32nd session of the UN Human Rights Council

Agenda item 4

General debate

Intervention by Permanent Representative of Ukraine

Ambassador Yurii Klymenko

June 22, 2016

Mr. President,

We took the floor to once again draw the attention to continuous practice of ungrounded criminal prosecutions by the Russian Federation of Ukrainian citizens abducted from Ukraine and illegally detained in Russia, in violation of its international obligations and Minsk agreements.

The situation of Ukrainian citizens Oleg Sentsov, Oleksandr Kolchenko, Mykola Karpyuk, Stanislav Klykh and other political hostages and victims of the Russian aggression against Ukraine, illegally detained in Russia, continues to gravely deteriorate.

At present there are 12 Ukrainian citizens illegally detained on the territory of the Russian Federation, 16 – on the territory of Crimea occupied by this country as well as a number of Ukrainians in Donbas.

Recently we witnessed the beginning of the trial in Russia in the case of the Crimean Muslims - citizens of Ukraine Rustem Vaitov, Ferat Sayfullayev, Yurii Primov and Ruslan Zeytullayev, who were illegally detained on the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea and moved out to the Russian Federation against their will. On a background of the illegal ban of the Crimean Tatars Mejlis’ activity we consider such actions of the Russian authorities as an additional evidence of political repressions, systematically used by occupants against our compatriots.

We demand from the Russian Federation to stop immediately all obvious, politically motivated farces, that are yet another indisputable proof of the absence of independent judiciary in modern Russia, and to release all citizens of Ukraine who are illegally detained in this country.

We call on the international community to continue political and diplomatic pressure on Russia to prevent flagrant violations of human rights and freedoms by this country, hostages of which became scores of Ukrainian citizens.

Thank you.

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