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"Like in Syria": Destroyed skyscraper in Kharkiv
Photo: VASYL ZHLOBSKY / EPA
Ever since the invasion of Ukraine began, the West has accused Russia of waging a war by illegal means.
Above all, the Russian attacks against civilian targets are causing outrage worldwide, while the Kremlin continues to deny such action.
Now the human rights organization Amnesty International has denounced "war crimes" in Ukraine.
"What is happening in Ukraine is a repeat of what we saw in Syria," Secretary General Agnès Callamard told AFP at the presentation of the organization's annual report.
Russia is "specifically" attacking civilian facilities and turning escape routes into "death traps."
Eastern Europe Director Marie Struthers said Amnesty researchers had documented "the same tactics used in Syria and Chechnya" during an on-site visit to Ukraine.
Accordingly, Russia is also using weapons that are prohibited under international law.
Mariupol like Aleppo
Callamard compared the besieged city of Mariupol to the Syrian city of Aleppo.
This was completely destroyed by the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad with the help of the Russian air force.
Amnesty observed a "multiplication of war crimes" in Ukraine.
Callamard criticized the "shameful inaction" of international institutions such as the UN Security Council.
This should better be called the »Insecurity Council«.
According to her, there can be no "neutrality" in dealings with Russia.
Criticism of the global human rights situation and the distribution of corona vaccines
In addition to the situation in Ukraine, the human rights organization also criticized human rights problems in numerous other countries around the world.
Under the “pretext” of the corona pandemic, 67 countries around the world have passed new laws that permanently restrict the rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly.
These included, for example, Cambodia, Egypt, the USA, Pakistan and Turkey.
Amnesty also criticized the fact that wealthy Western countries were working with pharmaceutical companies to withhold corona vaccines from poorer people in Africa.
It is the "ancient and gruesome tale of lives that count and lives that don't."
col/AFP