UN General Assembly adopts resolution on Crimea
70 countries voted in favor of the resolution “Human rights situation in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol”, 26 voted against it, and 76 countries abstained from voting on Tuesday, Ukrainian News reports.
The resolution condemns violations and infringements of human rights, acts of discrimination against residents of the annexed Crimea, including the Crimean Tatars, as well as Ukrainians and persons belonging to other ethnic and religious groups, by the Russian authorities.
The document also condemns Russia’s use of its own laws in the annexed territory and the compulsory conversion of Ukrainian citizens to Russian citizenship.
The resolution demands that Russia comply with the interim ruling of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to restore the rights and liberties of Ukrainian citizens on the peninsula, and requests that education be made available in the Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar languages.
Furthermore, the document contains a call to immediately repeal the decision to declare Crimean Tatar’s Mejlis an extremist organization and ban its activity, and to annul the decision to ban the Mejlis leaders from entering Crimean territory.
The resolution also urges Russia to put an end to the practice of forcing Crimean residents to serve in the Russian armed or auxiliary forces, through pressure or propaganda.
In addition, the resolution condemns Russia’s refusal to grant the UN monitoring mission on human rights in Ukraine access to Crimean territory, despite the existing mission mandate.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin called the resolution “the most powerful”.
“This resolution on Crimea is the most powerful. The pressure on Russia with respect to Crimea is intensifying. Many thanks to those who have given support,” Klimkin tweeted.
As reported, on November 14 the Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Issues committee (Third Committee) of the UN General Assembly supported the resolution on human rights in Russian-annexed Crimea.
Earlier, Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said that the new resolution drafted by Ukraine on human rights in Russian-annexed Crimea would be used in international judicial procedures, such as the ICJ, if it is supported by the UN.