In May 2019, 5 years have passed since the disappearance of Timur Shaimardanov and Seyran Zinedinov and three years since the forced abduction of Ervin Ibragimov. The investigations carried out by the occupying authorities have not yielded any positive outcome. Despite the fact that today all of the mechanisms of international law are involved, the whereabouts of activists is still unknown. What can be done?!
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The so-called law enforcement agencies of the peninsula in all three of the aforementioned cases formally began investigating the disappearances, but after a while they officially stopped the investigations. Unfortunately, the occupying authorities were only able to give the appearance of investigating these cases without taking any necessary reasonable measures, despite the fact that, according to the UNGA Resolution A / RES / 71/205, Russia is determined as the occupying state and is responsible for respecting human rights of the territory’s inhabitants .
In this regard, in 2018-2019, the Crimean Tatar Resource Center sent a number of reports and complaints to the special procedures of the UN Human Rights Council and the UN Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and informed the competent international bodies about the circumstances of the disappearance of representatives of the Crimean Tatar people, as well as taken by the de facto authorities means and measures to investigate these crimes. Such reports and complaints are indisputable evidence of the illegal actions of the Russian authorities in Crimea and serve as a necessary basis for international institutions to formally seek clarification and explanation from the Russian Federation on every single case.
The list of reports and complaints filed by the Crimean Tatar Resource Center in 2018-2019, which describe the cases of the abduction of Timur Shaimardanov, Seyran Zinedinov and Ervin Ibragimov includes:
The 16th of March 2018 report, which was sent to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in a framework of consultations and negotiations with states, non-governmental and human rights organizations to prepare a thematic report on criminalization of attacks on indigenous peoples to ensure their rights.
The 13th of June 2018 report with a complaint was handed over to the the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances during a meeting with representatives of the Working Group during their visit to Ukraine.
The 1st of February 2019 report, which was sent to the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances as part of consultations and negotiations with states, non-governmental and human rights organizations to prepare a report dedicated to the standards and public policies for an effective investigation of enforced disappearances.
The 1st of February 2019 report, which was sent to the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in a framework of consultations and negotiations with states, representative bodies of indigenous peoples, non-governmental and human rights organizations to prepare a report dedicated to the rights of indigenous peoples in the context of state borders, migration and displacement.
Employees and experts of the CTRC have repeatedly informed the international community about the disappearances and abductions of people in the occupied Crimea on the international level including the UN, OSCE and PACE. We condemn the arrests, detentions and abductions of people, as well as other crimes committed in order to impose pressure and intimidate the indigenous Crimean Tatar people and pro-Ukrainian activists