The International Federation of the Red Cross retained the Russian Red Cross in its composition, despite the alleged crimes: Lubinets
The International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) has decided to keep the Russian Red Cross in its membership, despite numerous accusations of its involvement in alleged crimes. About this reported Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets.
He repeatedly communicated with the leadership of the Federation, providing evidence and arguments regarding the violations of the Russian Red Cross, in particular, demanding a transparent investigation of his actions and exclusion from the organization.
In order to investigate these issues, in April, the IFCH created a Supervisory Group of the Board, which was supposed to assess the activities of the Russian organization. Two weeks after the creation of the group, Lubinets personally handed over official documents confirming the alleged crimes of the Russian Red Cross to the president of the IFCH, Kate Forbes. However, the Federation’s recently published report does not take into account any of the facts provided.
The report states that the Russian Red Cross visited the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, such as Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, which is a violation of the IFRC statute. The Federation justified these actions with “innovative approaches” and “humanitarian goals”, effectively recognizing the Russian occupation.
Also, the report does not mention the theft of the property of the Ukrainian Red Cross in the temporarily occupied Crimea, although criminal proceedings were opened for this fact. In addition, the document does not contain any mention of the participation of the Russian Red Cross in the deportation of Ukrainian children and their forced militarization, as well as cooperation with the occupation camp “Artek”.
Despite the evidence provided, the Russian Red Cross remains a part of the IFCH, and its head continues to hold a position on the board of the Federation. Dmytro Lubinets announced the start of a campaign to inform donors who finance the activities of the IFCH in order to draw attention to the fact that their funds can support an organization that covers up Russian crimes.
The Ombudsman calls on international partners to direct funding to support the Ukrainian Red Cross and the implementation of programs to protect Ukrainian citizens. Lubinets emphasized that the IFCH actually became “the lawyer of the bloody Russian Red Cross”.
“He who covers a criminal becomes a criminal himself”, – emphasized Lubinets.
