Amal Clooney has something to say about the ongoing conflict between Ukraine and Russia. The human rights attorney and wife of mega movie star George Clooney took the floor at an informal meeting of the United Nations Security Council in New York on April 27. “Ukraine is, today, a slaughterhouse,” Amal, 44, said at the meeting, which was held in New York City. “Right in the heart of Europe. Putin’s aggressive war is so outrageous that even after warnings from the US, and Russia’s long criminal record, Ukrainians could not believe this could happen.”
Amal then added that she isn’t sure how to “process” what’s happening in the embattled nation as the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine has reached unimaginable volatility. “I still read news headlines not knowing how to process them. Could it be that thousands of children are being forcibly deported to Russia? Are teenage girls being raped in the street in front of their family and neighbors? Was a building that had the word ‘children’ painted on it bombed? Are civilians in Mariupol being systematically starved and tortured to death? Unfortunately, the answer is yes.”
Amal has been at the forefront of activism in the Ukraine crisis. She’s tapping into the resources of her foundation with George, the Clooney Foundation for Justice (otherwise known as CFJ), in order to bring accountability to crimes committed during the current conflict. Amal also joined an international legal task force whose mission is investigating war crimes that Russian forces committed. In that vein, Amal continued her powerful speech, stating that justice needed to be fought for as vigorously as the war is.
“Here we are: faced with evidence of the crime of aggression, war crimes and crimes against humanity. And mounting evidence, each day, of genocide,” she said. “Peace – like war – must be waged. It doesn’t just happen. And justice, too, is something we must fight for. You may have to wait for someone to be out of office. You may have to wait for some of their underlings to defect. You may have to wait for them to get old. Or to travel. But if we remain very focused, and very resolute, justice may yet be within our reach.”