Human rights situation deteriorates in Russian-occupied Crimea

On July 3, the United Nations delivered the first of a damning two-part report on human rights violations committed in Russian-occupied Crimea between 2019 and 2020. Among the findings of the report: The failure to provide legal representation to Crimean defendants, the systematic repression of freedom of speech, and the illegal indefinite detention of Ukrainian political prisoners.

In anticipation of the delivery of this report to the United Nations General Assembly, the Human Rights House Foundation based in Oslo, Norway, hosted a panel discussion to detail the findings of the UN’s report. The panel was moderated by Kyiv Post chief editor Brian Bonner.

A panel of leading experts included Matilda Bogner, head of the United Nations Monitoring Mission in Ukraine. Bogner said the report had not been easy to compile because of Russia’s iron-like grip over information entering and leaving the Crimean peninsula, which had about 2 million people before the Kremlin’s military invasion and attempted annexation in 2014. Russia refuses to allow international observation within the territory, the UN relies on a network of activists, defense lawyers, and whistleblowers to gain an insight into the human rights abuses taking place in Crimea.

Impunity runs high. “In all the cases documented by Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in which victims made credible complaints of torture or ill-treatment by the courts and law enforcement authorities in Crimea, “no perpetrator has been held accountable.”

Bogner spoke of serious breaches of justice suffered by detainees. Defendants were either provided with insufficient legal representation by their government-appointed lawyers or instructed to dismiss their private defense lawyers under the threat of physical violence. Furthermore, prisoners complained of systematic beating and unjustified strip searches.

Independent journalists are stifled.  Mykola Semana, a Crimean journalist now exiled to mainland Ukraine, was another panelist in the discussion. He described his persistent harassment by Russian  authorities before his subsequent incarceration for charges of “separatism.”

The Tatar community of Crimea features heavily in the UN’s report. Russia moved quickly to dismantle Ukrainian and Tatar-run media. Crimean Tatars, the indigenous people on the peninsula who were forcibly deported during World War II by Kremlin dictator Joseph Stalin,  were targeted by law enforcement. “The searches and raids of private homes, businesses and meeting places in Crimea between Jan. 1, 2017, and June 30, 2019, disproportionally affected Crimean Tatars.”

The right of assembly for Crimean Tatar civic groups has been repeatedly denied. Landlords who were found to be allowing legal meetings within their buildings faced harassment.

As of 2020, there are known to be at least 94 political prisoners in Russian detention, of which 71 are Crimean Tatars.

Bogner also indicated that the Ukrainian government had also not acted decisively enough to protect Crimean Tatars and Ukrainians. Crimean residents are considered as “non-residents” under Ukrainian law and are not even able to access basic banking services. Some are forced to adopt Russian citizenship for practical reasons.

Russia’s occupation has separated families, while the COVID-19 pandemic has worsened the rights situation.

Lilia Hemedzhy, a Crimean human rights lawyer to Server Mustafayev, the imprisoned leader of the Crimean Solidarity organization), joined the discussion from Crimea.

As the Russian Federations hides the true extent of the COVID-19 pandemic in Crimea, social distancing measures are resulting in reduced juries and representation for defendants. Hemedzhy recounted the story of her client, Mustafayev. Despite being seriously ill with a high fever, Mustafayev was refused medical treatment and forced to be present in court. Later during the trial, the defendant’s illness worsened, yet he was kept in a dark and dirty isolation cell without any medical assistance.

The UN report concurs with Hemedzhy’s findings and notes “that detainees in Crimea face grossly inadequate conditions of detention in overcrowded cells, a lack of proper medical care, have limited contact with the outside world and risk being transferred far away from family members facilities located in the Russian Federation.”

Olya Skrypnyk, chairperson of the board of the Crimean Human Rights Group, contributed to the online event with insight into Russia’s botched handling of the COVID-19 outbreak in Crimea.

Cases are on the rise in Crimea, she said, while the official statistics provided by the Russian government cannot be trusted. With a low rate of diagnosis and only one privately established testing laboratory, the true extent of the outbreak in Crimea is unknown.

After interviewing medical staff in Crimea, Skrypnyk understands that many cases are simply reported as “community-acquired pneumonia.” Medical staff also report that after the relaxation of lockdown measures on May 18, the staff was actively suppressing reports of new COVID-19 cases.

Russia’s military posturing on the peninsula is also expected to worsen the epidemiological situation. After Vladimir Putin gave his approval for Victory Day parades to take place in Simferopol and other Russian-administered cities, Crimea suffered an influx of parading Russian troops. In June, 6,500 cases of coronavirus were detected in the Russian army. Nevertheless, Russia continues to conduct military exercises in Crimea. Crimean residents also risk being drafted in the Russian army: there are currently 117 criminal cases against Crimean citizens who have refused the draft.

The United Nations is scheduled to deliver the second half of the report on human rights abuses in Crimea between September and October.

Both the UN report and the Human Rights House Foundation event arrived at the same conclusions. It is essential to increase the role of the international community in condemning the actions of Russia. Currently, there is no international platform for the resolution of this conflict. The participants in the livestream reaffirmed that international media organizations should highlight the miscarriages of justice within Crimea. It is also hoped that with international monitors present during the trials of political prisoners, the Russian authorities will be forced to conduct criminal proceedings within the limits of international law.

The business community united by the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine, the European Business Association, the Forum for Leading International Financial Institutions, the Independent Association of Banks of Ukraine, and the Union of Ukrainian Entrepreneurs, is deeply concerned about the resignation of the National Bank’s (NBU) Governor Yakiv Smolii, future independence of the National Bank and the continuation of the IMF program.

Ensuring macroeconomic stability, an independent central bank, and continued cooperation with the IMF to speed up economic growth is one of the highest priorities for Ukraine. A strong and independent National Bank is a powerful signal of trust for foreign investors who are eyeing Ukraine, for companies who already invested billions of dollars and created thousands of jobs, as well as for international partners who provide financial support to keep the economy running.

The business community has been continuously supporting the NBU’s efforts in reforming Ukraine’s financial sector. Unlike in previous crises, the banking system today is not a burden for the economy, but rather its lifeline. Moderate inflation, effective floating-rate policy and currency liberalization, low deficit of the current account, sizeable international reserves,  and prudent fiscal policy are all international best practice, the cornerstones of future investment, and incredible achievements by the NBU under Governor Smolii’s leadership. These achievements have been hard fought and barring the COVID-19 crisis, would be the foundation for material FDI flows.

The United Nations Secretary General’s report is here.

The recording of the July 1 discussion is here.

And other useful links are here: