Amnesty International -- Why the Controversy

Because the Amnesty International Ukraine report is still in the news cycle after some days I have decided to give some commentary and efforts to fact check. One thing I did not discuss here was the role of the media as something of an outrage industry which thrives on selling often distorted versions of stories in order to generate views (in this regard it is not that much different from social media). Discussing the media in depth in this issue and others would take far too long, however.

As always I am willing to criticize generally. I spend a significant amount of time discussing why Amnesty International is not taken seriously except when it is politically expedient to do so, but why their work on international humanitarian law should be understood to be separate from their advocacy of their views of human rights.

My view is also that the single biggest problem with the report in Ukraine is the reaction to it by the Ukrainian government. The accusations are relatively minor and could have been addressed without the rounds of outrage that keeps this in the news cycle. Additionally, the Ukrainian armed forces do have a track record of quietly improving their track record in terms of international humanitarian law.

It must be said at the outset that Ukraine was not accused of war crimes by Amnesty International. The accusations are more along the lines of tort-worthy behavior. They are not that severe. They are easily fixable, and I am sure they will be fixed.

[sabrinalennox]

As soon as I heard this amnesty international announcement about Ukraine I had to wonder about one of the first claims against russia

[sabrinalennox]

Too many people feel that because Putin isn't nice that must mean the president of Ukraine is good.

[None-sszi]

There's no controversy on human rights defenition. Their report just doesn't align with western political line. And this report is nothing new to anyone who's been following the conflict. Ukraine sure makes mistakes. How they would improve if nobody would point 'em out?