Prominent human rights defender Oleksandra Matviichuk, whose organization won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022 for efforts to document war crimes, during a talk on Wednesday warned of the risks to democracies should Moscow win its war against Ukraine.
“This Russian war of oppression against Ukraine, this is not just a war between two states, this is a war between two systems: authoritarianism and democracy,” Matviichuk said at the event in Taipei organized by German-based non-governmental organization the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF).
Russian President Vladimir Putin, by waging war on Ukraine, is attempting to show the entire free world that “freedom, democracy, human rights [and the] rule of law” are “fake values,” “because they couldn’t protect anyone during the war,” she said.
Photo: CNA
Putin is telling the world that a country with military might and nuclear power “can do whatever they want,” Matviichuk said.
“And if Putin succeeds, it will encourage other authoritarian leaders in different parts of the globe to do the same,” she said.
Matviichuk, a Ukrainian human rights lawyer and advocate, is chair of the Center for Civil Liberties, which received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022 for its efforts to document war crimes, human rights abuses and the abuse of power in Ukraine.
After Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Matviichuk cofounded the “Tribunal for Putin” to document international crimes in all regions of Ukraine.
In her Wednesday address, Matviichuk also accused China of helping Russia to avoid sanctions and equip Moscow with technologies critical to warfare.
North Korea has also sent millions of artillery shells and troops to help Moscow’s war efforts in Ukraine.
Matviichuk argued that these regimes “see people as objects to be controlled” and constantly “deny them their rights and freedoms.”
At the same event, Moritz Kleine-Brockhoff, head of FNF’s regional office in Southeast and East Asia, noted that Ukraine “must win this war for all of us.”
Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) on Wednesday received Matviichuk at the Presidential Office and praised the Center for Civil Liberties’ long-standing commitment to defending human rights in Ukraine.
Taiwan understands the threat and pressure brought by an aggressive neighboring country, Hsiao said, referring to China.
That is why Taiwan has assisted in Ukraine’s ongoing efforts in rebuilding the country, Hsiao said.
A Chinese military drone was spotted conducting reconnaissance off Taitung County as President William Lai (賴清德) visited Pingtung County this morning to inspect a drill of the armed forces’ precision-strike capabilities, prompting the military to closely monitor its actions. Today was the final day of a three-day military exercise at Jioupeng Base (九鵬基地) to test the joint combat capabilities of the armed forces and coast guard. The exercise began on Wednesday simulating air defense interception and yesterday tested long-range strike capabilities and new air defense weapons. This morning, the military conducted a final exercise involving air defense, anti-ship and drone operations. Military sources said
OCT. 31: The antiviral drugs Tamiflu and Eraflu have been distributed to about 4,000 medical facilities nationwide for people in seven groups who develop flu-like symptoms As the domestic influenza epidemic enters its peak season and continues to escalate, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday announced that publicly funded influenza antiviral drugs for seven eligible groups have been extended to Oct. 31, allowing those who develop flu-like symptoms to receive the medication without undergoing a rapid influenza test. The CDC has extended the expanded use of flu antiviral drugs to seven groups: healthcare and influenza-prevention personnel; residents and staff at nursing homes, long-term care facilities and similar institutions; kindergarten and daycare workers and home-based caregivers; students from kindergarten through high school, vocational high school and the
RARE PEEK: The footage released showed one of the bears staying in a cave for as long as 70 days, providing the first record of Formosan black bear’s overwintering The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency yesterday released tracking records of released Formosan black bears for the first time, showing that they get much closer to human settlements than previously thought. The agency said it had captured two bears, Da Qu-ali (達古阿里) and Aziman (阿里曼), in indigenous villages in Hualien County and began to track them with a camera-mounted satellite collar after releasing them back into the wild. The results confirmed that the bears have moved from deep mountain areas into lowland hills closer to human communities, leading to an increase in human-bear conflicts, it said. The agency has introduced artificial intelligence-assisted early
Taiwanese Tsai Chin-shu (蔡金樹), who had been imprisoned in China for engaging in activity that “endangers national security,” said on Facebook on Friday that he has returned to Taiwan. Tsai, chairman of the Southern Taiwan Union of Cross-strait Relations Associations, had traveled frequently between Taiwan and China for years, and at one time ran a trading company in China’s Pingtan. In July 2018, he traveled to Quanzhou, Fujian Province, to attend a cross-strait food trade fair and stayed at a hotel in Xiamen. He checked out the following day and then disappeared. His family had made repeated appeals to the authorities
RSS