On Thursday 24 March 2022, exactly one month after Russia began its military invasion of Ukraine, Amnesty International Luxembourg is organising a protest in front of the Russian Embassy in Luxembourg, calling for an end to the "offensive" against human rights.
This rally will take place outside the Embassy of Russia (Château de Beggen, L-1719 Luxembourg, entrance via Rue des Hauts-Fourneaux) on 24 March, from 17:45 to 18:15. Participants are invited to bring sunflowers (real or handmade) – traditional symbols of Ukraine that have become emblems of resistance – which will be hung on a wire mesh.
With this rally, the Luxembourg branch is joining Amnesty International's Global Day of Action. Activists will mobilise worldwide on this date to ask Russia to put an end to its invasion of Ukraine. Amnesty International recalled that this invasion is "an act of aggression contrary to international law, vector of a multitude of human rights violations".
"Over the past month and [since] the illegal invasion of Ukraine by Russia, thousands of lives have been destroyed, including housing, civilian infrastructure and the livelihoods of the civilian population in Ukraine", explained Olivier Pirot, Director of Amnesty International Luxembourg. "Russia is responsible for a major humanitarian crisis that sees millions displaced and families torn apart. In Russia too, civil society and the media that oppose this invasion are harshly repressed. We will therefore gather in front of the Russian Embassy to say again and again that this act of aggression constitutes a crime under international law and must stop immediately".
Amnesty International Luxembourg has called on Russia to end its military aggression against Ukraine immediately and to protect the lives of civilians as well as their homes and other infrastructure. The non-governmental organisation (NGO) also called on all parties to strictly respect international and humanitarian law and demanded that indiscriminate attacks and the use of prohibited weapons no longer take place, particularly to allow humanitarian organisations to provide assistance to civilians affected by the war.
Amnesty International will deliver the signatures of a petition calling for an end to Russian aggression and the protection of the civilian population in Ukraine to the Russian Embassy on Thursday. Internationally, the petition has already garnered more than 340,000 signatures. It is still possible to sign it on the website of Amnesty International Luxembourg: https://www.amnesty.lu/nos-petitions/il-faut-mettre-fin-a-lagression-et-proteger-la-population-civile-en-ukraine/.
