The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on December 19 voted for a resolution on human rights in Crimea, titled ”Situation of human rights in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol (Ukraine),” which was initiated by Ukraine and supported by the UNGA Third Committee.
Seventy UN member states backed the document, 77 abstained and 26 voted against it.
The General Assembly has called on the Russian Federation ”to take all measures necessary to bring an immediate end to all abuses against residents of Crimea, in particular reported discriminatory measures and practices, arbitrary detentions, torture and other cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment, and to revoke all discriminatory legislation.”
It also urges Russia to ”immediately release Ukrainian citizens who were unlawfully detained and judged without regard for elementary standards of justice, as well as those transferred across internationally recognized borders from Crimea to the Russian Federation.”
Russia should also ”address the issue of impunity and ensure that those found to be responsible for abuses are held accountable before an independent judiciary.”
The UNGA also urges the Russian authorities to ”create and maintain a safe and enabling environment for journalists and human rights defenders to perform their work independently and without undue interference in Crimea; to permit the reopening of cultural and religious institutions.”
The UNGA also calls on Russia to ”revoke immediately the decision declaring the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People an extremist organization and banning its activities, and repeal the decision banning leaders of the Mejlis from entering Crimea.”
It urges the Russian authorities to ”cooperate fully and immediately with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Council of Europe on the situation of human rights in Crimea.”
Further, the UNGA urges the Russian Federation to ”ensure the proper and unimpeded access of international human rights monitoring missions and human rights non-governmental organizations to Crimea, recognizing that the international presence in Crimea is of paramount importance in preventing the situation from further deterioration.”
As UNIAN reported earlier, the Third Committee of the UNGA on November 15, 2016 passed a draft resolution about human rights in Crimea, titled ”Situation of human rights in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol (Ukraine),” initiated by Ukraine. Some 73 member states supported the document, while 23 voted against it and 76 abstained.
The resolution was the first international document designating the Russian Federation as an occupying power and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol as a temporarily occupied territory. In addition, the resolution confirmed the territorial integrity of Ukraine and reaffirmed the non-recognition of the annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula.
