The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is held annually on March 21 by decision of the XXI session of the UN General Assembly.
After the occupation of Crimea in 2014, Russia, in violation of international law, carries out mass repressions and puts pressure on the Crimean Tatars and pro-Ukrainian activists on the territory of the Crimean peninsula.
The occupying authorities continue to apply legislation and administrative measures that discriminate against ethnic groups and indigenous peoples, including in matters of citizenship, the study of the Ukrainian/Crimean Tatar language, the registration of religious communities, and the activities of Crimean Tatar self-government bodies, including the Mejlis.
Clauses calling for an end to racial discrimination against the indigenous people of Crimea – the Crimean Tatars and ethnic Ukrainians – are mentioned in the Resolutions on Crimea of the UN General Assembly and the European Parliament.
In all documents, international bodies condemn violations, abuses and discriminatory measures and methods against residents of the temporarily occupied Crimea, including Crimean Tatars, as well as Ukrainians and persons belonging to other ethnic and religious groups, by the Russian occupation authorities.
We demand immediate and immediate compliance with this requirement by the aggressor country – the Russian Federation.