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Resolution 2231 (2018)
Ukrainian citizens detained as political prisoners by the Russian Federation
1. The Parliamentary Assembly recalls
previous resolutions relating to the situation in Ukraine, in particular Resolution 1990 (2014) on
the reconsideration on substantive grounds of the previously ratified
credentials of the Russian delegation, Resolution 2034 (2015) on the challenge,
on substantive grounds, of the still unratified credentials of the
delegation of the Russian Federation, Resolution 2063 (2015) on consideration
of the annulment of the previously ratified credentials of the delegation
of the Russian Federation (follow-up to paragraph 16 of Resolution 2034 (2015)), Resolution 2112 (2016) on
the humanitarian concerns with regard to people captured during
the war in Ukraine, Resolution
2132 (2016) on the political consequences of the Russian
aggression in Ukraine, Resolution
2133 (2016) on legal remedies for human rights violations
on the Ukrainian territories outside the control of the Ukrainian
authorities and Resolution
2198 (2018) on the humanitarian consequences of the war
in Ukraine.
2. The Assembly recalls in particular the position it has taken
in the aforementioned resolutions on the following issues of relevance
in the present context:
2.1. Crimea
has been illegally annexed following a military occupation by the
Russian Federation, which is as a result obliged to secure the human
rights of everyone in Crimea through its extraterritorial jurisdiction
based on effective control over the region;
2.2. the human rights situation in Crimea has deteriorated,
with deaths and disappearances of political activists who were critical
of the Russian occupation and annexation, threats and actions against
critical non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and media outlets,
and harassment and repression of the indigenous Crimean Tatar community;
2.3. the inhabitants of Crimea have been placed under immense
pressure to obtain Russian passports and renounce their Ukrainian
nationality, following the imposition of Russian citizenship on them
by the de facto authorities;
2.4. numerous Ukrainian citizens have been detained in Crimea
or the Russian Federation on politically motivated or fabricated
charges.
3. The Assembly is therefore deeply concerned by reports that
as many as 70 or more Ukrainian citizens – widely considered, including
by the European Parliament in its resolution of 14 June 2018 on
Russia, notably the case of Ukrainian political prisoner Oleg Sentsov,
to be political prisoners – are still detained in Crimea or the
Russian Federation on politically motivated or fabricated charges.
As examples, it considers that the cases of Mr Oleh Sentsov, Mr Volodymyr
Balukh and Mr Pavlo Hryb in particular meet the Assembly’s definition
of political prisoners, as set out in its Resolution 1900 (2012) on the definition
of political prisoner.
4. As regards the cases of Mr Sentsov, Mr Balukh and Mr Hryb,
the Assembly is alarmed by reports concerning their conditions of
detention. There have been allegations of torture and inhuman treatment
in the cases of Mr Sentsov and Mr Balukh and denial of access to
essential health care for potentially serious medical conditions
in the cases of Mr Balukh, who has been on hunger strike since March
2018, and Mr Hryb. Mr Sentsov has also been on hunger strike since
May 2018, as a result of which he reportedly now suffers from heart
and kidney problems; it has been suggested that he has been force-fed
by the Russian authorities, in possible violation of Article 3 of
the European Convention on Human Rights (ETS No. 5).
5. The Assembly is also gravely concerned by the detailed reports
of ill-treatment and denial of access to health care in other cases
of alleged political prisoners.
6. The Assembly regrets that the Council of Europe’s human rights
monitoring mechanisms, in particular the European Committee for
the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or
Punishment (CPT), have been unable to access Crimea in order to
assess the human rights situation of people detained there and calls
on the Russian Federation to facilitate such access. It also regrets
that the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms Liudmyla
Denysova, was recently denied access to visit Mr Sentsov in the
penal colony where he is being held.
7. The Assembly undertakes to further observe the human rights
situation in occupied Crimea, and continue to follow the situation
of Ukrainian citizens detained as political prisoners by the Russian
Federation. Furthermore, the Assembly undertakes to follow the implementation
of the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights on the violation
of the human rights of the people detained in Crimea and detained
in the Russian Federation.
8. The Assembly therefore calls on the Russian Federation to:
8.1. release without further delay
all Ukrainians detained in the Russian Federation and in Crimea
on politically motivated or fabricated charges and make every effort
to expedite the release of Ukrainian citizens detained in the territory
of Donbass under the effective control of the Russian Federation;
8.2. until their release, ensure full respect of their rights,
including by respecting the prohibition on torture and inhuman or
degrading treatment or punishment and ensuring the right of access
to requisite medical assistance in order to maintain their health
and well-being adequately;
8.3. refrain from force-feeding Mr Sentsov, or any other of
the detainees, unless medically necessary in order to save his or
their life;
8.4. allow the monitoring of these detainees’ state of health
and conditions of detention by independent international monitors,
including the CPT and the International Committee of the Red Cross,
and allow Ukrainian officials, including the Ukrainian Parliament
Commissioner for Human Rights, to visit them;
8.5. abandon the policy of imposing Russian citizenship on
Ukrainian citizens living in Crimea who do not wish to acquire it
and refrain from forcibly transferring such persons from Crimea
to the Russian Federation, including those subject to criminal law
measures;
8.6. lift the ban on the Mejlis, which is contrary to international
standards of freedom of association, and allow entry into Crimea
for leaders of the Mejlis: Mustafa Dzhemiliev and Refat Chubarov;
8.7. stop the persecution of, and pressure on, the Crimean
Tatar People and those who represent them, including lawyers and
human rights defenders.