Ukrainian human rights organization Truth Hounds receives Dutch Human Rights Embassy Tulip Award
On December 11, 2024, Ukrainian human rights organization Truth Hounds received the Human Rights Embassy Tulip, the annual human rights award of the government of the Netherlands. Dutch Ambassador to Ukraine Alle Dorhout presented the Human Rights Embassy Tulip Award to the Ukrainian human rights defenders during a reception at the Dutch Embassy in Kyiv. The award is presented annually by the Embassy of the Netherlands in Ukraine on the occasion of International Human Rights Day.
Truth Hounds' Co-Executive directors Dmytro Koval and Oksana Pokalchuk received a tulip statuette as a symbolic award for their significant contribution to the documentation, investigation and analysis of evidence of war and potential crimes against humanity committed withing the course of Russian ongoing aggression against Ukraine. The organization will also receive UAH 500,000 to finance its further activities.
Presenting the award, Ambassador Dorhout emphasized:
"We want to show our deep appreciation to Ukrainian Human Rights Defenders. With this award, the Netherlands recognizes Truth Hounds's work to uncover international crimes committed during the Russian aggression in Ukraine. We are aware of the difficult circumstances you are working in and we are here to support you."
"For the Netherlands the issue of Accountability is a priority. We are here to work together with Ukrainian civil society, Ukrainian state bodies and international organizations to ensure that crimes committed by the Russian Federation will not go unpunished," said Ambassador Dorhout. He pointed out that the Netherlands is the lead nation on Point 7 "Restoring Justice" of the Peace Formula of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Upon receiving the Human Rights Embassy Tulip, Truth Hounds Co-Executive director Dmytro Koval said: "For the past ten years, the Truth Hounds have been working to document and investigate war crimes. Our approach to documentation is based on the idea of preventing further trauma to victims and witnesses. While working with evidence of war crimes, the Truth Hounds team uses all available avenues to achieve justice in its broadest sense. This includes close collaboration with Ukrainian investigative bodies and prosecutors."
His colleague Oksana Pokalchuk, added that "What we're seeing right now is a situation that's unlike anything we've faced before. It's not just Ukraine that's affected by this aggression from a hostile outside force. It's a challenge for the whole world. Our work is meticulous and challenging, and it can take years to see results. But every step brings us closer to our goal: ensuring that no crime goes unpunished and that every victim finds justice."
Background info
About the award winner Truth Hounds
Truth Hounds is a Ukrainian human rights organization with a mission to document and investigate alleged war crimes and human rights violations in Ukraine and other regions affected by armed conflicts. The organization has submitted numerous reports to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and other international institutions. They have also endeavored to fortify domestic capacity in implementation of international humanitarian law (IHL) by organizing over 80 training sessions for Ukrainian prosecutors, judges, and investigators.
Truth Hounds is distinguished by its pioneering approach to integrating fieldwork, legal expertise, and collaboration with justice actors worldwide. This ensures that war crimes are meticulously documented and that justice is pursued effectively. Truth Hounds builds on the experience and academic background of many of its team members to calibrate its responses to atrocities and explore innovative justice avenues. The organizations aims at using its expertise to enrich academic discussions on the application of IHL and international criminal law, engage with a diverse pool of states and other actors for the promotion of human rights and fight against impunity.
About the Human Rights Tulip Award
A global award
The Human Rights Tulip is an annual award of the Dutch government to support human rights defenders in their work advancing and protecting human rights around the world, while highlighting related issues. Each year since 2008 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has awarded the Human Rights Tulip to an outstanding human rights defender. Among the international winners of previous years are human rights defenders from Congo, China, India, Iran, Honduras, Pakistan, Mauritania, Mexico, Jordan, Armenia, and the Middle East.
Human rights defenders stand up for vulnerable groups, expose human rights violations and demand justice. Human rights defenders often work under difficult circumstances, receive death threats and are jailed, tortured and sometimes even killed. The Netherlands supports human rights defenders so that they can work effectively and safely.
Local award from the Embassy
The Embassy of the Netherlands in Ukraine has been presenting a local Human Rights Tulip to Ukrainian activists and human rights defenders since 2018. Previous laureates are:
Dmytro Shchebetyuk, Co-founder of Dostupno.UA (2018); Liliya Gemedzhy, Crimean lawyer, and Vitaly Ustymenko, leader of the Odesa Automaidan (2019); Tetyana Pechonchyk, Head of the "ZMINA" Center for Human Rights, and Marta Chumalo, Co-founder of the organization "Women's Perspectives" (2020); Oksana Romaniuk, Executive Director of the Institute of Mass Information, and Olena Shevchenko, Head of the organization "Insight" (2021); Olga Reshetylova, Head of the Media Initiative for Human Rights (2022); Crimean Human Rights Group, represented by Olga Skrypnyk (2023).
