Amnesty International has sparked anger from the usual left-wing globalist crowd in the West for daring to point out the fact that Ukraine is just as guilty as Russia of committing human rights abuses.
According to a report by the organization, investigators have "found evidence of Ukrainian forces launching strikes from within populated residential areas, as well as basing themselves in civilian buildings in 19 towns and villages" in three war-torn regions of the country from April through July.
The report also noted that the Ukrainian military utilized hospitals, schools and private residences in order to escape Russian forces though what the 'human shield' tactic really did was invite more casualties as Russian troops continued to attack Ukrainian forces wherever they could be found.
"Such tactics violate international humanitarian law and endanger civilians, as they turn civilian objects into military targets. The ensuing Russian strikes in populated areas have killed civilians and destroyed civilian infrastructure," Amnesty Internation's report said, adding that the results of this were Russian attacks on said civilian infrastructure, Zero Hedge reported, adding:
The report detailed further that in 22 of 29 schools visited by an Amnesty team between April and July, investigators found evidence of prior military activity. Additionally, five instances of Ukrainian troops using hospitals as bases were documented. The report went so far as to stress Amnesty was "not aware" of instances where Ukrainian troops first tried to evacuate civilians from these locations.
"Not every Russian attack documented by Amnesty has followed this pattern. In certain locations in which Amnesty concluded that Russia had committed war crimes - including in some areas of the city of Kharkiv - Amnesty did not find evidence of Ukrainian forces located in civilian areas unlawfully targeted by the Russian military," the report noted.
The report explained:
Between April and July, Amnesty researchers spent several weeks investigating Russian strikes in the Kharkiv, Donbas and Mykolaiv regions. Amnesty inspected strike sites, interviewed survivors, witnesses and relatives of victims of attacks, and carried out remote-sensing and weapons analysis. Throughout these investigations, Amnesty found evidence of Ukrainian forces launching strikes from within residential areas as well as basing themselves in civilian buildings in 19 towns and villages in the regions. Amnesty’s Crisis Evidence Lab analysed satellite imagery to further corroborate some of these incidents.
Investigators noted that in most cases, Ukrainian forces located themselves in proximity with residential areas when the front lines were often miles away, endangering civilians.
Secretary General of Amnesty International Agnès Callamard said that her organization was under extreme pressure not to point any fingers at Kyiv, but she noted nevertheless: "Being in a defensive position does not exempt the Ukrainian military from respecting international humanitarian law."
Needless to say, Western globalists were shocked that their preferred country in this fight would be so thoroughly called out by the West's own premier human rights organization.
"This report by @amnesty International is such a disgrace. It only amplifies the narratives of the Russian #propaganda targeted against #Ukraine. With this one, AI has hit the bottom," tweeted the spokesman for the Polish Minister-Coordinator of Special Services, Stanis?aw ?aryn.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba was also very quick to rip the AI report: "I understand that Amnesty will respond to criticism by saying that they criticize both sides of the conflict. But such behavior on Amnesty’s part is not about looking for the truth and presenting it to the world, but about creating a false balance between the criminal and his victim."
Other commentators claimed that the organization was engaged in "victim-blaming" -- which is true, to an extent, but also very accurate, given AI's findings.
"Amnesty International blames Ukrainian defenders for protecting civilians from attacks by Russian invaders. 'Blame the victim' false equivalency reflects the moral void at the heart of @amnesty. It's a disgrace to people of conscience who value the protection of human rights," one of them noted on Twitter.
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