Oleksandra Matviichuk is moved when she tells what she has seen in these days in Buenos Aires: an active city, people who go to work, coffee at the bar, children at school. “Normal life no longer exists in Ukraine. We don’t know if the Russian soldiers will come to our streets tomorrow, ”she says, and her immense eyes, almost turquoise blue, become moist.
Lawyer, human rights activist from a very young age, today he chairs the Center for Civil Liberties, in his country, Ukraine, one of the organizations that this year won the Nobel Peace Prize, together with the Belarusian political activist Ales Bialiatski and the NGO Russian Human Rights Memorial.
Matviichuk denounced the war crimes committed by the Russian army since the annexation of Crimea in 2014. And he ensures that these atrocities against the civilian population are now perpetrated on a large scale.
This 39-year-old woman refused to flee Kiev when Russian troops surrounded the city. She decided to stay and resist. She is convinced that this is the only way to defeat Vladimir Putin and end the war that has bled her country to death since the end of February. Emphasize that international support is neededmuch more intense, with economic resources, weapons and logistics. Well, he says, Russia has no intention of negotiating peace.
On a visit to Argentina to attend an assembly of parliamentarians on the International Criminal Court and the rule of law, he spoke with Clarione at the headquarters of the Ukrainian Association of Prosvita Cultura, in Palermo.
-What does it mean to you that the organization you preside has won the Nobel Peace Prize?
-It is important to have won this award during the war. It gives us more visibility and is an opportunity to show what we do. We have been denouncing the war crimes of the Russian army since 2014. But since the large-scale invasion that began in February, we have faced a very large number of war crimes committed by the Russian army. We have at least 21,000 documented cases. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. We will surely discover many others. We have a goal, which is to document every crime, committed in every city, in every village, so that we can take Putin to court. We do it for justice.
-Your organization is one of those that ask the International Criminal Court to judge Russian leaders …
– We need those responsible for these crimes to be held accountable. This is one of the main objectives of the organization I manage. But for this we need a great deal of international help. National justice does not have the capacity to investigate every war crime. We need to take these investigations to the International Criminal Court. Because the question is: who will do justice to the hundreds of thousands of war crimes victims? The life of every human being is important. And we must provide justice for all.
-What war crimes are you referring to in particular?
– There are many: deliberate attacks on residential buildings, schools, churches, hospitals, kindergartens. Deliberate attacks on humanitarian corridors where civilians, families with children, try to flee to dangerous places. Attacks on humanitarian organizations trying to bring assistance to captured cities, where people are trapped. In addition to torture, sexual violence and all kinds of attacks on civilians in the occupied territories. What we do is document human pain. Russia uses war crimes as a strategy.
What exactly is this strategy about?
-They deliberately try to cause serious suffering to civilians in order to break their resistance and occupy the country. They want to cause so much pain that people are afraid to resist. This is how you see those horrible images in Bucha and other cities, such as Izium, in the Kharkov region, liberated in September. See those pictures of civilian corpses in the streets. These are practices of terror against civilians.
And how long can it last? Because they have already held out for ten months …
– Nobody believed that Ukraine would resist. The Ukrainian people showed extreme strength and courage. Because we know we are fighting for our freedom. Freedom has been the number one value for Ukrainians for years. We are fighting for our freedom in every way. To be an independent state and not a Russian colony. We want to build a country where the rights of all are protected, the government is elected, justice is independent and the police are at the service of the people. It is the opposite situation to what we see in Russia, where there is an authoritarian regime. Putin will only stop when he is stopped.
-And how does Putin stop? This is the big question around the world.
-Ukraine must win.
-And is it possible?
-It is inevitable. Because we are facing the second army in the world. But people are far more powerful than any army. Now you can see that hundreds of independently organized initiatives help Ukrainians: some take care of evacuation, others of medical care, others help the military with equipment, others provide logistical collaboration. In September, we liberated the Kharkov region. There are now battles to liberate the eastern and southern regions.
And how long can this situation last?
-It depends on the international reaction. We need the international community in different dimensions: we need military support, economic support, sanctions against Russian companies and the Russian government. We need a lot to achieve it. But why do we wonder, because this is not a war between two states. It is a war between two systems. authoritarianism or democracy. If we fail to stop Putin in Ukraine, he will move forward and this will have a huge impact on the whole world.
“This is not a war between two states. It is a war between two systems. Authoritarianism or democracy.”
-Because?
-Because in other parts of the world authoritarian leaders will see it possible: you can invade another country, you can violate the international order and you will not be punished. And this will be a very dangerous precedent for all of us. For this we ask for the support of Argentina and other countries. And I thank the Argentine people for their solidarity. In these days that I was in the country, I was told about various crowdfunding initiatives to help Ukrainians. I’m very grateful.
-You run an organization that has just won the Nobel Peace Prize, but ask for more weapons for your country. Don’t you trust the peace negotiations?
-Russia is not ready for real negotiations. They see dialogue as a weakness. The only way to end this war is a Ukrainian victory. Because Putin will not stop occupying our territory. Eight years ago he occupied Crimea and did not stop. He built up more military strength and kept going. The Russian people tolerate war criminals. But he won’t tolerate losing war criminals. Ukraine must win. And this will also give Russia the opportunity to reflect on this imperialist way of thinking and build a democratic future.
-But in the meantime we will continue to see suffering, deaths …
-The alternative is much worse. We cannot stop fighting because we will cease to exist. Russia wants to liquidate Ukraine as a nation. Resistance is the best strategy.
Source: Clarin
