The West's chosen "human rights" organization, Amnesty International, appears on the verge of caving to pressure to reverse a previous assessment regarding Ukrainian war crimes and humanitarian violations.
According to a report published online this week, AI is ready to "reappraise" its findings after concluding earlier that Ukraine's military is "endangering civilians with its fighting tactics," a brutally honest assessment that nonetheless rankled Western elites who are pushing the false narrative that only Russia is capable of such things following Moscow's February invasion.
According to its report, AI investigators “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, in findings that truly upset Western governments who have decided that Russia is at fault, period.
The report also noted that the Ukrainian military utilized hospitals, schools and private residences to avoid receiving fire from Russian forces though what the ‘human shield’ tactic really did was cause enormous casualties amid civilians 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 noted as well:
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.
After AI's report was released, Secretary General Agnès Callamard said the organization immediately came under extreme pressure not to point any fingers at Kyiv. However, she noted: “Being in a defensive position does not exempt the Ukrainian military from respecting international humanitarian law.”
“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, Stanislaw Zaryn.
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," Kuleba added.
“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,” another user noted on Twitter.
Initially, AI refused to change its report or alter its conclusions, though now that appears to be changing.
AI told the media that it “deeply regrets the distress and anger that our press release on the Ukrainian military’s fighting tactics has caused.”
But, Amnesty International went on to emphasize that the organization’s “sole objective” in publishing the report was to ensure that “civilians are protected.”
The group made it clear that it “fully stand[s] by our findings” — so in other words, ‘sorry, not sorry.’
Apparently, AI is 'sorry.'
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