https://www.togetheragainstwarinukraine.fr/our-appeal/

First signatories

IARHH International Association for Research in Hospital Hygiene
SWC Simon Wiesenthal Centre - Europe
EUNET European Network for Education and Training
FEDE Federation for Education in Europe
FECRIS Federation of Research and Information Centers on Sectarianism
FIHUAT International Federation for Housing and Planning
ICJW International Council of Jewish Women
LICRA International League Against Racism and Anti-Semitism
OENDDF European Observatory for Non-Discrimination and Fundamental Rights
UWE University Women of Europe

Our Appeal

Since February 24, 2022, Russian troops have, on the orders of President Vladimir Putin, invaded the territory of Ukraine, an independent state, in flagrant violation of the United Nations Charter of 1945, the Statute of the Council of Europe and the European Convention on Human Rights. The Russian armed forces are waging an "all- out war" against Ukraine, a sovereign state that is a member, like Russia, of the Council of Europe and the United Nations.

This war, with its trail of crimes, is being waged against the Ukrainian people and its legitimate, democratically elected authorities, in order to wipe out this ferment of  democracy on Russia's borders. The Russian army is systematically destroying civilian and military infrastructure, causing the death of many civilians, men and women, children and people weakened by age or disability, sowing terror in the civilian population and pushing on the roads to escape the consequences of the war nearly two million people.

We, the representatives of the European organized civil society, are aware that the future of Ukraine and that of Europe are linked and that we must stand firm and remain united to confront this unacceptable aggression against a free people, to stop the fighting and restore peace.

We recall that both the European Court of Human Rights and the International Court of Justice have issued an interim measure calling on Russia to refrain from attacks on civilians and civilian institutions, including schools, hospitals, and emergency vehicles.

We encourage and support the diplomatic efforts that are underway to stop this  aggression against a sovereign state and its people. However, we are also aware that the negotiations can only lead to an end to the fighting and to peace if the democratic states and their peoples give themselves the means to change the balance of power with Russia led by Vladimir Putin.

We therefore call on the member states of the European Union and the Council of Europe:

• To continue efforts to remove Russia's access to the benefits of international exchanges in all their forms, whether diplomatic, economic, financial, sporting, cultural, educational or scientific;
• To strengthen personal sanctions against Vladimir Putin and all of his political and economic supporters, both inside and outside Russia;
• To target in a determined manner the detention outside Russia of their illicit assets of all kinds in order to initiate legal proceedings to seize these assets targeted by the sanctions decided by the European Union, Switzerland and the United States;
• To take all necessary measures to ensure the safety of President Zelensky, a symbol of the Ukrainian people's resistance against Russian aggression;
• To guarantee the security and protection of emergency vehicles and health and medical-social establishments as well as their personnel in order to allow for the continuity of care and treatment of the sick and wounded as well as the continuity of the supply of products and medicines necessary for the health of people in Ukraine, in compliance with international conventions, in particular the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the European Convention on Human Rights, the Revised Social Charter of the Council of Europe and the general principles upheld by the International Court of Justice (ICJ);
• To preserve the power supply to health facilities, in particular to meet the vital needs of patients and vulnerable persons;
• To establish humanitarian and health corridors to non-belligerent countries to evacuate civilians, including those who can no longer be adequately cared for in Ukraine, and ensure the safety of the people;
• To establish humanitarian and health corridors to non-belligerent countries to evacuate civilians, particularly those whose care can no longer be provided satisfactorily in Ukraine, and to ensure the safety of personnel and relief workers providing assistance in Ukrainian health and medical-social institutions;
• To organize the reception of refugees from Ukraine without discrimination and to ensure the support of non-governmental organizations involved in the reception of these refugees;
• To establish temporary schools with Ukrainian teachers on the territory of the states hosting the refugees, in order to allow the children to continue their education;
• To  guarantee  the  security  of  NGOs  and  their  personnel  against  cyber-attacks because they are engaged in the fight against Russian aggression in Ukraine and in supporting refugees;
• To take all necessary measures to end the dependence of the member states of the European Union and the Council of Europe on Russian gas and oil;
• To put in place accompanying measures for the most fragile economic sectors and populations that will be directly affected by the consequences of the sanctions adopted against Russia.

We also call on European citizens:

• To maintain and amplify their actions of solidarity with the refugees coming from Ukraine but also with the Russian citizens, in particular journalists, who brave police violence and judicial repression to demonstrate their opposition to the invasion of Ukraine;
• To boycott the companies which would continue their industrial and commercial activity in Russia;
• To change banks, financial institutions or insurance companies, if they do not stop their activities in Russia, close their branches and continue their cooperation with the Russian banking sector;
• To massively reduce their personal energy consumption in order to help governments take even tougher measures against Russia;
• To contact Russian citizens living in Europe and urge them to inform their families in Russia about the reality of the conflict by all means.