18
Dec
2024
Watch
11th year of the occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol by the Russian Federation and the deteriorating human rights situation in occupied Crimea, notably the cases of Iryna Danylovych, Tofik Abdulhaziiev and Amet Suleymanov
Mr President, once upon a time there was an Autonomous Republic of Crimea in Ukraine. In 1991, during the independence referendum, also a majority of inhabitants of Crimea voted in favour of Ukrainian independence. Crimean Tatars could feel at home as much as Ukrainian and Russian speakers. Russian was an official language in Crimea. The Crimean Tatars had their majlis, their legal representation. This changed all dramatically with the illegal occupation and subsequent annexation by Russia of the Crimean Peninsula. Ever since, the rule of law, basic human rights, international conventions, and also the legitimate representation of the Crimean Tatars has been disregarded. For the Tatars, the situation seems more and more, and resembles more and more, the situation that they had after, first, German occupation of Crimea and, then, retaking by Stalin and the deportation that happened thereafter from Crimea. This situation is unbearable, but what is more important is to shed a light also on the fate of individuals who are persecuted because they demand their legitimate rights. We have picked three persons in the title of this urgency, namely Iryna Danylovych, Tofik Abdulhaziiev and Amet Suleymanov, and we have added another 13 persons who, because of their political activities, because they belong to this minority, they are persecuted. It is important that their names are on record, so that the aggressor and the oppressor knows that we know about them, and we demand the immediate and unconditional release, and condemn the Russian action that is ongoing within the big war against Ukraine, starting in 2014, in Crimea.