‘Everyone should know that nothing will change without his or her efforts’: an interview with human rights activist Oleksandra Matviychuk for The Museum of Civilian Voices by Rinat Akhmetov Foundation

On April 24, Kyiv hosted a public interview with Oleksandra Matviychuk, a human rights activist and head of the Centre for Civil Liberties, as part of the public programme of The Museum of Civilian Voices by Rinat Akhmetov Foundation. Anastasiia Platonova, a cultural critic and curator, moderated the event.

Speaking about the importance of achieving post-war justice, Oleksandra recalls the Nuremberg Tribunal of 1945-46, which convicted the main war criminals of Nazi Germany, and other famous tribunals. But is such a trial relevant to establishing justice in Ukraine after the war? 

‘The Yugoslav and other trials were not trials for the fact that someone started a war and started killing people. They were tribunals for the fact that they killed people not according to the rules of war. The only such precedent in human history is the Nuremberg Tribunal. The trial of the winners over the regime that fell. We have to make justice dependent on how and when wars end. We have to create a special tribunal for the crime of aggression right now,’ Oleksandra is convinced.

Human rights activists emphasise that people understand justice in different ways, so a comprehensive strategy for achieving justice and appropriate infrastructure to meet different needs must be developed. 

‘Some war crimes survivors understand justice as an opportunity to see their perpetrators behind bars, while others understand it as an opportunity to receive compensation. For some, it is an opportunity to find out the truth about what happened to their loved ones. And for some, it is an opportunity to be heard in public, to confirm that what was done to them was immoral and illegal.’

Oleksandra explained why dissatisfaction with each other is rampant among Ukrainians during the war, even though it would seem that the war should unite. 

'On the one hand, war as an existential threat forces people to unite. On the other hand, the war is highly fragmenting, making the fault lines so emotional and traumatic that it can tear society apart. People can't reach out to russians, so they start pouring hatred on each other. We have a threat of a split based on different experiences: refugees, people in the occupied territories, soldiers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and people in the rear. These lines are also drawn within these groups. We need to build bridges between different parts of society, and we need to do it now.'

A question that worries many people is how ordinary citizens of the enemy country can tolerate the crimes committed by russia against Ukrainians. Oleksandra gave an example. 

'A journalist came to a German town after the Second World War. There was a concentration camp where millions of people had lost their lives. He asked the locals, and they said: 'We didn't know what was going on'. But here it was, the concentration camp, you can't help but see it and ask yourself questions. He was given an answer: ‘We didn't look in that direction’. I mean, it's easy not to know if you remember well where you shouldn't look.’

Oleksandra was among those who helped pass a $61 billion aid package for Ukraine in the US House of Representatives, which had been blocked for more than 6 months. The human rights activist is convinced that great things are achieved through the efforts of everyone involved. 

'Everyone did what they could. I remember how, during the Revolution of Dignity, artists came up with a series of posters. One depicted a drop with a caption: 'I am a drop in the ocean'. It meant: yes, I am a human being, I cannot move a concrete wall on my own. But I know that I am not alone. Together, we are drops in the ocean. And oceans can move walls. Nothing will change without my efforts.'

Our enemy is a huge military machine with nuclear weapons and a population of 140 million. What gives you hope in the fight against such a monster? Oleksandra has the following answer:

‘I am convinced that even though the future is uncertain, it is not written in advance, and we must do everything today to carve out the future we want for ourselves and our children.’

The public interviews continue the series of cultural events of The Museum of Civilian Voices by Rinat Akhmetov Foundation, aimed at preserving the memory of the war. Follow the announcements of new events on the Foundation's social media and the Museum's website: https://civilvoicesmuseum.org/