WEBINAR REPORT

“Dialogue to promote the Protection of Human Rights in relation to Russia-Ukraine War”

 

 

 

Date and Time: Thursday, August 18th, 2022, 10:00PM (KST)

Location: Online (Zoom)

Topics: Russia-Ukraine war, Human Rights

Host: HWPL Daejeon Branch

Speakers:

Ms. Sonja Biserko, Serbia, President of Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia

Ms. Abida Pehlic, Bosnia and Herzegovina, President of Novi put

 

A webinar was held to raise awareness of the situation of human rights in the war in Ukraine and find the way to protect human rights.

“So far, refugees and displaced civilians which are growing in number daily, are provided with help from international organizations, the EU and the US, and other governments worldwide. It is uncertain when their return to Ukraine will be possible. For this to happen, the war has to stop and the country rebuilt.”

– Sonja Biserko –

 

Introduction Webinar

On August 18th, 2022, HWPL (Heavenly Culture World Peace Restoration of Right) hosted the webinar “The Dialogue to promote the Protection of Human Rights in relation to Russia-Ukraine War”.

The webinar was held to raise awareness of the situation of human rights in the war in Ukraine and find the way to protect human rights.

Two human right activists Ms. Sonja Biserko and Ms. Abida Pehlic who have been working on human right issues on the ground for many years gave the main presentations.

 

Background Information

Russia’s attack on Ukraine stirs disturbance and tension globally and threatens a peaceful future, which all of humanity must build for future generations.

Military aggression against a sovereign state cannot be a solution to any problem, and the perils of such war and violent conflict hit innocent citizens the hardest, including women, the youth, and children. Nothing can repay the lost lives, and the direness of being made refugees overnight cannot be consoled with anything but the cessation of hostilities and peace.

Through this webinar, the speakers presented on how the war has violated the human rights in Ukraine and shared the situation people are facing and some necessary actions which need to be taken to improve the situation.

 

Points of discussion

Ms. Sonja Biserko and Ms. Abida Pehlic, in their main presentations, focused on the reality of human rights violations induced by war. Ms. Sonja called the war a crime against the peace project which has been in place for 70 years. She mentioned that large numbers of human rights violations have been reported, including arbitrary killing, enforced disappearance, violence of rights to property during massive destruction, torture, ill-treatment, gender-based violence, war-related sexual violence and violence of rights to liberty and security such as abduction. On the other hand, she pointed out that the UN is unable to take more resolute actions because Russia is the member of the Security Council and has the right to veto any decision. Still, she stressed that anyone who commits genocide, war crimes or crimes against humanity should be brought to national or international courts.

Ms. Abida Pehlic introducing herself as a war survivor, addressed the problems of human trafficking through war. She shared the report that more than almost six million people have fled Ukraine and have been registered in European countries and over 13,000 unaccompanied and separated children from Ukraine were registered in the European Union as of May this year. She emphasized that they become the most vulnerable group of people to exploitation and recruitment as they only concern how to escape from the war-affected country as soon as possible. She reiterated their desperate situation, emphasizing that no one has the right to infringe on the human rights of others.

 

Highlights

Ms. Sonja Biserko : UN Commission will certainly provide precise report on what has happened in Ukraine, including humanitarian law violations. Anyone who commits genocide, war crimes or crimes against humanity should be brought before national or international court.

Ms. Abida Pehlic : The whole set of human rights should never be violated. No human being and no groups take liberty to violate someone’s human rights but unfortunately we have witnessed them all over again. Nobody has right to violate anyone’s human rights.

 

Next Steps

We will continue to hold webinars on this topic to raise awareness of human rights violations and to seek for a better solution for the protection of human rights.

 

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