Estonia led an informal meeting at the United Nations Security Council in New York on the deteriorating human rights situation in Crimea on Friday.
The meeting was chaired by Paul Teesalu, Undersecretary for Political Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia.
Teesalu said: "Russia has drastically curtailed the freedoms of religion and belief, assembly, association and expression."
Teesalu also discussed the worrying situation of the Crimean Tatars, which is attested to by the findings of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
"Members of ethnic and religious minorities, in particular Crimean Tatars, have become targets for illegal persecution, illegal searches, interrogations, and detentions. We call upon Russia to end the oppression of the Crimean Tatar community," he said.
Teesalu drew attention to Russia's increased military presence on the peninsula and the fact that more than 18,000 men have been conscripted into Russian armed forces since the beginning of the occupation.