Oral presentation of the 28th OHCHR report on the situation in Ukraine
Statement by the delegation of Ukraine
Geneva, 18 December 2019
Mr. President,
I thank the Deputy High Commissioner for her presentation and update.
Unfortunately, the 28th OHCHR Report reflecting the situation on the ground is not encouraging. In Donbas, despite the ‘unlimited ceasefire’ agreed in Minsk back in July, shellings continue, causing deaths, injuries and destructions. In the temporarily occupied Crimea, the OHCHR further documented violations of international humanitarian and human rights law, notably torture and ill-treatment, denial of medical care to persons detained in Crimea and deported to the Russian Federation, and impunity for these never-ending violations. The evidence of the released prisoners, including Oleg Sentsov, contained in the report provide a stark picture of sufferings and abuses the Kremlin hostages had to go.
The Russian so-called “justice” keeps persecuting and penalizing innocent people in the occupied Ukrainian territories. Just recently, on December 5th, the Southern District Military Court of the Russian Federation sentenced another citizen of Ukraine, Enver Seitosmanov, on fabricated charges to 17 years (just imagine!) of imprisonment in a maximum-security penal colony. Russia continues using its antiterrorist legislation as an instrument of political repressions against the Crimean Tatar people.
According to the Representation of the President of Ukraine in Crimea, in the course of 9 months of 2019, more than 80 searches, 126 detentions, 169 interrogations, 282 arrests, 578 violations of the right to fair trial were registered in the occupied Crimea. In addition to the OHCHR report, I also draw your attention to the UN Secretary General report A/74/276 on Crimea, which is also a valuable source of information about numerous violations of IHL and IHRL committed by the occupying power in the Ukrainian peninsula.
The Russian Federation resorts to all kinds of fraud and trickery to normalize or legitimize its attempted annexation of Crimea, including by an automatic imposition of the Russian citizenship and illegal election campaigns.
Last September, the Russian occupation administration conducted so-called elections to its illegal institutions in Crimea. The results of these “local”, as well as 2016 “parliamentary” elections, with regard to Crimea, are null and void. Even more, in its recent report the Venice Commission concluded that the organisation of parliamentary elections on the occupied territory should be considered as introducing important institutional changes in the occupied territory, that is forbidden under international humanitarian law. Notwithstanding, the Russian side keeps trying to accredit at different international fora persons illegally elected therein.
Once again, we emphasize that anybody elected in those illegal elections claiming to “represent” Crimea and the city of Sevastopol must not be recognized as a representative of those territories, which are Ukrainian. We emphasize the importance that the OHCHR and HRC Secretariat fully respect the requirements of international law and the UNGA resolutions in this regard. Should one continue to turn a blind eye to such frauds and trickery, the occupiers of Crimea and their emissaries would further succeed in the depreciation of our procedures, norms and values.
Mr. President,
Our Interactive Dialogue is taking place against the backdrop of the recent meeting in Normandy format in Paris, and the OHCHR has already expressed its optimism regarding the outcomes of that meeting.
We are also optimistic, though cautiously, and expect that Russia, under a strict scrutiny by the international community, will duly implement the agreements reached in Paris, and not misinterpret them, as it used to do, while resorting, in particular, to pick-and-choose approach.
We remember very well that during the years of the armed conflict Russia has agreed to some two dozen ceasefires and none of them has brought a sustainable de-escalation. Moreover, three Ukrainian servicemen were killed in Donbas on the very day of the N4 Summit. It goes without saying, that as long as the 400-km uncontrolled section of the Russian-Ukrainian state border is open for a free flow of Russian weaponry, munitions, personnel and mercenaries, the humanitarian and human rights situation in Donbas will not improve.
At the Paris summit, the parties also agreed to promote a release of detained persons under the “all for all” formula, starting with “all identified for all identified", to be carried out till the end of 2019. It is crucial that, as it was agreed by all sides, the ICRC has full and unconditional access to all detained persons.
The lives, freedom and human rights of our citizens is what we care about most of all. We hope all our compatriots will be duly released and will be able to embrace their loved ones and celebrate the New Year at home.
Mr. President,
Before concluding, I cannot but express our deep gratitude to Kate Gilmore for her dedication and tremendous work. We sincerely wish her every success in future endeavours. Let me express the confidence that her successor will be equally committed to restoring and upholding human rights in the whole territory of Ukraine. And our Interactive Dialogues, as well as the full implementation of a new UNGA resolution “Situation of human rights in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, Ukraine”– to be adopted in New York this very day – will be in good hands.
I thank you.