Staff Reporter –
on the occasion of International Human Rights Day celebrated universally on the 10th, Soroptomist International of Calcutta and Tericom Foundation organized a discussion helmed by Dr. Tehnaz Dastoor on the subject of “Ukraine: Is the World Really Listening?”.
The discussions included Tehnaz’s last trip to the Ukraine where she visited a number of different areas including Kyiv, the destroyed city of Borodianka, Bucha, the village of Yazidne, the Holodomor Genocide Musem,and theAllaHorska exhibit among others. This discussion was related to how the Ukrainians had promoted National Unity through their cultural traditions.
The following part of the discussion centered around the Ukrainian territories currently under Russian control and the Key Violations of Human Rights being suffered by its residents. In the Crimea, the Crimean Tartars are being branded as extremists, suffering arbitrary arrests and detentions and there are a number of enforced disappearances of these young Muslim men.
The entire Crimea and Donbas have witnessed ‘Russification’ with Russians moving in and taking over administrative, teaching and military positions here, and ‘Passportization’ where Ukrainians are being forced to give up their citizenship and assume a Russian identity or risk losing their lands, government positions and health privileges and being treated as “foreigners”.
The unfortunate thing is that women and girls have borne the brunt of the Russian invasion with forced deportation and adoption of Ukrainian children by the Russian authorities violating their Right to Identity, Family Unity and Protection from Unlawful Separation. Conflict related Sexual Violence has seen victims of rape being denied safe abortions and non-consensual gynecological procedures being performed on girls. In Ukraine, women have borne the economic burden as the number of women-headed households have increased and with the continuing warthere is an increase in depression, trauma and insecurity among them.
The situation appear to be getting far worse which begs the question Is the World Really Listening?
