On Friday, March 19, the Regional Council of Ukrainians of Crimea issued an open appeal on the persecution of Ukrainians in the occupied peninsula, in which it called on the international community to impose new sectoral sanctions against Russia, as well as to stop Russia’s membership in the Council of Europe.
In its appeal, the RCUC condemned the detention during the celebration of Taras Shevchenko's birthday of two representatives of the Ukrainian community of Crimea – V. Yosypenko and E. Pavlenko.
“In this regard, we demand not only to end the persecution of E. Pavlenko, V. Yosypenko, the release of political prisoners of the Crimean people O. Prykhodko, V. Dudka, O. Bessarabov and all other citizens of Ukraine, but the adoption of measures that would show the determination of the international community in protection of human rights and freedoms and international law”,- the message said.
RCUC proposed the following measures:
1) the Council of Europe – to stop Russia's membership in its ranks, as a systematic and gross violator of the norms and principles of the organization, until the end of its war against Ukraine;
2) States and international organizations that respect international law to introduce new sectoral sanctions against Russia for large-scale systematic violations of human rights and freedoms and discrimination against the Ukrainian community of Crimea;
3) The authorities of Ukraine take measures to end the persecution of E. Pavlenko, release V. Yosypenko, political prisoners-citizens of Ukraine illegally convicted by Russia, as well as to bring to justice those guilty of gross violation of their rights.