29 March 2022; MEMO: Amnesty International has criticised war crimes in Ukraine likening the devastation there to Syria and Iraq.
"What is happening in Ukraine is a repetition of what we have seen in Syria," said Secretary-General of the rights watchdog, Agnes Callamard, referring to the UN Security Council as the "insecurity council" for failing to act over Syria, Afghanistan, and Myanmar...
Callamard was speaking at the launch of Amnesty International's annual report on human rights, in which the UK was singled out for particularly harsh criticism, including of its Nationality and Borders bill.
Callamard also compared what is happening in Ukraine to the US invasion of Iraq.
"The crisis in Ukraine right now, the invasion… is not just any kind of violation of international law. It is aggression. It is a violation of the UN charter of the kind that we saw when the US invaded Iraq."
Marie Struthers, Amnesty's director in Eastern Europe, said at a briefing in Paris that Ukrainian researchers had noted the use of the same tactics that were used in Syria and Chechnya including the use of arms banned under international law.
In both countries Russian bombs have hit civilian infrastructure, schools, nurseries, maternity hospitals, and markets.
Reports reveal that Russia has used cluster munitions in Ukraine, as it did in Syria, injuring civilians and damaging hospitals and schools.
