Amnesty International: number of human rights violations in Crimea increased drastically

Rapid deterioration of the human rights situation in Crimea is happening three years after the illegal annexation of the peninsula by Russia.

As reported in the statement of the international human rights organization Amnesty International, the text of which was given to the Human Rights Information Centre.

The organization notes that the lack of any effective international monitoring mechanism with access to the peninsula deepens this problem, which has encouraged the Russian and the de facto authorities in Crimea to ruthlessly seek the destruction of all signs of dissent.

“Ensuring effective international human rights monitoring in Crimea, including agreeing on the practicalities for a relevant mechanism’s unobstructed access to Crimea, should be a priority for the international community”, – said in the statement.

Amnesty International notes that since the publication of the report “Crimea in the dark: The silencing of dissent” in December 2016, the persecution and harassment of any dissenting voices, mostly ethnic Crimean Tatars, has further intensified. The criminal prosecution of members and leaders of the Crimean Tatar Mejlis, designated an “extremist” organization by the Russian authorities, has reached new levels.

Additional charges have been brought against activists already accused, on spurious grounds, of membership of the Islamist organization “Hizb ut-Tahrir” which is on the official Russian register of terrorist organizations. Few lawyers dare to take up cases of individuals accused under extremism or terrorism-related charges in Crimea, and the two most prominent ones who have (Emil Kurbedinov and Mykola Polozov), have faced intense harassment by the de facto and Russian authorities.

Meanwhile, ordinary ethnic Crimean Tatar residents of the peninsula face new levels of harassment too, particularly in the form of house searches by security forces, which appear to target their community arbitrarily. The use of administrative detention against social media users who have posted content deemed “extremist” in Russia has seen a rise, even when the post preceded Russia’s annexation of Crimea.

Amnesty International considers the charges against Ilmi Umerov, Deputy Chairman of the Mejlis and the veteran of the Crimean Tatar movement, to be groundless and considers Akhtem Chiygoz, Deputy Chairman of the Mejlis, as prisoner of conscience. According to the international organization, human rights defender Emir-Useyin Kuku, whom Crimean authorities accuse of involvement in an extremist organization, is also a prisoner of conscience.

Amnesty International notes that all human rights violations in the Crimea should be recorded and appropriate measures should be taken. The international community should explore every available opportunity for effective monitoring of the human rights situation in Crimea.

Intergovernmental bodies, Ukraine’s and Russia’s international partners should use every available opportunity, at bi- and multilateral fora, to raise the issue of access to Crimea for human rights monitoring mechanisms, and insist on it being granted immediately and unconditionally – alongside insistence on full respect for human rights in Crimea.