As a member of the Association of Human Rights Institutes (AHRI), a global network of academic human rights institutes, we strongly support AHRI’s statement on the Russian Federation’s aggression against Ukraine and stand in solidarity with Ukraine.

The following is an excerpt from the AHRI statement. The full AHRI statement is available as download below.

“We, the Association of Human Rights Institutes (AHRI), as a global network of academic human rights institutes, stand in solidarity with Ukraine and voice grave concern over aggression by the Russian Federation against the sovereign State of Ukraine.

The 24th of February 2022 marks a dark date for the twenty-first century. The decision of the Russian Federation to breach the territorial sovereignty of Ukraine, to put the fate of millions of Ukranian and Russian people at risk, is an indisputable violation of the fundamental principles of the UN Charter and poses a direct threat to countless rules of international law, including international human rights law and international humanitarian law. We recall AHRI’s Potsdam Declaration where mutual cross-fertilization of these two branches of international law has been underlined.

The Russian Federation and Ukraine both have committed to upholding the UN Charter, the sovereign equality of all Member States, and Article 2(4) which prohibits the use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of other States. Both states are also members of the Council of Europe, the OSCE and subject to a range of agreements directed toward preserving peace, security and human rights. The Russian Federation’s invasion of sovereign Ukrainian territory is a clear violation of international law and endangers the post World War II peace architecture that has prevailed over Europe these last seven decades.

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We call on the Russian Federation to immediately cease hostilities in Ukraine. Until that point, we call on the Russian Federation and its armed forces to respect rules of international humanitarian law and international human rights law.

We call on our governments and international organizations to take all steps that may stop the war and to help Ukraine and its people.

We urge all relevant actors to document atrocities and violations for future accountability.

We call on Russian academics and human rights institutes to fight misinformation and to speak the truth when international law arguments are misused and abused.

When peace is finally achieved, Ukraine will need the world, Europe and the support of all of us to rebuild. Not simply their physical surroundings, but their faith in the rule of law and its aims to promote peace.

We stand in solidarity with Ukraine, with our academic colleagues and students.”