Yet another example of dangerous madness just came out of the international organizations in the context of our war. Amnesty International writes that our soldiers’ military tactics are putting civilians in danger. Following AI’s logic, our soldiers - instead of defending our cities - need to go out into the field, form an orderly line, and wait for the Russians to turn them into mincemeat.
The obvious problem of course is that the Russians will then move onto the civilians and we will have another Bucha on our hands. I never cease to be amazed by the chaotic mess that these organizations have in their skulls in lieu of brains. The Russians have given up the pretence of abiding by any rules. Shelling Kyiv while the UN Genera Secretary is here on a visit. Using MLRS to turn half of Kharkiv’s residential areas into rubble. They have expressed nothing but contempt for these “deeply concerned” organizations. What we end up with is that some UN agency or AI or a similar organization prepares a report that contains almost nothing about the Russians, yet has a thorough accounting of all our perceived sins.
This is a tactic they’ve been using since 2014 - the Russians close off access, we don’t, and we end up with a report vilifying Ukraine. Useful idiots in their purest form. The impression created is that we are at fault for this war - that we attacked ourselves. Russia’s role is left unclear, despite it being abundantly obvious that the moment Russia gets out of here, the danger will evaporate.
Later we found out that the Ukrainian branch of AI was barred from providing input to the Ukraine report. The branch said that it had nothing to do with the report and that it wasn’t written out of the Ukrainian office. I think we can all agree how bizarre it would be for the Ukrainian branch to, say, be documenting human rights abuses in Myanmar or Zimbabwe, while the Nigerian branch specialized in Ukraine. And yet this bizarre situation seems to be reality! Accordingly, the Ukrainian branch should disband itself in protest. What is the point of a Ukrainian branch if it isn’t permitted to have input on a report on Ukraine that ends up being completely idiotic. Why should they be expected to work against the interests of their country?
I think that our state institutions - and active citizens in general - need to boycott AI until it withdraws this report and issues a sincere apology.
But that’s not all. If we look at how AI is describing the situation internationally, we can say with confidence that Amnesty International is nothing more than a Kremlin representative in its hybrid war against Ukraine. A few days before the aforementioned report, AI stated running paid ads like the one you see below in Canada (and likely in other places too). They are essentially accusing countries that are offering support to Ukraine and Ukrainian refugees of being racist, by saying that other refugees need to be treated the same way as the Ukrainians. So AI focuses attention on Ukrainians, placing them in opposition to other refugees. Given how Russia has been actively working in Africa and Asia to secure support in UN and similar places, there is no doubt that AI is advancing the Kremlin’s interest through these narratives. They are acting as a Russian instrument.
What should Ukraine do?
First, it must suspend AI’s activities until it clarifies its systematic actions against Ukrainian interests.
Second, AI’s donors need to push for an audit of the organization and its decision a making structure, with an eye for Russian influence. We need a large international investigation to uncover AI’s secrets. Their activities aren’t about human rights. If this serious organization can’t differentiate between good and evil, it must be cut off from all support and end its existence. By justifying evil in one form or another, it is helping evil win.
