"For me, being a woman and a human rights defender means a struggle for peace and justice in my country. No peace can come without justice."
Tetiana Pechonchyk
Chairperson – Human Rights Information Center
Tetiana Pechonchyk is a leading advocate for international justice in her home country, Ukraine, where her and her organization’s first-of-its-kind work from 2014-2016 documenting crimes in both occupied and government-controlled territories continue to make the global fight against impunity a reality in Ukraine.
As Chairperson of the Human Rights Information Centre (HRIC), Tetiana conducts one-of-a-kind work to raise awareness and seek justice for victims throughout Ukraine’s conflict-affected areas. Despite political challenges to her organization’s work, Tetiana and HRIC continue to fight for justice both on occupied and government-controlled territories of Ukraine.
“For me, being a woman and a human rights defender means a struggle for peace and justice in my country. No peace can come without justice. The years of impunity and cruelty must stop and perpetrators must stand in the face of an independent and non-biased court.”
In March 2014, the organization worked with Russian human rights defenders and activists in Crimea to open a new initiative, the Crimea Field Mission on Human Rights, to document the most brutal violations and human rights abuses during the active phase of Russian occupation of the Ukrainian peninsula.
The only one of its kind operating on a permanent basis in Crimea, the Field Mission operated until its forced closure by the Russian government in July 2016. With the ICC announcing in April 2014 a preliminary examination of events and conflict in parts of Ukraine, Tetiana continues to strive for international justice in her home country, including by campaigning for Ukraine to officially join the Rome Statute of the ICC.