42nd session of the UN Human Rights Council
Agenda item 4 General debates
Intervention by the Permanent Representative of Ukraine,
Ambassador Mr. Yurii Klymenko
(17 September 2019)
Mr. President,
Ukraine expresses its serious concern atthe human rights situation in the Russian Federation and in the Russia-occupied territories of other states.
Arbitrary arrests and excessive use of police force, deprivation of people of their rights to freedom of expression and to peaceful assembly, of the right to participate in public affairs, as well as other practices used by the Russian authorities that the High Commissioner mentioned in her oral update last week, have been persistently applied by Russia not only on its own territory, but also in the occupied territories of foreign states, including those of Ukraine.
The facts of these and other violations of human rights and freedoms by the Russian occupation administration in the temporarily occupied Crimea and parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine are being documented by the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine and reflected in a number of OHCHR periodic reports as well as in the recent report of the UN Secretary-General,pursuant to General Assembly resolution 73/263.
It should be noted that persons targeted are often known for their opposition to Russia’s aggression and illegal occupation of Crimea.
In his report, the Secretary-General urges the Russian Government to uphold in Crimea its obligations under international human rights law and international humanitarian law, ensure effective investigation of all allegations of ill-treatment, torture,enforced disappearance and extrajudicial executions in Crimea, as well as guarantee the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, association, thought, conscience and religion. The Secretary General called on the authorities of the Russian Federation to respect the right to peaceful assembly and to lift restrictions imposed on the Crimean Tatar community, including the ban on the Mejlis, as well as to provide availability of education in the Ukrainian language.
Until today, Russia has failed to heed the relevant calls and decisions of the UN General Assembly, the International Court of Justice and other international institutions, in particular, to end the illegal occupation of Crimea, which is causing a continuous deterioration of human rights.
In further violation of IHL, on 8 September this year the Russian Federation held in the temporarily occupied Crimea so called “local elections” to illegal institutions established by the Russian occupational administration. Results of this illegal voting are null and void, and those responsible for its organization and conduct shall be held accountable.
All these violations by the Russian Federation should receive a strong response from the Human Rights Council and the international community at large and should be considered within agenda item 4.
I thank you.