The co-founder of the Swedish Amnesty International also resigned because of the scandalous report on the Armed Forces of Ukraine
- Author:
- Oleksiy Yarmolenko
- Date:
The co-founder of the Swedish branch of the human rights organization Amnesty International, Per Vestberg, is resigning because of the scandalous report on the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He worked there for almost 60 years.
Swedish publications SVD and Expressen write about it.
“I have been a member [of the organization] for almost sixty years. With a heavy heart, because of Amnestyʼs statements regarding the war in Ukraine, I am ending my long and fruitful cooperation," Westberg explained.
He emphasized that the primary task of the organization was to help political prisoners and work for their release, but later AI "broadened its mandate."
In 1963, Vestberg became the founder of the Swedish branch of Amnesty International. In 1976–1982, he was the editor-in-chief of the largest daily newspaper in Sweden, Dagens Nyheter. Vestberg is also a member of the Nobel Prize Committee for Literature.
- On August 4, Amnesty International published a report in which it accused the Ukrainian army of violating humanitarian law and creating danger for civilians by placing military bases in residential areas, schools and hospitals.
- In response, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine called the report unfair, and the adviser to the head of the Office of the President, Mykhailo Podolyak, added that the only ones who put Ukrainian civilians at risk are the Russian troops. The Defense Minister, Oleksiy Reznikov, called Amnesty Internationalʼs report evidence of a "loss of adequacy" and an attempt to destroy his own authority. After some time, the Ministry of Culture reported that, for their report, human rights defenders spoke with Ukrainians in the occupied territories and in infiltration camps, where they were under pressure from the Russians.
- The head of the Ukrainian office of Amnesty International, Oksana Pokalchuk, resigned, and the head office of the organization was hit by a flurry of criticism. On August 7, Amnesty International apologized, but General Secretary Agnes Callamar said that the organization had been attacked by Ukrainian and Russian "trolls" on social networks. After that, Ukrainians launched a flash mob calling for Callamarʼs resignation.