A Call for Solidarity with the People of Ukraine
#StandWithUkraine
February 26, 2022
We, the undersigned members of the International Coalition for Democratic Renewal, strongly condemn the military invasion of Ukraine by Vladimir Putin's regime. This action represents a war of aggression, a crime against humanity and a new chapter in the struggle between autocracy and democracy, which require the strongest possible response of the international community.
Ukraine needs the support of the international community now more than ever. This Russian war of aggression is an attack on the very fabric of a peaceful and rule-based international order. Today Ukraine is a victim but tomorrow it could be any other country. Below are a few things you can do as an individual, organization or country:
1. All those, who have the opportunity, can support the Ukrainian army. Here is the official link of the organization that collects money for Ukrainian army: https://savelife.in.ua/en/donate/. Ukrainian National Bank also opened official multinational account, with which people from all over the world can donate. Please find more information here: https://bit.ly/3t4eSAQ.
2. Individuals can also support protests abroad at the Russian embassies, against the war in Ukraine. Upcoming rallies against Russian invasion of Ukraine in different countries can be found here: https://www.stopputin.net/.
3. Talk to your governments, civil society and media. Demand to stay united in support for Ukraine and to encourage countries and governments to do more than sanctions. Use social media (Facebook/Twitter/Instagram, etc.) to spread the information.
4. Verify your information and refute the misinformation that is now being spread by Russian forces and media. Trust only official sources/of official Ukrainian institutions (National army, President, Ministry of foreign affairs of Ukraine, etc).
We call on all democratic countries to unite in support of Ukraine:
1. In addition to financial support for the army, it is important to provide urgent military support, including air defense systems and extensive support with defense equipment.
2. Provide Ukraine with emergency economic assistance.
3. Provide urgent humanitarian aid and ensure that appropriate support infrastructure is in place for civilian refugees fleeing Ukraine.
4. Impose devastating sanctions on the Russian Federation, Belarus, and all those responsible for the invasion. This must include sanctions on energy exports to democratic nations.
5. Freeze foreign money accounts of Russia, Russian officials and Russian citizens related to the regime, and disclose to Russian people bank data and intelligence about their political and business elites.
6. Expropriate assets and properties of the Russian nationals with clear links to the current Russian establishment.
7. Cut Russia off completely from the SWIFT global interbank payment system, as part of a more comprehensive and total campaign of economic sanctions.
8. Block air space, sea access and ports for Russian companies.
9. Freeze sales of international companies in Russia.
10. Impose personal sanctions on Russian politicians and oligarchs, and former European and US politicians who openly support Putin in the media.
11. Call for recalls of Western diplomats from Russia and Belarus for consultations and invite Russian and Belarussian diplomats to leave.
12. Help initiate an international criminal tribunal which will bring those responsible for the crime of aggression, crimes against humanity and war crimes to account.
We call on the UN Security Council and the Human Rights Council to condemn Russia’s aggression in the strongest terms and remain seized of the matter. In addition, we call on the Security Council to impose the above sanctions with a resolution based on Chapter VII of the UN Charter. In the case of Russia using its veto right, we call on the UN General Assembly to convene an emergency meeting and use its subsidiary responsibility under the Uniting for Peace principle to override a Russian veto and impose the above sanctions with its authority as the UN’s highest and universal body. In particular, the UN needs to consider imposing a No-Fly-Zone over Ukraine.
We call on international courts to condemn and adopt procedures to sentence Putin’s war crimes against Ukraine and on important companies, such as Meta (Facebook), to ban communication of the Russian government.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine is an unjustifiable act of aggression against an independent state that cannot go unanswered. We stand with Ukraine.
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List of Signatories
Leila Alieva, President, Center for National and International Studies
Andreas Bummel, Executive Director, Democracy Without Borders
Martin Butora, Ambassador of Slovakia to the U.S. 1999-2003
Adem Carroll, UN Programs Director, Justice for All/Burma Task Force
Brett Carter, Hoover Institution, Stanford University
Jean-Claude Casanova, Director, Commentaire
Irwin Cotler, Former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada
Srdjan Darmanovic, Professor, University of Montenegro; Former Foreign Minister
Ron Deibert, Director, Citizen Lab
Eileen Donahoe, US Ambassador to UN Human Rights Council (2010-2013)
Larry Diamond, Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, USA
Brigitte Dufour, Director, International Partnership for Human Rights (IPHR)
Nino Evgenidze, Executive Director at EPRC
Carlos Fara, Secretary, CADAL
Lee Feinstein, US Ambassador to Poland
Bill Galston, Governance Studies, Brookings
Carl Gershman, Former President, National Endowment for Democracy, USA
Eka Gigauri, The Executive Director of Transparency International Georgia
Ken Godfrey, Executive Director, European Partnership for Democracy (EPD), UK/Belgium
Leonid Gozman, Politician, President, Union of Right Forces, Russia
Husain Haqqani, Former Ambassador of Pakistan to the United States
Mall Hellam, Executive Director, Open Estonia Foundation, Estonia
Maiko Ichihara, Associate Professor, Hitotsubashi University
Leszek Jazdzewski, Editor-in-chief, Liberté!, Poland
Sook Jong-Lee, Professor, Trustee, East Asia Institute
Hisham Kassem, Former Chairman, The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights
Tinatin Khidasheli, Chairperson, Civic IDEA, Former Minister of Defence of Georgia
Jakub Klepal, Executive Director, Forum 2000, Czech Republic
Ondřej Klimeš, Oriental Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic
David Kramer, Former Assistant Secretary of State, USA
Claudio Lodici, Loyola University Chicago
Olga Lomová, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
Markus Meckel, Former Foreign Minister, former Member of German Bundestag, Germany
Penda Mbow, President, Mouvement Citoyen, Senegal
Alina Mungiu-Pippidi, Democracy Chair, Hertie School of Governance, Berlin, President, Romanian Academic Society
Joshua Muravchik, Author and Foreign Policy Expert, USA
Ucha Nanuashvili, Former Public Defender (Ombudsman) of Georgia
Andréa Ngombet, Founder and Director of the Anti-Kleptocracy Strategy of Sassoufit Collective
Martin Palouš, Senior Fellow, Florida International University, USA
Žygimantas Pavilionis, Chairman of Foreign Affairs Committee, Lithuanian Parliament
Serhii Plokhii, Professor of Ukrainian History, Harvard University
Pavel Pšeja, University Lecturer, Metropolitan University Prague, Czech Republic
Vesna Pusic, Professor, U. of Zagreb, former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Croatia
Andrei Sannikov, Chairman, European Belarus Foundation
Hugh Segal, Mathews Fellow, Global Public Policy, Queen's University, Canada
Nagwan Soliman, Senior Fellow, Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, Georgetown University
Jianli Yang, President, Citizen Power Initiatives for China
Liao Yiwu, Exiled Writer, China
Leyla Yunus, Director, Institute for Peace and Democracy, Netherlands
Yevgeniy Zhovtis, Director of Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights and Rule of Law
Michael Žantovský, Executive Director, Vaclav Havel Library, Czech Republic
