The updated version of the UN General Assembly Resolution "Situation of Human Rights in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol, Ukraine" will contribute to setting up the Crimean Platform on the peninsula's deoccupation, says Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.
This year, the resolution's provisions have been "significantly strengthened," Kuleba said in a statement published on MFA Ukraine's website.
"The new elements reflect numerous facts of gross human rights violations on the temporarily occupied peninsula," he noted.
The resolution clearly defines the "illegitimacy of the bodies and officials of the Russian Federation in Crimea" in the context of strengthening the international policy of non-recognition of the attempted annexation of Crimea. "It has been stated for the first time at the UN level, that such officials should be considered only as 'occupation authorities of the Russian Federation'."
The document also states that Russia does not fulfill its international obligations in the field of human rights and international humanitarian law. It is noted that the level of human rights in Crimea after its occupation by Russia has decreased significantly, in particular due to the fact that Russia is a party to fewer relevant international treaties than Ukraine.
The General Assembly emphasizes that Russia imposes unnecessary and disproportionate restrictive measures in Crimea under the pretext of combatting the COVID-19 pandemic, intensifying repressions against the population, in particular by involving the FSB.
Read alsoUNGA adopts resolution on human rights situation in occupied CrimeaThe UN General Assembly does not stay away from the problem of releasing unlawfully detained Ukrainian citizens: "Taking note of the release in December 2019 and April 2020 of persons detained by the occupying Power in Donbas, the resolution emphasizes the need to release all Ukrainian political prisoners of the Kremlin, mentioning Emir-Usein Kuku and Server Mustafayev."
At the same time, the resolution introduces the term "citizen journalists."
The document provides details of the disruptive economic activities of the Russian Federation, which deplete the natural resources of the temporarily occupied Crimean peninsula. The resolution recognizes the problem of Russia blocking the access of Crimean residents to the Ukrainian education system and the violation of the religious rights of our fellow citizens. Russia is deliberately obstructing the possibility of preserving national identity, imposing change of citizenship, in particular by restricting land ownership.
"All this is a conscious policy of the occupying Power to change the demographic composition of the peninsula, which is a war crime," the statement reads.
In this context, the UN General Assembly calls on the Russian Federation to ensure unhindered and full access to Crimea for international monitoring missions, in particular the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine and the OSCE SMM.
As Kuleba notes, the resolution calls for enhanced cooperation within international frameworks on Crimea to compel Russia, as an occupying Power, to fulfill its obligations under international humanitarian law.
"The adopted document will facilitate, in particular, the implementation of the Ukrainian initiative to create the Crimean Platform," the statement concludes.
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