51st session of the Human Rights Council
Item 8 - Follow-up to and implementation of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action
JOINT STATEMENT on the human rights situation in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, Ukraine
30 September 2022
Mr. President,
This statement is delivered on behalf of 46 states.
We recall the Vienna Declaration that reaffirms the importance of “effective international measures to guarantee and monitor the implementation of human rights standards…in respect of people under foreign occupation, and effective legal protection against the violation of their human rights…in accordance with human rights norms and international law, particularly the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, of 14 August 1949, and other applicable norms of humanitarian law.”
These principles were reiterated at the second summit of the International Crimea Platform held on 23 August 2022.
We condemn in the strongest terms the use of the temporarily occupied Crimea in Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified invasion and its war of aggression against Ukraine.
We are deeply concerned about the increase in repressive measures by the occupation authorities of the Russian Federation including violations and abuses of human rights of the indigenous Crimean Tatars.
We are equally concerned with the aggressive imposition of education in the Russian language, of Russian curricula and education materials and with efforts to use the education system for the propaganda of service in the armed or auxiliary forces of the Russian Federation among children.
We condemn the continued practice of illegal conscription of Crimean residents into the Russian Armed Forces and their reported forced involvement in Russia’s offensive military actions against Ukraine.
We strongly condemn Russia's decision to conduct mobilization that has affected the temporarily controlled territories of Ukraine, including the temporarily occupied Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, and disproportionately targets the Crimean Tatars.
We are also deeply concerned by numerous reports of forcible transfer of Ukrainian citizens, in particular civilians and prisoners of war, including Crimean Tatars, from the southern and eastern regions of Ukraine to Crimea and Russia.
We call on the Russian Federation to comply with its obligations under international humanitarian law, to immediately and unconditionally release Ukrainian citizens unjustly detained and imprisoned in Crimea and on the territory of Russia, including Nariman Dzhelyalov, and to comply with the Order of the ICJ of 2017 to lift the ban on the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People and provide full and unimpeded access to Crimea for established regional and international monitoring mechanisms.
We reiterate our support for the territorial integrity, political independence, unity, and sovereignty of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders and resolve to work together for the respect of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all residents of Crimea.
We stand firmly with the people of Ukraine as they bravely face Russia’s military aggression and express our solidarity with those in Crimea and other Ukraine’s territories under Russia’s temporary control who continue to speak up at great personal risk against Russia’s temporary occupation of Crimea and Russia`s ongoing military invasion.
Thank you
Delivered on behalf of:
- Albania
- Australia
- Austria
- Belgium
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Bulgaria
- Canada
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Georgia
- Germany
- Greece
- Guatemala
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Ireland
- Italy
- Japan
- Latvia
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Malta
- Moldova
- Montenegro
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- North Macedonia
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Turkey
- Ukraine
- United Kingdom
- United States of America