Lina Kushch spoke at Harvard about civilian female prisoners and imprisoned journalists

First Secretary of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU), Lina Kushch, spoke at a roundtable at Harvard University, which discussed civilian female prisoners, in particular Ukrainian female journalists, who are illegally held by russia.

The event was held at the Harvard Kennedy School. The moderator of the roundtable was the well-known journalist, Pulitzer Prize winner Yusuf al-Khal, who documented war crimes in Syria, Gaza and Ukraine.

The participants discussed a wide range of issues: who are the civilian detainees and why are they being held, what do the places of detention look like from the inside, what rights of Ukrainian women are violated by the russian federation, what are the needs of those released from captivity and how is their rehabilitation taking place. A separate topic was what the international community can do to help civilian women in captivity.

“The situation with civilian female prisoners in the US needs to be explained from the beginning, because it is difficult to understand how a civilian can be thrown behind bars and tortured,” Lina Kushch noted.

The testimonies of women who survived captivity were extremely valuable for the participants in the event: representatives of the organization Numo, Sestry, Liudmyla Huseinova, Oksana Hrynychenko and Yuliya Dvornichenko. Their stories about their experiences brought tears to the eyes of those present.

Lina Kushch spoke about Ukrainian journalists illegally detained by russia, about the investigation into the death of journalist Victoria Roshchina, as well as about the risks that exist for journalists, human rights defenders and people who are simply active on social networks in the occupied territories.

The American participants in the event were particularly interested in two aspects: a legal analysis of the situation and the needs of women in rehabilitation after release. As the first secretary of the NUJU noted, these war crimes are an investigation that will take years, but it is important to document what is happening and preserve the testimonies of the victims right now. The consequences of being in captivity will have a long-term impact on the lives of both the woman herself and her family. Lina Kushch and Liudmyla Huseinova’s trip to the USA was supported by the Ukrainian Women’s Fund. The participation of Yuliya Dvornichenko and Oksana Hrynychenko was made possible by UN Women Ukraine and the Women Peace and Humanitarian Fund. The event at Harvard was organized by Mariya Kozii and Ira Solomko Bonenberger.