On Thursday, December 10, Human Rights Day is celebrated all over the world – it was on this day in 1948 at the third session of the UN General Assembly that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted – a document that is a global definition of the rights that all people have. Today is another occasion to recall the constantly deteriorating human rights situation in the temporarily occupied Crimea. In line with the UN General Human Rights Action Call “Stand up for Human Rights,” we urge you to keep the issue of human rights violations and protection in Crimea on the agenda.
As the UN notes, this year's Human Rights Day theme is linked to the COVID-19 pandemic and focuses on the need for a more effective recovery by ensuring that human rights play a central role in activities in this area.
“We will achieve common global goals only if we can create equal opportunities for all, address the gaps identified by COVID-19 that contribute to the spread of infection, and apply human rights standards to combat entrenched and systematic intergenerational issues of inequality, exclusion and discrimination”,- said the message of the organization.
We also want to remind you that Russia, in violation of international law, continues to carry out massive repressions and exert pressure on Crimean Tatars and pro-Ukrainian activists on the territory of the Crimean Peninsula. So, according to our data, in only 9 months of 2020, 40 searches were recorded on the peninsula, 68 cases of arrests, 70 interrogations, interviews and conversations, 195 arrests: 48 new arrests and sentences, 147 prolongations of detention political prisoners of Crimea. In addition, it is known about 332 cases of violations of the right to a fair trial, 112 – to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, and 33 cases of transferring political prisoners from Crimea.
In addition, according to our database Victims of the Occupation of Crimea, 59 people, 43 of whom are Crimean Tatars, are illegally held in pre-trial detention centers in Crimea and Russia, 55, 33 of whom are representatives of the indigenous people, have been convicted and are serving illegal sentences in colonies. Another 29 people have restrictions or probation, 29 are persecuted. 52 people died during the occupation of Crimea, 22 of whom are representatives of the Crimean Tatar people. 18 are victims of enforced disappearances, 13 of them are representatives of the Crimean Tatar people.