Ukraine 5 AM Coalition was awarded in Germany for an outstanding contribution to peace and intercultural relations

Ukraine 5 AM Coalition, which includes ZMINA, received an award from the German Institute of International Relations Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen (IFA). Such an award is presented for contributions to the promotion of intercultural relations through social, socio-political or artistic activities.

The award ceremony took place in Berlin on February 14, 2024. During the awarding ceremony, Onysiia Syniuk, a legal analyst at Human Rights Centre ZMINA, called on the international community to support Ukraine and give visibility to Russia’s crimes:

“Today more than ever we need the support of the whole world. We need it to strengthen the voice of those who suffer from war crimes. Talk about our kidnapped children, about dead artists, about destroyed cultural monuments. Talk about the civilians that Russia is illegally holding in its places of detention. Talk about the justice that Ukrainians deserve”.

Syniuk also said that Russian aggression also affected freedom of speech in Ukraine, because the international list of imprisoned journalists currently includes 17 Ukrainians who were illegally arrested by Russia in the temporarily occupied territories.

“Most of the detainees are Crimeans. Russia has become the country that imprisons the most journalists in Europe – now there are 40 media representatives arrested in the Russian Federation itself and in the occupied regions of Ukraine. Also, Russia illegally holds cultural figures and artists in captivity. They are accused of crimes only because they were peacefully resisting the occupation. In addition, since February 24, 2022, Russia has killed 70 journalists. Ten died while performing their professional duties, 60 – as participants in hostilities or as a result of Russian shelling or torture”, said during the speech the representative of ZMINA.

Syniuk emphasized that authoritarian forces unite and support each other, “in order to restore a world order in which human rights are a marginal note, and the world community is guided by the right of the strong”.

“Only by uniting, supporting each other in this fight, in the fight that every resident of Ukraine experiences every day, we will be able to resist them”, she added.

For reference: Ukraine 5 AM Coalition began work on February 25, 2022, the day after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Today, the Coalition unites 38 non-governmental organizations and four individual experts. They combined their efforts to systematically document war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the Russian armed aggression against Ukraine. The Coalition is also engaged in the protection of victims of the Russian-Ukrainian war through the existing state and international mechanisms of justice. All this is aimed at achieving justice by bringing to justice the ruling elite of the Russian Federation for committing the crime of aggression against Ukraine.

This award has been presented since 2009 to people and organizations that, through their social, socio-political or artistic activities, do something outstanding for peace, international understanding and dialogue between cultures. Previously, this award was given to Yoko Ono, Ernesto Cardenal, Carla Del Ponte and Human Rights Watch.