A recent report based on a monitoring mission in several Ukrainian regions, in which Libereco participated, concludes that there is conclusive evidence of deliberate Russian war crimes and highlights the need for concerted support for the long-term reception of internal refugees in Western Ukraine.
In May 2022, Libereco joined our Ukrainian partner Vostok SOS and German organisation DRA on a monitoring mission to assess and document the human rights situation in Ukrainian regions that had until recently been occupied or under attack, such as the Kyiv, Chernihiv, and Sumy regions, as well as in Transcarpathia in Western Ukraine, where large amounts of internally displaced persons have found refuge. The mission resulted in the report “A Trail of Death and Destruction. Russian War Crimes, Human Rights Violations and the Evolving Needs in Ukraine”, which concludes that there is ample evidence for considerable Russian war crimes, including deliberate attacks on civilian targets and expresses concern and lays out challenges for the long-term reception of large amounts of refugees in Transcarpathia.
In June 2022, three members of the mission and authors if the report Yulia Krasilnykova, Executive Director of Vostok SOS; Imke Hansen, Mental Health and Psychological Support Coordinator at Libereco – Partnership for Human Rights; and Tim Bohse, Project Coordinator in Ukraine at DRA – 30 Years for a European Civil Society presented the report and advocated for more humanitarian support for Ukraine to fellow human rights organisation, policy makers, and broader audiences in Paris and Berlin.
Together with its partners on the mission and the report, Libereco hopes that both will contribute to continued attention for human rights issues in various regions of Ukraine, as well as continued or even increased international support for the needs of people all over Ukraine.