The Ministry of Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories has recommended citizens apply to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in case of violation by the occupation administration of property rights in Crimea.
“The Russian occupation administration is preparing for the forced seizure of 9,750 thousand land plots that border the Kherson region or are located in the coastal areas of the temporarily occupied Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol. The main purpose of this seizure is to deprive property of citizens of Ukraine,” ministry said in a statement.
The ministry notes that in this way the occupation authorities are going to extend to Crimea and Sevastopol the presidential decree of January 9, 2011, which determines the status of lands in border areas.
In particular, the land plots of citizens of Ukraine, foreign citizens and stateless persons will be “forcibly bought” or seized if the owners do not change their citizenship to Russian or transfer property to Russian companies.
“Such actions are an unprecedented violation of international law. They are discriminatory against Ukrainian citizens and in fact are expropriation, which is prohibited by international treaties with Russia. It is also a violation of the provisions of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms to respect for their property. All these violations open the door to appeal to the relevant judicial institutions, to the ECHR about violation of the norms of international humanitarian law by Russia,” the statement said.
In this connection, the ministry considers the attempt to extend the decree of the President of the Russian Federation to the Crimea after six years of occupation as increasing pressure from Russia-occupation authorities on citizens.
“Under this pretext, attempts can be taken to seize property from everyone who does not agree with the Russian order. In particular, this may become a means of additional pressure on representatives of the Crimean Tatar people to block actions of solidarity and memory of victims of forced deportation,” the statement said.
“I urge all citizens of Ukraine in the temporarily occupied Crimea to resist arbitrariness by the occupying authorities. Provide all information about attempts to extract yours. All cases of human rights violations in the temporarily occupied territories will be recorded and will become the basis for the response of the relevant state bodies,” the ministry said, quoting Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Reznikov.
