FEMEN will hold a protest outside the UN building in Geneva to draw the world’s attention to the inaction of the United Nations against the backdrop of the largest war in Europe since World War II. The activists demand to expel Russia from the UN, which illegally occupied the USSR’s place in the UN and started a criminal war against Ukraine, killing and maiming people, including with anti-personnel mines.
And the fact that FSB cadre Tatyana Valovaya sits in the UN office in Geneva, in front of which the “Broken Chair” is installed, confirms Russia’s pernicious influence on the United Nations.
The message:
Ukraine, fraudulently disarmed and stripped of its nuclear weapons in exchange for security guarantees under the Budapest Memorandum, faced betrayal by one of the guarantor countries, Russia. By attacking Ukraine, Russia mined 25% of its territory and turned the country into the most heavily mined place on the planet. Over 12,000 war victims now require prosthetic limbs as a result of hostilities.
The “Broken Chair” monument, a symbol of the struggle to ban anti-personnel mines, becomes a reminder of the failure of international structures in their duty to protect peace and human lives. The Broken Chair was supposed to remain in place for three months, until the signing of an international convention banning anti-personnel mines and bomb clusters. Today, nearly 30 years later, Ukraine has become the most mined country in history. This is a vivid demonstration of the UN’s failure to ensure international security and the protection of human rights.
Objectives of the action:
• To draw attention to the huge human losses provoked by the passivity of international structures.
• Call for Russia’s expulsion from the UN for its illegal presence and systematic violations of the UN Charter (which it has not even ratified).
• Support initiatives to demine Ukrainian territories.
Quote from activists Fedorets Yana and Ushkalenko Diana:
“Fuck the UN, fuck Russia and all those who serve it by helping to kill the Ukrainian people and mines Ukrainian land, hiding the fact of Russian illegal presence in the UN.”
“The UN was created to ensure peace, but its failure to stop the aggressor only adds to the tragedy of symbols such as the Broken Chair, a reminder of the human suffering caused by anti-personnel mines. Ukraine has become a victim of betrayal and military aggression, and the world cannot cover itself with monuments, remaining indifferent while we are being destroyed.”
