UN approves resolution on human rights violations in occupied Crimea

UN Member States adopted the resolution on the human rights situation in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol (Ukraine) at the meeting of the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly.

First Deputy Information Policy Minister of Ukraine Emine Dzheppar announced this on her Facebook page.

“For – 73, against – 23, abstained – 76,” she wrote about results of the vote.

The document condemns the massive human rights violations in the occupied Crimea and calls on Russia as the occupying power to comply with its obligations under the international law.

The resolution also notes the need to release illegally detained citizens of Ukraine and Russia and lift the ban on the activity of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people.

The resolution also contains an appeal to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to prepare a report on the situation on the Crimean peninsula. Among other things, the document urges Russia to provide unhindered access to the peninsula for the international human rights defenders, including those working under the auspices of the UN.

The draft resolution was co-authored by 41 UN Member States.

Foreign Minister of Ukraine Pavlo Klimkin noted the importance of the adoption of the UN draft resolution, which contains a critical assessment of the human rights situation in the Russian-occupied Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol.

“Permanent UN human rights monitoring is the first step towards de-occupation of Ukrainian Crimea. Now the wording ‘temporary occupation of the Ukrainian Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol’ is officially in all the UN documents on the de-occupation of Crimea,” the Ukrainian Foreign Minister posted on Twitter.