53 SESSION OF THE UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL :

Chief of the Subject of International Law –

Non-governmental organization «Yakutia — Our Opinion»

Stepan Petrov stated against the war in Ukraine,

called on civil society of Russia to oppose the war

and declared his readiness to become a peacemaker

 

«THIS MATERIAL IS PRODUCED, DISTRIBUTED AND (OR) SENT

BY FOREIGN AGENT №247 PETROV STEPAN YURIEVICH,

№296 AUTONOMOUS NON-COMMERCIAL ORGANIZATION FOR PROTECTION

OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND PUBLIC INFORMATION «YAKUTIA — OUR OPINION» OR CONCERNING THE ACTIVITIES OF FOREIGN AGENT №247 PETROV STEPAN YURIEVICH,

№296 AUTONOMOUS NON-COMMERCIAL ORGANIZATION FOR PROTECTION

OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND PUBLIC INFORMATION «YAKUTIA — OUR OPINION»

Sequence numbers are indicated in accordance with

the registry of foreign agents of the Ministry of Justice of Russia

 

From June 19 to July 14, 2023, the 53rd session of the UN Human Rights Council is taking place in Geneva, Switzerland.  

It is attended by heads of states, representatives of diplomatic missions, UN officials, civil activists.

At this UN event, the Statement of our organization was presented, in which I, Stepan Petrov, stated against war in Ukraine, called on Russian civil society to oppose war and declared my readiness to become a peacemaker.

 

I, Stepan Petrov, as a Chief of Subject of international law — Non-governmental organization «Yakutia — Our Opinion» in Special Consultative Status with the UN Economic and Social Council stand for an end to the armed conflict between Ukraine and Russia, threatening to go into a nuclear war, and I support the official position of the leaders of UN and UN HRC on the situation in Ukraine.

 

War led to a massive and gross violation of the universally recognized principles and norms of international law.

First of all, people die on both sides that violates the right to life guaranteed by article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Under these conditions, assistance in ending the war became a priority for international organizations, states and individuals.

In this difficult time, I, as a public figure, came up with my own initiative.

 

* * * * *

 

For more than a year there has been war between Ukraine and Russia.

As of July 2023, the decision centers of the opposing sides intend to continue fighting.

This means that there will be more deaths on both sides.

The humanitarian catastrophe with irreversible consequences will continue.

 

Unfortunately, the UN Security Council has become a place of unconstructive polemics and skirmishes instead of becoming a place for conflict resolution.

Attempts by heads of foreign states to end the war were also unsuccessful.

 

Obviously, the policy of war in Russia has reached a dead end and may lead to the collapse of the Russian state, as it is aimed at depleting all types of resources and destroying Russian citizens, which after a while may lead to the impossibility of the state to fulfill its functions.

The war has led Russia to isolation and is leading it to self-destruction.

Russia was excluded from a number of international organizations and associations.

It itself seeks self-isolation and the rejection of constructive negotiations.

 

At the same time, the Ukrainian side has all the necessary opportunities to promote its position at all levels.

And the Russian side found itself in a limited external negotiating space.

Thus, it can be assumed that the Russian side may be experiencing certain communication problems in order to convey its position, including in terms of ending the war.

Under these conditions, the military lobby dominates in making government decisions.

 

However, it should be noted that before the war, a number of Russian officials involved in decision-making at the state level expressed the opinion that it was inappropriate to conduct a special military operation and adhered to the need to resolve the conflict by purely peaceful means.

These were individual former officials at the level of members of the General Staff of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and vice-premiers of the Russian government.

Also, a number of deputies of legislative assemblies of various levels, individual representatives of state and municipal authorities spoke out against the war.

A number of representatives of civil society, business community, cultural and art figures spoke out with an anti-war position.

 

In conditions of war, it is necessary to emphasize the special role of individual active citizens and leaders, as well as individual military leaders.

In this context, the example of the Chechen war is indicative, in the end of which in 1996 citizens with an anti-war position and General Alexander Lebed played a key role.

General Lebed said the following about the war.

“I am against war. Have you ever had to fulfill your “international duty”? I was fulfilled. And I realized three things.

First: that any war is first a dead end, then a catastrophe.

Second: all wars, even if they are centuries-old wars, end in one thing — negotiations and peace.

For me, the question arose long ago: is it worth rewarding a mountain of the dead, spawning widows, orphans, cripples, throwing away the work of dozens of generations to ashes in order to sit down and agree later anyway?

Maybe this uncivilized part should be excluded altogether?

Here is a link to his statement https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTQJg1WY5ZI

He also said: «Let me recruit a company of the children of the elite, and the war will be over in a day.»

I think that General Lebed understood something about wars and his words have a certain meaning.

Russia is suffering colossal human losses, which are comparable to the losses in the wars in Afghanistan, the Chechen Republic and other regions.

Obviously, Russia needs a dozen such generals as Alexander Lebed to stabilize the situation.

He stopped the first war in the region. This was followed by another escalation.

But it is in our power to prevent the outbreak of subsequent wars after end of the war.

Politicians need wars, but peoples don’t need them.

 

Power and people, state and society are the main elements of state formations. Ideally, state power should exercise leadership based on the needs and aspirations of the people.

However, in Russia certain difficulties arose with this, which was reflected in the lack of support for a special military operation by the majority of the population.

If the majority of Russian citizens supported the operation, then they would not go abroad en masse, there would not be a ban on the departure of citizens liable for military service, and people would come en masse to the military registration and enlistment offices to be sent to the front.

However, there are no queues in the military registration and enlistment offices of Russia. Obviously, most Russians do not want to go to war.

This crisis situation can be described by the following expression “the tops cannot, the bottoms do not want”, that is, the authorities of the country cannot conduct the operation as planned, since the citizens do not want to take part in it.

Under these conditions, the punitive principle dominates during mobilization, and the society is one-sidedly pumped up with military propaganda.

In Russia, the two-way communication between the authorities and the people is maximally reduced, which is expressed in the unwillingness of citizens to comply with the decisions of the authorities, and they often make decisions not in the interests of the majority of the population.

 

The connecting link between the authorities and the people are the subjects of civil society, promoting the primary needs of people.

Given the failure of attempts to stop the war by the heads of foreign states and in the UN Security Council, I propose the organization of a peace negotiation process through the mediation of civil society actors.

This is relevant due to the fact that the Russian authorities have certain communication problems with international actors and their own population.

Based on my experience in anti-corruption and human rights activities, I can note that civil society actors can be important in the implementation of common goals.

Citizens, fearing corruption risks and information leakage, do not apply to law enforcement agencies. In turn, law enforcement agencies often work unilaterally and can put undue pressure on citizens.

Under these conditions, citizens turned to me. Trusting relationships were built with them, and information was presented to law enforcement agencies in a form adapted for them.

In general, I ensured the most optimal format of interaction, avoiding pressure on citizens by law enforcement officers, and control over the course of the law enforcement process, taking into account the interests of all subjects.

The same approach of respecting the interests of all subjects will be implemented in the course of the peace negotiation process.

 

I declare my readiness to become a peacemaker and I am ready to make every effort to end the war on the basis of:

— application of the international status of our organization;

— observance of the interests of the multinational people of Russia, which in some cases may not be fully taken into account in the implementation of state policy;

— conscious desire for peace and an end to the humanitarian catastrophe in Ukraine.

 

* * * * *

 

Statement of Stepan Petrov

 to political and civil subjects of Russia

 

«THIS MATERIAL IS PRODUCED, DISTRIBUTED AND (OR) SENT

BY FOREIGN AGENT №247 PETROV STEPAN YURIEVICH,

№296 AUTONOMOUS NON-COMMERCIAL ORGANIZATION FOR PROTECTION

OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND PUBLIC INFORMATION «YAKUTIA — OUR OPINION» OR CONCERNING THE ACTIVITIES OF FOREIGN AGENT №247 PETROV STEPAN YURIEVICH,

№296 AUTONOMOUS NON-COMMERCIAL ORGANIZATION FOR PROTECTION

OF HUMAN RIGHTS AND PUBLIC INFORMATION «YAKUTIA — OUR OPINION»

Sequence numbers are indicated in accordance with

the registry of foreign agents of the Ministry of Justice of Russia

 

I, Stepan Petrov, as an independent subject of civil society appeal to the following subjects who want an end to the war between Ukraine and Russia:

-political subjects of Russia participating in decision-making at the state level;

— political and civil subjects of Russia that have an indirect influence on the adoption of government decisions and the formation of public opinion.

 

Due to the failure of the actions of the heads of foreign states and situational exhaustion of possibilities of the UN Security Council to end the war between Ukraine and Russia,

in order to peacefully resolve the conflict in the name of saving people’s lives and ensuring global world security,

to realize the potential of civil society actors

I, Stepan Petrov, Chief of Subject of international law — Non-governmental organization «Yakutia — Our Opinion» in Special Consultative Status with the UN Economic and Social Council offer my assistance in peaceful settlement of the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, promotion of peaceful initiatives.

I guarantee objective and impartial mediation.

 

I will support and promote any reasonable proposals and initiatives aimed at ending the war and restoring peace at the international level, primarily at the UN.

Work with the subjects of Russia authorized to conduct negotiations will take place schematically in this format and sequence.

After finalization in accordance with the norms of international law, if necessary, and coordination of positions, the proposals and initiatives will be sent for consideration to the military-political leadership of Ukraine.

Also, proposals and initiatives will be sent to interested parties according to agreed list.

The interaction of the parties will be proposed to be held on the territory of neutral states with participation of UN representatives.

Representatives of foreign states will be invited to attend as observers according to agreed list.

The diplomatic missions of interested countries, except for the diplomatic missions of Ukraine and Russia, will be offered to provide organizational and technical support.

Work with subjects of Russia not authorized to negotiate will be carried out in all available formats.

For interaction, organization of peace negotiations and implementation of peace initiatives, I propose to contact at any time of the day or night by phone +7 (914) 224-24-11.

This number can be contacted via WhatsApp, Telegram.

You can also email to post@ouropinion.pro.

 

* * * * *

 

Previously published statements on this issue are available here:

— in Russian http://ouropinion.pro/?page_id=407 ;

— in English http://ouropinion.pro/?page_id=398 .

 

The following is Statement of our organization at the 53rd session of the UN Human Rights Council.

On the official website of the UNHRC, Statement is published in English for familiarization of  participants of the session and for taking into account when making the UN final decisions

 

Here is a direct link to Statement

https://documents-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G23/135/10/pdf/G2313510.pdf?OpenElement

 

Statement is also presented in the organization’s file archive

https://drive.google.com/file/d/11wujIM2Ijy2AyYj_vzMndjCBQAx7ZE1C/view?usp=sharing

 

 

* * * * *

 

Statement

of Non-governmental organization «Yakutia — Our Opinion»

at the 53rd session of the UN Human Rights Council

Human Rights Implications of the War in Ukraine

 

Our Non-governmental organization «Yakutia — Our Opinion» in Special Consultative Status with the UN Economic and Social Council states against war in Ukraine initiated by the Russian Federation.

 

War has led Ukraine to a humanitarian catastrophe.

Tens of thousands of Ukrainians died, millions of people were forced to become refugees. Dozens of cities, hundreds of towns and villages were destroyed.

Infrastructure facilities have been destroyed.

But the most important thing is irretrievable losses.

This is the death of many thousands of citizens of Ukraine.

This was a real tragedy that occurred in Europe in the 21st century.

We express sympathy and support to the people of Ukraine.

 

We wish people of the Russian Federation a speedy understanding of what is happening and an end to the armed conflict, where military and mobilized citizens are dying.

We urge political leadership of the Russian Federation to stop hostilities in Ukraine and move towards a peaceful diplomatic solution to the conflict.

Basically, the inhabitants of poor regions and national republics, where poverty and unemployment dominate, are sent to war.

Death of the only breadwinner dooms the family to poverty and survival.

It is especially difficult for residents of rural areas, depressive regions of the North, Siberia and the Far East of the Russian Federation.

For example, in the countryside, life support and care for living creatures lies with the head of the family. In the event of his death in the war, the foundations of existence of the family are simply destroyed.

 

In general, poor hard life is typical for most regions of the Russian Federation. In connection with beginning of the armed conflict, the situation deteriorated significantly. The death and disability of men of working age will lead the Russian Federation to an economic crisis and extinction of entire territories.

Obviously, such a situation cannot be favorable for Russian society.

 

At present, there is a real threat of a third world war and a global nuclear catastrophe. No sane person in the world can be interested in such an outcome.

It is necessary to stop this war, as it threatens the existence of mankind.

 

Based on the foregoing, we believe that the war in Ukraine should be immediately stopped without any conditions.

We urge political leadership of Ukraine and the Russian Federation to come to a peaceful resolution of the conflict in the name of saving the lives of their citizens and ensuring global world security.

 

The following immediate measures must also be taken:

-to carry out an exchange of prisoners of war on the principle of «All for all»;

-to create a demilitarized zone in the area of the Zaporozhskaya nuclear power plant, transfer it under the control of IAEA specialists;

-to ensure the unhindered work of the International Committee of the Red Cross and other international humanitarian missions in the zone of armed conflict;

-to ensure uninterrupted power supply and logistical passage of humanitarian cargo throughout Ukraine.

 

For the part of the Non-Governmental Organization «Yakutia — Our Opinion» in Special Consultative Status with the UN Economic and Social Council, we are ready to take a personal part in the peaceful settlement of the armed conflict and in the further restoration of peace after the war.

 

We call on Russian civil society to stand against war. To stand against the deaths of people on both sides.

The recent history of the Russian Federation shows the degree of influence of society. In 1996, the war in the Chechen Republic of the Russian Federation was stopped.

On August 31, 1996, agreements on cessation of hostilities were signed in Khasavyurt.

This was facilitated, among other things, by the activity of Russian citizens and the collection of signatures against the war.

The war in Ukraine has been going on for a year and takes people’s lives every day. It is necessary to put an end to this.

 

In connection with the current situation, we sent appeals to the UN Secretary General, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the heads of Türkiye and China.

 

In the event that a ceasefire is finally impossible, we propose, on the basis of Article 42 of the UN Charter, to consider the issue of introducing international security forces to the territory of an armed conflict to restore peace.

 

It is necessary to take measures to adjust procedure of the UN Security Council in order to prevent the state — a member of the UN Security Council with the right of «veto» to have the opportunity to:

-unilateral decision-making on the start of hostilities on the territory of a foreign state — a member of the UN in violation of international law;

-imposition of «veto» on decisions aimed at ending the armed conflict initiated by this state.