The international council of the human rights organization Amnesty International (AI) did not publish a report criticizing the activities of a group of employees of the organization that issued a statement that the Armed Forces of Ukraine endanger the civilian population by fighting against the Russian army. It is reported by the New York Times with reference to a document sent to the publication.
The copy of the document , which ended up in the hands of journalists, highlights the complexity of applying international law in relation to the war in Ukraine and the sensitivity of the issue itself.
According to an AI statement released in August 2022, the organization accused the Ukrainian side of "illegal" deployment of military units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in densely populated areas and conducting offensive operations from them. Russia used this document as a justification for its aggressive actions, which caused a wave of indignation from Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelensky said at the time that AI was "pardoning a terrorist state."
In response, the organization promised to conduct an internal investigation to "figure out what went wrong and why." For this purpose, an independent international commission was assembled, consisting of five experts in international law, who spoke with Amnesty International staff.
The commission concluded that they did the right thing, evaluating the actions of not only the aggressor, but also the defending side. Under international law, both sides are bound by the laws of war and not endanger civilians. The experts noted that the AI staff provided "sufficient evidence of such violations", and that criticism of the victim of aggression is "totally acceptable."
At the same time, the commission found that Amnesty International's final statement was poorly drafted, and its conclusions, according to which Ukraine is a violator of international law, were "insufficiently supported" in terms of evidence.
Overall, the experts concluded that Amnesty International's August statement was written in "ambiguous language," contained inaccuracies and "was in some respects legally contentious." According to them, because of this, the impression was created that the Armed Forces of Ukraine were more or equally responsible for the deaths of the civilian population "that occur as a result of Russian attacks."
As a person familiar with the conduct of Amnesty International's internal investigation told the New York Times, the first version of the report was written in a much harsher tone. However, the organization's advice persuaded experts to soften it. Thus, the line stating that the accusations against the Armed Forces of Ukraine were “insufficiently supported by evidence” initially looked like “not supported by evidence”.
According to the source of the publication, the final version of the report was ready in early February. However, the board of the organization decided not to make it public and leave it in internal circulation. The AI mailing list stated that the document would "improve our workflow."
