UN calls on Russia to provide international missions with access to Crimea

The UN once again called on Russia to grant access to international missions to Crimea. This was reported on the 13th of September during the second report on the situation regarding human rights in Crimea by the chairman of the United Nations Monitoring Mission for Human Rights in Ukraine Fiona Fraser, writes “Crimea. Reality.”

She clarified that the report covers the period from the 13th September 2017 to the 30th June 2018 and is based, in particular, on 200 interviews of the inhabitants of Crimea.

“Despite repeated diplomatic efforts, the UN Human Rights Office has not received access to Crimea from Russia. This contradicts the resolutions of the General Assembly that confirms that the Crimean peninsula is a part of the territory of Ukraine and encourage the Russian Federation to provide access to international monitoring missions for human rights in Crimea… We continue discussions on obtaining access to Crimea, “she said.

Fraser added that during the last 10 months there have been no significant improvements on the territory of Crimea.

“We documented serious violations of human rights, such as arbitrary detention, abductions and enforced disappearance, etc. We call on the Russian authorities in Crimea to stop arbitrary searches of private property owned by Crimean Tatars and refrain from enforcing the legislation of Russia in Crimea. We also urge Russia to comply with the ruling of the International Court of Justice on lifting of the ban on the Mejlis, “reported Fraser.

After the annexation of Crimea, the actual Russian authorities perform mass searches of independent journalists, civil activists, activists of the Crimean Tatar national movement, members of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, and Crimean Muslims suspected of being connected with Hizb ut-Tahrir, a banned organization in Russia.

International organizations recognized the occupation and annexation of Crimea as illegal and condemned the actions of Russia. Western countries have introduced a number of economic sanctions. Russia denies the occupation of the peninsula and calls it “the restoration of historical justice.” The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine officially announced the 20th of February, 2014 as the date of the beginning of the temporary occupation of Crimea and Sevastopol by Russia.