UN: Russia is a 'state occupier' and must adhere to its obligations under international law
During the meeting of the Third Committee of the General Assembly, the United Nations approved a resolution called "Situation of Human Rights in the Autonomous Republic of the Crimea and the City of Sevastopol,” initiated by Ukraine.
Seventy-three countries voted in favor of the resolution, 23 were against and 76 countries abstained, reported Krym.Realii.
The document condemns the massive human rights violations in the occupied Crimea and calls for Russia as a state-occupier to adhere to their obligations under international law. The resolution also declared the need for the release of Ukrainian citizens illegally detained by Russia and for the lifting of the prohibition of the activity of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people.
The document demands that Russia grant international human rights mechanisms, particularly the UN Monitoring Mission on the observance of human rights in Ukraine unhindered access to the Crimea to ensure the monitoring of the human rights situation. The document also contains an appeal to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to prepare a separate thematic report on the situation on the Crimean peninsula.
The co-authors of the draft resolution are 41 member states of the United Nations.
It is the first time that UN documents have called Russia a “state occupier” and the Crimea and Sevastopol “temporarily occupied territory,” Ukraine's mission to the UN reported on Twitter.
The First Deputy Minister of Information Policy of Ukraine, Emine Dzheppar, reported on Facebook that among the countries that voted against the resolution were Armenia, Iran, Belarus, India, China, Kazakhstan, Russia and Uzbekistan.