Olya Melen-Zabramna participates in OSCE Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting on the Functioning of Democratic Institutions in Times of Crisis, taking place on 16-17 May in Vienna in Hofburg Palace.
On 17th May, 2022 Olya spoke at side-event “Five human rights issues during Russia’s aggression against Ukraine: the position of the “Tribunal for Putin” initiative”, organized by the Center for Civil Liberties with the presentation: Human rights violations due to environmental damage caused by Russian army: day 83.
War caused numerous consequences to environment, causing pollution of air, soils, waters, depriving population of access to clean drinking water and sanitation. War related environmental pollution causes violation of the following human rights:
- Right to drinking water and sanitation
- Right to safe and healthy environment
- Respect to private and family life
- Right to life.
Thus, Russia needs to be bringing into accountability for violation of international humanitarian law, UN Charter, international conventions in the sphere of environmental protection, international customary law and human rights norms and agreements. There are possible international avenues for consideration of such issue and bringing the claims on reparations of environmental damage done as a result of Russian aggression. So it is time to act! Putin need to be held accountable!
Other participants shared details of terrible human rights violations by Russia, mainly forceful deportations, tortures and killings. Also kidnapping of civilians is quite a critical issues, and the case of kidnapping of a teenager in Zaporizya oblast (Vlad Buryak) was emphasized in particular.
Thus, putin’s regime is fighting against people of Ukraine, facilitating and tolerating terrible human rights violations on a big scale by their army, thus ignoring all the norms of international humanitarian law. Such regime has to be stopped and tribunal for putin should make its verdict, deterring other totalitarian leaders from committing the same acts of aggression and human humiliation worldwide.
