UNITED NATIONS – Representatives of the International Council of Women raised the case of Nadiya Savchenko, the Ukrainian military pilot recently sentenced by a Russian court to 22 years in prison, during their scheduled meeting with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
The meeting took place on March 17, within the framework of the conference of the Committee on the Status of Women held during the 60th session of the United Nations on March 14-24. The U.N. secretary-general held a special meeting exclusively with the executive committee and the main representatives to the U.N. from the International Council of Women (ICW).
Mr. Ban acknowledged the huge role played by the International Council of Women, as the oldest organization of women in the world, in unifying women, fighting for peace in the face of various ravaging forces, and working toward the betterment of the planet. After his remarks, the secretary-general asked the present women if they had any questions or special requests.
In response, Iryna Kurowyckyj, one of the ICW’s main representatives to the U.N., asked that special attention be given to women who find themselves imprisoned and tortured without any means of proving their innocence. Specifically, she cited the case of Ms. Savchenko, a Ukrainian officer who was spirited out of Ukraine and had been held in a Russian prison for over a year and a half, with the courts not taking into account any witnesses or evidence that would exonerate her. Mrs. Kurowyckyj asked that the secretary-general take an interest in the case and help this Ukrainian hero obtain her freedom.
Secretary-General Ban said that he was already very familiar with the situation and promised to personally discuss the issue with the Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
On March 22, Ms. Savchenko was sentenced by a Russian court to 22 years in prison on charges of complicity in the murder of two Russian journalists and illegally crossing the Russian border.
Mrs. Kurowyckyj, who was president of the Ukrainian National Women’s League of America as well as the National Council of Women in America when Ukraine was re-establishing its independence, was always very responsive to the needs of the new state. With the help of civic-minded Americans, she organized various activities in Ukraine, ranging from breakfasts for young scholars to aid for volunteers and soldiers now fighting on the eastern front.
Last year, Mrs. Kurowyckyj received an award from Patriarch Filaret of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate in recognition of her sacrifice and love for Ukraine.