41stsession of the UN Human Rights Council
Agenda item 10 Technical assistance and capacity-building
Interactive Dialogue on Ukraine
Intervention by H.E. Mr. Yurii Klymenko,
Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Ukraine
(10 July 2019)
Mr.President,
Let me thank the Deputy High Commissioner for her presentation and update.
We highly appreciate the hard work of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine.
The sixth year in a row this Mission, invited by the Ukrainian Government, has been documenting violations and abuses of human rights, international law and international humanitarian law committed by the Russian Federation in the temporary occupied territories of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions and Crimea.
Ukraine is open for further cooperation with the Mission and the OHCHR. This year my country has made a voluntary contribution to support the activities of the High Commissioner’s Office.
We hope that the OHCHR will demonstrate perseverance in making Russia cooperate with the UN human rights bodies and monitoring mechanisms, in particular HRMMU, andopen the temporarilyoccupied territories of Crimea and Donbas for permanent international scrutiny.
Today in Crimea, closed to any monitors, according to the 26th OHCHR report, “the Russian Federation continued to apply its laws, in violation of international humanitarian law applicable to an occupying Power, and committing human rights violations, including against detainees, and those seeking access to education in Ukrainian. The rights of the Crimean Tatars have also been particularly affected”.
In addition, with great concern, I have to inform that after the reporting period a whole wave of illegal searches and detentions of the Crimean Tatars took place in Alushta, Bilogorsk and Simferopol districts. Eight more Crimean Tatars – Ruslan Nagayev, Eldar Kantimirov, Ruslan Mesutov, Lenur Khalilov, Riza Omerov, Enver Omerov, Aider Dzhepparov and Eskender Suleymanov – were detained by the occupation administration in the fabricated so called “Hizb ut-Tahrir case”.
Their names have been added to the long list of other Ukrainian citizens illegally detained in Russia under trump-up charges: film-maker Oleg Sentsov, journalist Roman Sushchenko, farmer Volodymyr Balukh, student Pavlo Hryb and many, many others.
Among them, there are 24 Ukrainian sailors who, according to the ITLOS Order of 25 May 2019, had to be immediately released by Russia. The Order which continues to be blatantly disregarded by the Russian Federation.
In the temporary occupied territories of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as well as in Crimea, Russia stubbornlyimposes its citizenship on the local population, thus violating the norms of international humanitarian law and the sovereignty of Ukraine. In the 26threport, the OHCHR quotes Russia’s President informing about its aim “to protect the rights and freedoms of a person and a citizen”.
Let me remind, Madame Deputy High Commissioner, Russia has not come to Donbas to protect anyone. Russia, as the aggressor state, has come to kill.
Justten days ago, on July 1st, Russian troops committed a war crime by shelling a clearly markedmedical transport vehicle in Vodyane. Two people died, one was badly wounded.
Such appallingbehaviour, in fact, demonstrates Russia’s reaction to the hearings in the ICJ on the Application of the Terrorism Financing Convention and CERD, as well as in the Arbitral Tribunal in the dispute concerning the coastal state rights in the Black Sea, Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait. It lays bare Russia’s brazen disrespect for international courts and should receive appropriate response.
The volume of international obligations and commitments violated by the Russian Federation has been snowballing. The situation when the country puts itself above the law cannot be accepted or tolerated any longer. The international community must increase pressure on the Russian Federation in order to force it to implement the ITLOS Order of 25 May 2019, the ICJ Order of 19 April 2017, fulfil its obligations under international law and international humanitarian law, implementUN General Assembly resolution on the territorial integrity of Ukraine 68/262 and UNGA resolutions 71/205, 72/190, 73/263 and73/194, as well as recommendations of the OHCHR and treaty bodies with regard to Russian occupation of Ukrainian territories. The Russian Federation must at last open the temporarilyoccupied territories of Donbas and Crimea for permanent international monitoring.
Therefore, Mr. President, human rights situation within the entire territory of Ukraine should continue to be scrutinized by the Human Rights Council.
In this line, my country, together with a group of cosponsors, has tabled a draft resolution, under agenda item 10, aimed at continuation for another two years of the Interactive dialogues on Ukraine, like the one we have today. We count on a wide support of this document.
I thank you.