetsk region, May 26, 2022. REUTERS - STRINGER

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In Ukraine, the publication of the Amnesty International report which criticizes the tactics of the Ukrainian army, in the sense that it uses civilian areas for combat, continues to make waves.

Friday evening August 5, Oksana Pokaltchouk, the director of Amnesty's office in Ukraine, resigned from her post, displaying her complete disagreement with the management of the NGO, and deploring that the latter had knowingly refused to associate the Ukrainian team of Amnesty to the report which undergoes the general opprobrium in the country, and that while the secretary general of the NGO, Agnès Callamard, persists and signs.

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With our correspondent in Kiev,

Oksana Pokalchuk had headed the Ukrainian branch of Amnesty for seven years, making her one of the most respected human rights figures in Kyiv. 

Thursday evening August 4, she publicly denounced the report published by her parent company, considering that this work is, in her words, " 

 " and "

 ", and above all that it was carried out only by foreign researchers. , and that the hierarchy of Amnesty deliberately refused to associate its Ukrainian team with it.

It is in particular this exclusion of the Ukrainian experts from Amnesty, known for their professionalism and their knowledge of the field, which set fire to the powder in kyiv.

► To read also: 

A report without taking into account the military reality?

On Friday, Oksana Pokaltchouk announced her resignation, believing that it is unimaginable in such a context that an Amnesty International report does not contain data on Russian acts and therefore on the party which started the war.

The official also deplored that Amnesty International did not take it in time to collect the position of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, and that the report did not take into account local military and human realities.

Finally, the human rights defender said with emotion that Amnesty International gave no understanding of what an army of defenders was, in a country invaded by occupiers, and that no words, in any language , could not translate this pain.

► To read also: Amnesty accuses the Ukrainian army of endangering civilians, Ukraine "outraged"

Such tactics violate international humanitarian law and endanger civilians, as they turn civilian objects into military targets 👇https://t.co/EysZtcqqci

— Amnesty International (@amnesty) August 4, 2022

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