Press release, 22 May 2018
The Seimas adopted a resolution calling on EU institutions, international organisations and their parliamentary assemblies, governments and parliaments, the entire international community and its political leaders to give due attention to the human rights situation in Crimea. The resolution was supported unanimously by a total of 75 Members of the Seimas.
The document takes note that the occupying authorities of the Russian Federation, in violation of international law and in the territory of the sovereign state of Ukraine, have imprisoned Crimean Tatar activists who participated in a peaceful campaign at the local parliament on 26 February 2014 to defend their homeland against the invading Russian army.
The document goes on to say that the human rights situation in Crimea, particularly that of the Crimean Tatars, has deteriorated considerably, while Crimean Tatar intellectuals, journalists and ordinary citizens who oppose the authorities of the Russian Federation constantly go missing, are found dead bearing traces of torture or are unlawfully prosecuted in court.
The Resolution of the Seimas calls on the Russian Federation, as an occupying power, to fulfil all its commitments in accordance with the applicable international law and repeal the ruling outlawing the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People as an extremist organisation and the decision banning leaders of the Mejlis from entering Crimea; refrain from bans and restrictions for the community of the Crimean Tatars to preserve their representative institutions; bring an end to all violations of human rights and restrictions on Crimean population, including arbitrary detentions, torture and other cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment; repeal all discriminatory legislation; release Ukrainian citizens who have been illegally detained and convicted in violation of the basic principles of law as well as those who have been displaced or deported from Crimea to the Russian Federation across the internationally recognised borders; call a halt to the works underway at the Khan’s Palace in the Bakhchisaray Historical and Cultural Reserve, which is the only object of the kind to maintain its authenticity to this date.
The Seimas reaffirmed its non-recognition of the actions by the Russian Federation which are aimed at changing the status of the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine – the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol – and at legitimising the annexation of a territory of the sovereign Ukraine through, for instance, the construction of an unlawful bridge across the Kerch Straight and its opening in May 2018.
Rimas Rudaitis, Chief Specialist, Press Office, Information and Communication Department, tel. +370 5 239 6132, e-mail: rimas.rudaitis@lrs.lt