European Parliament notes ‘unprecedented level of human rights abuses against Crimean Tatars’

The European Parliament condemns the unprecedented level of human rights abuses perpetrated against the Crimean Tatars on the Russian-occupied peninsula.

This is stated in the resolution adopted today.

“MEPs condemn the unprecedented levels of human rights abuses perpetrated against Crimean residents, most notably the Tatars, an indigenous people of Crimea, and the severe restrictions on the freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly,” reads the resolution.

They point out that the Russian Federation, as an occupying power, has a responsibility to ensure the safety of the whole population and should, together with the de facto local authorities, investigate effectively, impartially and transparently all cases of disappearances, torture and human rights abuses by the police and paramilitary forces active in the Crimean peninsula since February 2014.

The resolution reiterates the Parliament’s severe condemnation of Russia’s illegal annexation of the Crimean peninsula.

Earlier, the European Council sent the urgent human rights mission to Crimea. Its report will be published late February or early March.