Statement regarding the material of the Russian service Radio Liberty covering the war in Ukraine

11 серпня 2023


Statement regarding the material of the Russian service Radio Liberty covering the war in Ukraine. 

 

On August, 11, 2023 on the website of the Sever.Realii project of the Russian service

Radio Svobody/Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) published material of Russian journalist Iryna Novak 

 «He who betrayed his family –he will betray his homeland». Russian soldiers cheat on their wives at the front».

The material tells, how the Russian military in the tepriorary occupied territories of Ukraine, "cheat on" their legal wives with Ukrainian women. 

We, Ukrainian women's human rights and journalistic organizations are extremely outraged by

rhetoric and harmful imperial narratives of this material. 

In particular, the journalist uses phrases such as: «married soldiers and officers find time and for relationships with Ukrainian women», «I thought he was a hero, but he is a hero-lover» etc.

These narratives not only shift the focus from the bloody unjust war, that Russia continued with a full-scale invasion  of Ukraine on February 24, 2022 

but also justify sexual violence during the ongoing conflict (CRSV), which is a war crime. Such materials whitewash international criminals and the aggressor country Russia.

We emphasize that any sexual actions of the Russian military in relation to 

persons, living in the occupied territories, cannot contain consent and be considered as relationships. 

Even if it appears so, and even if the women in these territories themselves mistakenly, without sufficient information, think that they are in a consensual relationship, this is sexual violence, and this is the position of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Life in the temporarily occupied territories under the control of the armed army is an "environment of coercion". It excludes consent as such. This is stated in the case of the ICC Prosecutor v. Ongwen and the case of International

tribunal regarding the former Yugoslavia "Case against Dragoljub Kunarac, Zoran Vuković and Radomir Kovač". 

Despite the fact that the journalist submitted a disclaimer at the end of the article, which states that

 «Russian military, participating in the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, from the first days

are accused of sexualised violence against residents of the occupied territories», we believe that the disclaimer does not change the general direction of the material.

In addition, the article is illustrated with a photograph depicting a military man and a girl,

particularly their shoes. This photo does not illustrate the horrors of war, but rather romanticizes it. This photo is more suitable

not about the "victim" and the "aggressor", but about the Ukrainian military, who defend Ukrainian lands every day, while the Russian army rapes our women and girls.

 

We urge:

1) Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) to urgently give editorial assessment of this material, recognize its unethical nature and remove it from publication.

2) If the editorial office has an institution of editorial ombudsman, transfer this case for consideration

In the absence of such an internal institute, transfer the case for processing to the press councils according to the jurisdiction.

3) Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) not to become a tool of Russian propaganda and to make it impossible to romanticize and normalize cases of rape by the military of the Russian aggressor state.  

 

Signed by:

  1. Assosiation of women-lawyers of Ukraine «Yurfem»

  2. NGO «Women in Media»

  3. Public Alliance “Women's Political action”

  4. Public Radio  

  5. National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU) 

  6. “the First Channel of Social News” (Lutsk) 

  7. Expert resource “Gender in details”

  8. NGO “SEMA-Ukraine”

  9. NGO “Ukrainian Institute of Media and Communication”

  10. Commission on Journalistic Ethics (CJE) 

  11. Human Rights Center ZMINA


http://surl.li/kdzxw