31^st session of the UN Human Rights Council

Agenda item 3

Clustered interactive dialogue with Special Rapporteur on freedom

of religion or belief and Special Rapporteur on the right to privacy

Intervention by the Delegation of Ukraine

March 9, 2016

Mr. President,

Let me commend the activities of the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief and his latest report.

We share the observation that there is positive interrelatedness between freedom of religion or belief and freedom of expression and that the two rights mutually reinforce each other. There’s, regrettably, the other side of this interrelatedness: when there’s violation of one of these rights, there’s most probably abuse to the other one going hand in hand.

It became particularly evident after the illegal occupation of Crimea by the Russian Federation as well as the subversive activities of this country in Donbas. Freedom of expression and the work of the media in the territories controlled by Russian proxies in Donbas are arbitrarily hindered and subjected to strict control. There is also clear policy of religious persecution of persons belonging to denominations such as Jehovah Witnesses or Greek Catholic Church banned or harassed by self-proclaimed “authorities”.

In Crimea, discrimination and harassment against minorities and indigenous people – Crimean Tatars – violating their freedom of expression, are widespread. The same groups of society are subjected to their freedom of religion abuse: under Russian legislation forcefully imposed by occupational authorities only 365 religious communities were allowed to be re-registered leaving over 1000 religious communities that were recognized under Ukrainian law denied a legal status.

In this connection we believe there’s a need for Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief to visit Crimea in order to estimate the situation of the right of people living there on freedom of religion or belief.

Thank you.

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