Intervention of Ukraine at
the Clustered interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association and the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
41stsession of the Human Rights Council
Item 3
(Geneva, June 25, 2019)
Mr President,
Ukraine thanks both mandate holders for their presentations and reports. Let me draw the attention of the distinguished Special Rapporteurs to the considerable deterioration of the human rights situation in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation, in particular the oppression of the freedom of expression, freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
Since February 2014, the track record of such violations by the Russian occupation authorities in Crimea included numerous cases of restrictions on TV and radio broadcasting, internet media blocking, refusals of access to information, prohibitions of filming, dismissals, intimidation, censorship and other cases of persecution of journalists, bloggers, and other citizens who express their opinions publicly or spread information.
The occupation authorities continue to restrict freedom of peaceful assembly in the Crimean peninsula, applying unlawfully the repressive Russian laws for this purpose. We denounce the illegal ban by Russia of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People and the refusal of Russian occupation authorities to execute the Order of the International Court of Justice demanding to cancel this ban.
As the UN reports prove, in occupied Crimea peaceful assembly, including single-person pickets, continue to be prohibited or sanctioned. Illegal Russian authorities arrest persons in Crimea for alleged membership in “unauthorized” Muslim groups such as Hizb ut-Tahrir, proclaiming them “extremist” and “terrorist” structures.
We invite both Special Rapporteurs to visit Ukraine, including the temporarily occupied territories of Crimea and of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, to assess the situation on the ground.
Thank you.