The Ukrainian World Congress on January 14 sent a letter to Anne Brasseur, president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Excerpts of the letter signed by UWC President Eugene Czolij, follow.
The Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) is appealing for your intervention in the matter of Nadiya Savchenko, the former Ukrainian air force pilot, member of Ukrainian Parliament and delegate to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), who remains imprisoned in the Russian Federation for political considerations.
The prosecution by Russian authorities of Nadiya Savchenko, kidnapped in Ukraine and forcibly transported across the border into the Russian Federation, is in clear violation of international law and clause 5 of the Minsk Protocol of 5 September 2014. …
The kidnapping, imprisonment, involuntary psychiatric evaluation and solitary confinement of Ukrainian Member of Parliament Nadiya Savchenko are all reprehensible acts that call for immediate and unequivocal action by the international community.
We urge you to publicly support Nadiya Savchenko and for PACE to avail itself of all necessary measures to secure the immediate release of Nadiya Savchenko and all prisoners illegally detained by the Russian Federation.
The Ukrainian Canadian Congress released a call to action on January 14. Excerpts of the appeal follow.
The Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC) supports the call by the Ukrainian World Congress for the immediate release of Ukrainian pilot, Member of Ukrainian Parliament and delegate to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Lt. Nadiya Savchenko.
…“The continued imprisonment and prosecution of Nadiya Savchenko by Russian authorities underlines the complete disregard for international law, treaties and human rights of the Putin regime,” stated Paul Grod, president of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress. “Nadiya Savchenko is a political prisoner and a victim of Russia’s war against Ukraine. She must be immediately released.”
…The UCC calls on the government of Canada and the international community to use their influence to ensure the immediate, safe return of Savchenko to Ukraine, as well as other citizens of Ukraine being held illegally by the Russian Federation.
The Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group (KHPG) has initiated a petition asking PACE President Anne Brasseur to urge Russia to release Savchenko. The UCC urges those concerned with her fate to sign the petition which can be found at https://www.change.org/p/president-pace-anne-brasseur-urge-russia-to-release-nadiya-savchenko.
The Ukrainian Congress Committee of America on January 14 released a statement, excerpts of which follow.
The Ukrainian Congress Committee of America… strongly condemns Russia’s transnational abduction and subsequent unlawful detention of Nadiya Savchenko, former Ukrainian Air Force pilot, Iraq war veteran, member of Ukraine’s Parliament and delegate to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, and calls for her immediate release.
Russia’s targeted international abduction of MP Savchenko, who gained earlier fame for her determination to become Ukraine’s first woman fighter pilot, her detention by invading Russian troops and involuntary expatriation out of Ukraine, once again, underscores Russia’s contempt for international law. The prosecution by Russian authorities, illegal detention under unsubstantiated charges, involuntary psychiatric evaluation and solitary confinement endured by MP Nadiya Savchenko in Moscow is in clear violation of her human rights and all international standards according to clause 5 of the September 5, 2014, Minsk Protocol, which calls for the immediate release of all unlawfully detained persons. Her treatment as a prisoner of war is in direct violation of the Geneva Convention. …
The UCCA urges the United States, and the international community, to intensify its public condemnation of Russia’s illegal imprisonment of Lt. Nadiya Savchenko, and demand that she and the other illegally imprisoned Ukrainians be freed. The UCCA strongly calls on the United States government to utilize all diplomatic efforts to ensure the safety of her life and their immediate release. …
The World Federation of Ukrainian Women’s Organizations sent a letter on December 22, 2014, to Peter Maurer, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross based in Geneva. The letter, excerpted below, was signed by WFUWO President Irene Orysia Sushko. (The text was released by the WFUWO on January 12.)
The World Federation of Ukrainian Women’s Organizations requests the help of the International Committee of the Red Cross in the case of Lt. Nadiya Savchenko…
We are concerned and distressed at the illegal kidnapping and continued incarceration of Nadiya Savchenko, her treatment by the separatists and now the Russian Federation. Our World Federation, the WFUWO, joins the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the European Parliament, the U.S. State Department and many human rights groups in expressing deep concern for Savchenko’s welfare, including prosecution on falsified charges in what has the markings of a political show trial.
Since she was a combatant taking part in an armed conflict and was taken captive, we believe that Lt. Nadiya Savchenko should be designated a prisoner of war as defined by the Third Geneva Convention, Article 4, Part I, with all the rights provided in that document. …
The World Federation of Ukrainian Women’s Organizations demands that Russian investigative authorities cease the criminal prosecution of Nadiya Savchenko, as it is politically motivated and is not based on an adequate evidence base. …
…we request that the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva visit her, review her case, and in view of the aforementioned provisions of the Third Geneva Convention, advocate on her behalf as a prisoner of war.