During the 12 years of the occupation of Crimea, Russians imprisoned three hundred people in falsified political cases, 159 of them were Crimean Tatars.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine informs about this in its statement on the 12th anniversary of the illegal attempt to annex the Crimea, informs the portal PromPolitInform.
12 years ago, on March 16, 2014, Russia staged a fake and illegal “referendum” under the sights of the Russian military in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol. Within a few days, the Russian invaders used this action, insignificant in its legal nature, to create the appearance of “grounds” for the illegal annexation of the ARC and the city of Sevastopol.
The occupation of Ukrainian territories grossly violated the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, the fundamental principles of international law, in particular the UN Charter, the Helsinki Final Act and other fundamental international legal documents.
The attempt to annex Crimea was condemned by a broad consensus of the UN member states in a number of resolutions of the General Assembly. No one in the world, except for a few rogue regimes allied to Moscow, recognizes the Russian annexation of the peninsula.
The Foreign Ministry notes that over the years, Russia has turned Crimea into a territory of lawlessness, where people are intimidated, persecuted and thrown into prisons only for the language they speak, the views they hold or the faith they profess. During the years of occupation, Russia illegally banned the activities of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people and forcibly terminated the activities of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
The indigenous people, the Crimean Tatars, suffered especially cruel oppression. For the second time in seventy years, Moscow stole the native land of the Crimean Tatars after the genocide of the 1944 deportation. Tens of thousands of Crimean Tatars were forced to leave the occupied peninsula just like the generations of their parents and grandparents. Those who remain are harassed and intimidated.
In general, over the years of occupation, at least 430 people have gone through politically motivated cases, although the real number may exceed 500, because not all cases are reported publicly by the occupation authorities, diplomats say.
As of today, almost 300 people are in Russian captivity on politically falsified cases, among them 159 Crimean Tatars. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs demands their immediate release and safe return to Ukraine, observance of their rights, provision of necessary medical care in accordance with international humanitarian law.
During the years of occupation, Russia actually turned the Crimea into a military base and a springboard for further aggression against Ukraine, destabilization of the Black Sea region and Europe as a whole. The militarization of Crimea has a negative effect on all Black Sea states, the Foreign Ministry also notes.
“We call on international governmental and non-governmental organizations, human rights defenders and activists to keep in sight Russian human rights violations in Crimea. Despite the pressure of the occupation regime, resistance to the occupation and people who cherish Ukraine in the heart remain on the peninsula. We remember them, we know their position and we will never stop fighting for the liberation of the peninsula… The Ukrainian state will never recognize the Russian occupation of the peninsula and will seek the restoration of territorial integrity by all available means,” the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine wrote.
Photo – from open sources
