UN Again Condemns Russian Seizure of Crimea,

Urges World to Call Ukrainian Peninsula ‘Occupied’

The United Nations again severely condemned Russia for its illegal seizure of the Ukrainian Crimean peninsula and insisted that Moscow must return it to Ukraine.

UN General Assembly’s 3rd Committee reaffirmed today, November 15, that Crimea is temporarily occupied by Russia and asserts “that the seizure of Crimea by force is illegal and a violation of international law, and affirming also that those territories must be returned.”

The document was backed by 67 UN member-states, 26 voted against it, 82 abstained. The following Russian minions voted against: Armenia, Belarus, Bolivia, Burundi, Cambodia, China, Cuba, North Korea, Eritrea, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Nicaragua, the Russian Federation, Serbia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Tajikistan, Uganda, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe.

According to UNIAN, the Permanent Mission of Ukraine to the United Nations reported that the statement also condemned politically motivated persecutions of citizens of Ukraine and called on Russia to free all Ukrainians who are illegally detained in the occupied Crimea and Russian territory. Illegally imprisoned Ukrainian film director Oleh Sentsov, Crimean activist Volodymyr Balkuh and Crimean Tatars’ human rights activist Emir-Huseyn Kuku are designated as political prisoners.

The UN General Assembly’s draft resolution also condemned the “imposition of automatic Russian citizenship on protected persons in Crimea, which is contrary to international humanitarian law,” and called on Russia “to end the practice of compelling Crimean residents to serve in the armed or auxiliary forces of the Russian Federation, including through pressure or propaganda, and in particular ensure that Crimean residents are not compelled to participate in military operations of the Russian Federation,” as well as in “illegal election campaigns.”

It also calls the Russian Federation "to monitor and accommodate the medical needs of all Ukrainian citizens unlawfully detained for the exercise of their human rights and fundamental freedoms, including political prisoners, in Crimea and the Russian Federation and allow the monitoring of those detainees' state of health and conditions of detention by independent international monitors and physicians from reputable international health organizations, including the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and the International Committee of the Red Cross."

The resolution urges Russia to refrain from criminalizing the right to freedom of opinion and expression and the rights to peaceful assembly in Crimea, as well as to stop discrimination against those who do not recognize the Russian occupation of Crimea.

The document calls upon all international organizations and specialized agencies of the United Nations system, when referring to Crimea in their official documents, communications and publications, including with regard to statistical data of the Russian Federation, to refer to “the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, Ukraine, temporarily occupied by the Russian Federation,” and encourages all States and other international organizations to do the same.

After this decision at the committee’s meeting, the draft resolution will be ultimately considered in December.

The first wording of the resolution on human rights in Russian-occupied Crimea was considered in December 2016. It was supported by 70 countries, 77 Russian minions abstained and 26 voted against it. On December 19, 2017, the UN General Assembly approved its amended version with 70 countries for it and 26 minions against, while 76 abstained.

Will Russia take this UN resolution to heart and heed its recommendations or will it reject it as it has rejected all UN’s decisions. Sadly, the answer is obvious to all observers.

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