UN General Assembly concerned with human rights in Crimea. New resolution adopted

AP

The UN General Assembly has adopted an updated resolution "The situation of human rights in the temporarily occupied Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, Ukraine," as Ukrinform reported .

65 countries voted for the resolution, 25 against and 85 abstained.

Among the countries that voted against, in addition to the Russian Federation, were Armenia, Belarus, Cambodia, China, Cuba, North Korea, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Sudan, Syria, Kyrgyzstan, the Philippines, Serbia, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe.

This year's resolution calls on UN countries to cooperate within the international Crimean platform.

The document pointed at that the bodies and officials of the Russian Federation operating in the temporarily occupied Crimea were illegitimate and should have been called "the occupying authorities of the Russian Federation."

The UN General Assembly is concerned about the fact that the occupying authorities have prosecuted individuals for publishing the Secretary-General's reports on the human rights situation in Crimea, which underlie the resolution.

Emphasis is placed on the inadmissibility of politically motivated persecution, torture and arbitrary detentions and arrests, extrajudicial killings, abductions, and enforced disappearances. The resolution names specific people persecuted by the occupying power. These are, in particular, Emir-Usein Kuku, Halyna Dovgopola, Server Mustafayev, Vladyslav Yesypenko, Nariman Jelal.

The document also emphasizes the restrictions faced by Ukrainians, including the indigenous people of Crimea - the Crimean Tatars, in exercising their economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to work, as well as the ability to preserve their identity, culture and education in Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar.

The resolution expresses concern over the Russian Federation's militarization and assimilation of young people in Crimea, including the military training of children and the introduction of a "military-patriotic" education system.

It also points to the illegality of the census in the Crimea by the Russian occupation authorities.

It is emphasized that the occupying power is obliged to provide drinking water to all Crimean residents, without discrimination, for personal and household consumption.

The forcible seizure of Crimea is a violation of international law, and the occupied territories must be returned to Ukraine immediately, the resolution concludes.

As RFE/RL reminded, the draft of this resolution was supported by the UN on November 17, 2021.

After that, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed the approval of the draft resolution on human rights in Crimea by the UN General Assembly Committee and noted that the document mentioned also the Crimean Platform.