Marco Levytsky
Editorial Writer
You may be forgiven if you thought allowing Russia to take over the gavel of the United Nations Security Council was an April Fool’s joke.
That is because the International Criminal Court at The Hague has issued an arrest warrant for the Russian Federation's president, Vladimir Putin on charges of war crimes. And the United Nations and other humanitarian groups have documented thousands of cases of torture, sexual abuse and arbitrary executions since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began more than a year ago. On March 24, the UN released its findings based on interviews with hundreds of eye witnesses.
“The number of documented cases of torture and ill-treatment during internment in penitentiary facilities is shocking – more than 84 per cent endured such mistreatment. Penitentiary staff subjected prisoners of war to so-called ‘welcome beatings’ upon their arrival, beat and electrocuted them regularly during inspections in cells or while walking them around the facilities. Members of the Russian Federal Penitentiary Services (FSIN) and those in charge of many places of internment in Russian occupied territory systematically engaged in such practices against POWs. Former POWs told our colleagues that they dreaded weekly trips to the shower which inevitably ended in beatings and humiliation, often with sexual overtones,” stated the report.
But the absurdity of this situation, which is a result of the structure of the Security Council itself deserves to be addressed in a separate editorial. Nevertheless, it provides yet another argument for designating the Russian Federation as a terrorist state and the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association (UCCLA) is calling on Canada’s government to do just that.
“Thirteen months is more than enough to confirm the obvious: from thousands of attacks on civilian targets, to the destruction of civilian infrastructure, to the withholding of grain exports to the world, to nuclear blackmail – all of this behaviour is nothing but terroristic. We call upon the Government of Canada to step forward and become a world leader by officially labelling the Russian Federation for what it is — a terrorist state headed by a wanted war criminal,” said UCCLA's chairman Roman Zakaluzny in a March 29 release.
The European Parliament has already designated Russia a state sponsor of terrorism, arguing that its military strikes on Ukrainian civilian targets such as energy infrastructure, hospitals, schools and shelters violated international law. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has asked U.S. President Joe Biden to designate Russia a state sponsor of terrorism as well. Biden, to this date hasn’t committed one way or the other. Action by Canada would add to the international isolation of Russia and perhaps prompt the United States to follow suit as well.
So, what does designating Russia as a terrorist state entail, aside from the obvious symbolic gesture? Countries designated as state sponsors of terrorism or terrorist states would have stricter sanctions imposed on them by the West and other nations. Inclusion on the list would also mean severe economic penalties for the countries that are its major trading partners, as well as restrictions on foreign aid and ban on defense exports. Countries on the list have a much more difficult time doing business with the outside world, keeping their funds in foreign banks, and travelling.
UCCLA is a non-partisan, voluntary, non-profit research and educational organization committed to the articulation and promotion of the Ukrainian Canadian community's interests and to the defence of the civil liberties and human rights of Ukrainians in Canada and elsewhere. For decades, UCCLA has been at the forefront in Canada warning of the dangers Soviet and Russian acts of hatred and propaganda in this country and around the world.
As part of this campaign, UCCLA has mailed over a thousand postcards to Members of Parliament, Canadian Senators, various Ambassadors and others calling for the Government of Canada to act. The front of the postcard features a graphic of Oleksandr Matsievskyi. He was a Ukrainian POW executed in cold blood by the Russian invaders.
In the past, UCCLA has run numerous post card campaigns, all of them intended to inform MPs and other public officials, the media, and our supporters about issues that are of importance to the Canadian Ukrainian community. The principal goal of all of these campaigns has been to raise awareness of the issues and bring pressure where needed. Such is the case here as well. And the principal goal here is to raise the international pressure on Moscow to leave Ukraine and pay full reparations.
The unfortunate truth, however, is that, to date, Russia has not merely denied all involvement in and culpability for war crimes in Ukraine, but has expressly treated all such claims with utter contempt. Clearly, Russia has no intention of leaving Ukraine or paying reparations. But it is conducting a war of attrition, hoping that it can withstand the tremendous losses it is suffering — of both manpower and equipment –longer that the West’s will to support Ukraine with weapons and finances. That is why international awareness of Russia’s crimes against humanity is imperative and why it is also imperative to keep international pressure upon Russia until such time as Moscow’s war machine runs out of steam.
Therefore, we fully support UCCLA’s campaign for the Government of Canada to designate Russia as a terrorist state and urge our readers to likewise support to this campaign. Let your Member of Parliament know how you feel about this issue. Call them or, even better, write a letter on your own. Personal letters are very effective as MPs are acutely attuned to the time-honoured rule of thumb that equates each such letter to a much larger number of silent, but no less aggrieved, voters who can be ignored only at a politician’s peril. No stamp is required for your letters because mail to Members of Parliament is free. Just put the letters “OHMS (On His Majesty’s Service) on the envelope and it will be delivered.
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