Statement of the Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers on Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine
/We in the Haldane Society are socialists who are lawyers and internationalists, closely associated with the trade union movement. We have a proud history from before WWII of anti-colonial struggle, support for National Liberation Movements and against Apartheid, and solidarity with Palestinians in the Occupied Territories. Closer to home, we fight for the right of the people of the Island of Ireland to Self-Determination, and for a United Ireland, against British imperialism.
We therefore condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which has been ongoing since 2014 and intensifying since February 24, 2022. This armed attack has no justification in international law. It is a flagrant violation of the UN Charter’s prohibition of the use of force (Article 2(4), and of the territorial integrity of Ukraine, prohibited by the UN Charter. It has already caused the deaths of many people - soldiers and civilians, and more than a million refugees, women and children, have fled Ukraine.
Currently the UK Government accepts that it has only issued visas to 50 people fleeing the invasion. That is deplorable. We call on the UK Government to open up safe and accessible routes to the UK for all those fleeing the war in Ukraine, whatever their nationality, and whatever their connections with the UK, and in particular that provision is made at Calais and in the states neighbouring Ukraine to provide the necessary assistance.
We welcome the decision of the ICC Prosecutor, Karim A.A. Khan QC, to proceed with opening an investigation into any past and present allegations of war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide committed on any part of the territory of Ukraine by any person from 21 November 2013 .
We reject the Russian government's argument that it is entitled under Article 51 to exercise collective self-defence in favour of the “People's Republics of Luhansk and Donetsk”, only recognised by Russia and South Ossetia. Moreover, the Russian President's order to place nuclear forces on special alert poses a serious threat to international peace and security.
Together with our comrades in England in Ukraine Solidarity Campaign, and the English and Ukrainian Trade Unions, we insist on Ukraine’s right to self-determination, and note that in the USSR, Ukraine had the status of a Union Republic with the right to secede, was as the Ukrainian SSR a founder member of the United Nations in 1945 with a seat on the General Assembly, and achieved full sovereignty with the collapse of the USSR in 1991.
We therefore reject and deplore President Putin’s assertion that Ukraine is a fictitious country with no right to exist, and that Lenin is to be blamed for its creation, with his principled insistence on the right of nations to self-determination.
We oppose imperialism in all its forms and note that Russia’s historical oppression and denigration of Ukraine has much in common with England’s bloody rule for centuries in Ireland.
We demand:
The immediate withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukraine
Reparation for the damage done to Ukraine
Full support for and cooperation with the ICC investigation
Practical solidarity with Ukrainians and especially the Ukrainian trade unions
