Ukrainian human rights activist: Report of Russian ombudsman on Crimea is biased
Tetyana Pechonchyk, Chair of the Board of the Ukrainian Center for Information on Human Rights, stated on Radio Krym.Realii that Lyudmila Lubina, the Russian Human Rights Commissioner in Crimea, was “biased” in her 2017 report.
“Of course, we cannot expect an objective evaluation from Ms. Lubina,” Pechonchyk stated. “Moreover, for four years Russia has done everything to prevent any international missions to be conducted in the Crimea, which could provide an objective evaluation. At the same time, those violations that the ombudsman recognizes are also related to the occupation—for example, it is now difficult to get medical services in the peninsula. The same with a title registration. It’s all the consequences of the occupation.”
In April, Lyudmila Lubina presented a report for 2017, which states: “Russian annexation disrupts plans of the U.S. and the European Union to station NATO military bases on the peninsula; that’s why the West has imposed economic sanctions against Russia.”
Lubina reviewed almost three thousand complaints of Crimean residents, which often addressed work issues, law enforcement agencies, the prosecutor’s office and the observance of labor rights. Complaints were received from prisoners in temporary detention facilities. The Crimean ombudsman did not mention the persecution of Crimean citizens for political reasons.