On 17 September 2018 the Permanent Representative of the President of Ukraine in ARC Borys Babin took part at the Tenth Working Session “Fundamental Freedoms” of the Annual OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting held in Warsaw (Poland). The Permanent Representative in his report characterized the main tendency of oppression of the freedom of association, assembly and movement in Crimea by the Russian occupying authorities and highlighted the part of non- governmental organizations and ombudsmen in Crimean residents Rights protection.

The prohibition of the Crimean Tatar People self-governmental system by the occupying authorities was pointed out, as well as the attempts of the Russian Federal Security Service to imitate “the elections to Kurultai” as the religious body but not as All People’s Congress. The attention was drawn to the arrest of the one-man pickets participants, organized to protest against the Crimean Tatars’ discrimination; to the persecution of movement “Crimean Solidarity” and oppression, harassment and corruption of Russian enforcement bodies against the citizens of Ukraine at the administrative boundary line. The negative role of Russian ombudsman, her open and cynical politicized activity in Russian hostage-taking and restrictions on the rights of political detainees was pointed. A special attention was drawn to the Russian piracy in the Black and Azov Seas, threatening the Ukrainian fishers and sailor’s rights.

The Permanent Representative discussed with the range of the state-members OSCE delegations the challenges of the temporarily occupied Crimea and reported at the side-events, organized by the members of the Meeting on themes: “Protection and promotion of Human Rights by the human rights defenders – the best practice for the sates, institutions and civil society”, “Persecution of journalists and hate speech in Crimea”, “ Forced replacement of the citizens of the occupied territory of Crimea by Russia”.