<mediadc-video-embed data-state="{"cms.site.owner":{"_ref":"00000161-3486-d333-a9e9-76c6fbf30000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b93390000"},"cms.content.publishDate":1659976148055,"cms.content.publishUser":{"_ref":"0000016c-7763-d473-a96f-77eb53420000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"cms.content.updateDate":1659976148055,"cms.content.updateUser":{"_ref":"0000016c-7763-d473-a96f-77eb53420000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"rawHtml":"
var _bp = _bp||[]; _bp.push({ "div": "Brid_59972322", "obj": {"id":"27789","width":"16","height":"9","video":"1071440"} }); rn","_id":"00000182-7e48-dd2e-a7df-fffaac4b0001","_type":"2f5a8339-a89a-3738-9cd2-3ddf0c8da574"}”>Video EmbedThe latest absurdity to propagate through Western media outlets is an article published by Amnesty International charging that Ukraine is somehow responsible for civilian casualties in its own war-torn country.
It’s the same Amnesty International that claims, “Through our detailed research and determined campaigning, we help fight abuses of human rights worldwide … We investigate and expose the facts, whenever and wherever abuse happens.”
Ukraine, not Russia, put civilians in harm’s way, at least according to Amnesty’s article. Its two principal findings were that military bases were set up in residential areas and that Ukraine launched attacks from populated civilian areas. One of the more ridiculous comments came from Agnes Callamard, Amnesty International’s secretary general, who stated, “Being in a defensive position does not exempt the Ukrainian military from respecting international humanitarian law.”
The backlash was immediate, as it should be.
The Times, a top U.K. newspaper, called Amnesty International “Putin’s propagandists.” Marc Garlasco, a United Nations war crimes investigator, said Amnesty International got the law wrong, adding that Ukraine had actually “taken steps to protect civilians, such as helping them relocate.”
One only needs to visit Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and Fort Campbell, Kentucky, to understand the proximity of military bases to residential areas. Fort Bragg is located between Spring Lake and Fayetteville, North Carolina; Fort Campbell is between Clarksville, Tennessee, and Hopkinsville, Kentucky. The United States didn’t build the bases between the two towns; rather, the two towns emerged as the military base grew. I’m confident Ukrainian military bases have a similar relationship with surrounding villages and towns.
Russia, in contrast, invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24. It took the fight to the outskirts of the nation’s capital in Kyiv, and en route bombed villages, towns, and cities into oblivion. The Russians have deliberately targeted Ukrainian civilians in hospitals, at train stations, in homes, and at shelters with clear Red Cross markings. They have murdered civilians in the streets, tortured and executed them in their homes, and discarded their bodies in mass graves. Russian ground forces took the battle to residential areas. By necessity, that’s where the Ukrainian military made its stand.
This is a Russian-made humanitarian disaster, period.
For Amnesty to try to somehow cast this as anything else is unconscionable and plays right into the Russian propaganda narrative. Why didn’t it report on the Russian headquarters, military equipment, and artillery group co-located at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant? The Russians were firing missiles from this location because they knew Ukraine would not risk returning fire.
As a result of this egregious reporting, Oksana Pokalchuk, the head of Amnesty International in Ukraine, announced her resignation on Facebook Friday, but not before putting the blame on her organization’s leadership. There should be several vacancy announcements for the Amnesty International staff this week — to include Agnes Callamard.
A once reputable organization failed miserably with this report. Amnesty International needs to acknowledge that Russia put Ukrainians in the position from which they needed to defend themselves and launch their counterattacks — from residential areas. Otherwise, Ukrainian civilians would likely have been rounded up and deported or, worse, victims of Russian war crimes as they were in Bucha and Irpin. The brave men and women of Ukraine deserve an apology.
Jon Sweet, a retired Army colonel, served 30 years as a military intelligence officer. His background includes tours of duty with the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), DIA, NSA, and NGA. He led the U.S. European Command Intelligence Engagement Division from 2012-2014, working with NATO partners in the Black Sea and Baltics. Follow him on Twitter @JESweet2022.
