UN General Assembly votes for Ukrainian resolution on human rights in Crimea

The United Nations General Assembly voted for a resolution on human rights in Crimea, titled “Situation of human rights in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol (Ukraine)”, which was initiated by Ukraine.

As reported by the Permanent Mission of Ukraine to the UN on their Twitter page.

“OFFICIAL: the UN General Assembly adopted Ukrainian resolution on Crimea. 70 members voted in favour, 26 against and 77 abstained”, – the statement said.

“I urge all delegations in this room to use any available opportunity to raise the human rights question in Crimea to Russian Federation and insist on their full compliance of their obligations under international law”, – emphasized Serhiy Kyslytsia, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, before the vote.

The resolution designated Russian Federation as an occupying power and Crimea as a temporarily occupied territory. The resolution condemned the annexation of Crimea and the repression of the Crimean Tatars.

More details about the adopted resolution – UN resolution on Crimea: Crimeans deserve better.

As a reminder, on November 15 the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly, focusing on human rights, adopted a draft resolution with a critical assessment of the human rights situation in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, which are occupied by Russian authorities.

The resolution appeals to Russia to grant international human rights mechanisms an unhindered access to Crimea, especially for the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, in order to monitor human rights situation.

Human rights defenders, Crimean Tatars and Crimean residents without any relation to any organization have been subjected to systematic persecution by the Russian authorities since the occupation.