“We must show the human dimension of this war”: Nobel Peace Prize 2022

Question: In your Nobel Prize speech you mentioned a woman whose husband was a farmer and died in the middle of the war. What role do the stories play in the conflict?

Answer: In our work, we document not only the violations, but also the human pain to provide a clear understanding of what is happening. We are not just talking about violations of international humanitarian law, but people’s lives from the ruins, in other words: violations, abductions, lives of violence. In this sense, stories are important because only through them do we understand the pain of people, regardless of the divisions based on ideologies, political abuses, religion or social positions.

We talk about the fact that there is no military justification for such crimes. There is no military justification for attacking a maternity hospital. We must show the human dimension of this war.

Q: The war has great economic interests. Germany plays an important role and Olaf Scholz has intervened to prevent Ukraine from receiving support. What do you think of that position?

It is a serious problem that biased countries try to pretend to be neutral. If we compare Russia with a much smaller country with less potential, there can be no question of neutrality in the international order.

If you are not preparing to support Ukraine, it is because you are helping Russia. The economic difference, in size, in influence and economy, only leads to Russia having a greater advantage and power. Germany has close economic ties with Russia and we know that they used their gas to develop their economy, but this is not a war between two states, but between two systems, between democracy and authoritarianism.

It is quite a strange position for me, because when this war started, I found that I could not rely on any defense mechanism, because Russia ignores international laws and the decrees of international institutions established for justice.

They have demanded Russia to leave Ukraine, so when they ask me how to help people survive, I have had to ask them to give Ukraine weapons to win, and it is very rare to hear this from a human rights organization. lawyer, but the law has not worked, and people are being killed by the Russians and it’s time to stop them.

Source: El heraldo

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