Ombudswoman asked OSCE to record restrictions of access to independent media in Crimea

Photo credit: UNIAN

The Commissioner for Human Rights at the parliamentary found blockade of Ukrainian media in the occupied Crimea illegal and called on the OSCE to record the violations of right to access information, as it was said on the Facebook page of the Ombudswoman's Office.

"Lyudmila Denisova appealed to the head of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine to take measures to document these violations and inform all parties about the illegality of restricting the rights of residents of Crimea and Sevastopol to access to independent media," the statement said.

At the same time, the Ombudswoman referred to the data of human rights activists, according to whose monitoring as of June 2020, 30 Ukrainian information sites, two social networks and radio stations had been blocked on the territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol.

In this regard, the Ombudswoman stressed that the right of access to information is enshrined by the Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. At the same time, the Declaration of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on Freedom of Expression and Information provided for the obligation of member states to protect the right to freedom of expression and information from violations, as well as to promote media diversity and pluralism of information sources.

As IMI reported, the Crimean Human Rights Group reported based on the results of the monitoring conducted in June, that in Crimea, eight providers in seven settlements had completely suppressed 30 Ukrainian information sites and two social networks.