On Tuesday, July 26, representatives of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people and the Secretariat of the Council of Europe held an online meeting during which they discussed human rights violations in the occupied Crimea.
The meeting was attended by the leader of the Crimean Tatar people, MP Mustafa Dzhemilev, Chairman of Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people Refat Chubarov, Deputy Chairman and members of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people Ilmi Umerov, Riza Shevkiev, Eskender Bariiev, as well as representatives of Crimean Tatar public organizations from the territories of Ukraine occupied by the Russian Federation with the Secretariat of the Council Europe.
The meeting participants discussed the first report of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe on the human rights situation in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol (Ukraine), covering the period from May 2021 to 24 February 2022.
In addition, the peculiarities of the preparation of the second report of the Secretary General of the Council of Europe were noted, including new challenges and threats to the rights of the indigenous Crimean Tatar people and human rights in the occupied Crimea, which arose as a result of a full-scale war in Ukraine.
Head of the Board of the Crimean Tatar Resource Center, head of the Department of Legal Affairs and Foreign Affairs of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people Eskender Bariiev stressed that the CTRC is actively monitoring human rights not only in the occupied Crimea, but also in the new occupied territories.
Bariiev stressed that the following trends have been observed over the last reporting period:
– Strengthening Russian legislation and its application in the persecution of Ukrainian citizens. A striking example is the recognition of the Noman Çelebicihan Crimean Tatar Volunteer Battalion as a terrorist organization;
– registration of political prisoners on professional accounting;
– continuation of racial discrimination. The occupiers, before detaining a person, check person’s name and surname;
– mass detentions for administrative violations.
“We are ready to provide all the necessary information that the Crimean Tatar Resource Center and the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people are developing for the commission”,- Bariiev added.