On December 31, the international non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) published a report in which it was said about the alleged detection of anti-personnel mines in the combat zone in Ukraine. Although the report itself did not provide any reliable evidence of the use of anti-personnel mines by the Ukrainian army, its further use by the aggressor-controlled structures for various manipulations is not excluded.
At the same time, the Kharkiv Human Rights Group and the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union published a joint statement regarding the HRW report and indicated that the publication of such a report carries significant reputational risks for Ukraine and that such reports fuel Russian propaganda.
Ukrainian human rights defenders have expressed their belief that in a situation where Ukraine is the object of aggression by a much more militarily powerful state, the publication of such a report will bring great harm, much greater than the hypothetical “benefit from obtaining research results”.
“We are deeply outraged by the fact that HRW actually supports our enemy”, the Ukrainian human rights activists summed up. In addition, as indicated above, the report does not contain a clear evidence base and the measurement of the alleged “use of anti-personnel mines by Ukraine” is based solely on assumptions.
It is also necessary to cite the position of the Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lubynts, expressed on January 31 about the HRW report, who noted that back in 2018, Ukraine informed the UN that it could not fully guarantee the implementation of the Ottawa Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction, in connection with the ongoing war.
At the same time, Lubynets added in response to HRW’s question, “in addition to the report, to which there are certain comments”, HRW illegally “marked Crimea on the map as “part of Russia”. Of course, now the map has been removed from the site. However, the fact remains the fact! What is this? Error? Is it a conscious support for the occupation?” the Ukrainian obmudsman asked a rhetorical question.
