On Friday, July 2, an online side event was held on the topic: The introduction of personal sanctions as a mechanism to ensure the protection of human rights in the occupied Crimea. European and Ukrainian MPs, human rights defenders, activists discussed the importance of introducing laws analogous to the Magnitsky Act in Ukraine and in the world.
The speakers were:
Maria Mezentseva – MP of Ukraine, Head of the Permanent Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
Eskender Bariiev – Chairman of the Board of the Crimean Tatar Resource Center, Chairman of the Department for Legal and Foreign Affairs of Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People
Žygimantas Pavilionis – Chair of Seimas Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania
Venera Mustafayeva – Mother of the political prisoner Server Mustafayev
Nikolay Polozov – Lawyer
Yevheniya Kravchuk – MP of Ukraine, Deputy Head of the Permanent Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
Antonio Stango – Professor, President of the Italian Federation for Human Rights ( after agreement)
The experts discussed the following issues:
1. Laws modelled on the "Magnitsky Act": implementation experience, challenges and results.
2. The role of laws similar to the "Magnitsky Act" in the context of human rights violations in the occupied Crimea: implementation mechanisms and perspective.
3. Whether the Parliaments of the CE member states ready to introduce amendments to the laws to strengthen personal sanctions in the context of human rights violations in Crimea?
4. Whether the politicians and prominent figures of European countries ready to take political patronage over political prisoners of the occupied Crimea?
The participants in the discussion spoke about the current situation in the occupied Crimea and stressed the importance of introducing laws similar to the Magnitsky Act in order to ensure the protection of human rights on the peninsula.
Organizers of the event: Crimean Tatar Resource Center, Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people,
Permanent Delegation of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
The event was organized with the support of the Renaissance Foundation within the framework of the project
“Public diplomacy as an instrument for the protection of human rights in conditions of occupation”.
Thoughts, conclusions and recommendations belong to the participants and organizers of this event and do not necessarily reflect the views of Renaissance Foundation. The responsibility for the content lies solely with the Crimean Tatar Resource Center.