The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine congratulates the adoption of resolution by United Nations General Assembly “Situation of Human Rights in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol” (Ukraine) on the 19th day of December, 2017, which is a logical and sequential confirmation of a staunch stance of the international community in supporting a territorial integrity of Ukraine which was first recorded in the resolution 68/262 adopted in 2014 and developed in the resolution of United Nations General Assembly 71/205 in 2016.
The systematic nonfulfillment of a previous United Nations General Assembly resolution by the Russian Federation, denial of access of the international monitoring mechanisms to the territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea cause a significant degradation of a situation with the human rights in the occupied Crimea. So the United Nations General Assembly continues keeping this situation under control.
A new resolution contains clear formulations concerning a status of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol as part of the territory of Ukraine. The United Nations General Assembly once again condemns the temporary occupation of the Crimean peninsula by the Russian Federation and does not recognize attempts of its annexation by the state-occupier. We congratulate that this year the United Nations General Assembly also expressed support for efforts of the liberation of Crimea from the Russian occupation.
Against this background in the sphere of defense of human rights in Crimea due to its illegal occupation by Russia, a reference to Geneva Conventions of 1949 and additional protocol of 1977 in the resolution has particular importance. Russia must fulfil their commitments of occupier state in the conditions of armed conflict, in particular concerning humane treatment of population on the occupied territory, protection of their rights in accordance with the International Humanitarian Law.
One of the central elements of the resolution remains a call to provide an unimpeded access to the international human rights instruments inclusively with United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine on the temporary occupied peninsula for monitoring and reporting on the situation in accordance with mandate terms of reference, that had been up to now ignored by Russia.
We support the appeal of the United Nations General Assembly concerning the interim decision (order) of the International Court of Justice in the case of Ukraine against the Russian Federation d.d. the 19th day of April, 2017, which has not yet been implemented by Russia. The international community should consolidate its efforts and force the Russian Federation to fulfill it.
The fixation and condemnation of systematic violations of human rights committed by the Russian occupation authority including extrajudicial executions, kidnapping, politically motivated persecutions, restrictions of basic political rights of Crimeans in the resolution of the United Nations General Assembly should be an important step on the way of assertion of rights and civil liberties of the citizens of Ukraine who found themselves in the occupation.
A broad support of our position in the Crimean issue is pointed to the fact that the international community sent a clear signal to the Russian occupation authority: Crimean issue is not closed, the world is closely watching over the actions of the occupier, that means that persons responsible for persecutions and violations of the rights of Crimeans would bear the responsibility. The aggressor state must stop the arbitrariness and enforce compliance of the International Law on the temporary occupied territory.
We in Ukraine are sincerely grateful to every country which voted for the Resolution of the United Nations General Assembly “Situation of Human Rights in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol” (Ukraine). The co-authors of the resolution together with Ukraine were 42 states from different continents (among them practically all the countries of the European Union, USA, Canada, Australia, Iceland, Norway, Montenegro, Turkey, Japan, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Palau and others).
The next step should be a de-occupation of the peninsula. And the base has been already laid.