In the framework of sustainable cooperation with the United Nations’ bodies and agencies, our Association informed the Working Group on Business and Human Rights for its next report on corporate governance, responsibility to respect human rights, and access to effective remedies.
The ARC submission, published at the official UN web-sources now, stressed that in the Russia-occupied territories of Ukraine, there are a significant number of structures declared to be “state property” of the Russians, which not only perform, contrary to international humanitarian law and massively violating human rights, certain functions of the occupational “administration”, but also provide financing for mercenaries and terrorists. Firstly, these are state-owned Russian banks, such as “Promsvyazbank,” as well as illegal proxies of Russian state corporations, namely “Krymenergo,” “Post of Crimea,” and “Crimea Railway,” submission stressed.
The ARC submission added that particular attention should be paid to such aggressor’s public structures that perform functions in the field of “shipping management and certification”, including the “Russian Maritime Register of Shipping.”
ARC reminded that “RMRS” gives manipulative and fraudulent services to the Russia-controlled tanker fleet, for the aggressor’s Crimea and Azov illegal operations, as a significant tool of the Russian special services.
At the same time, the “RMRS”, at least in the Pacific region, is gradually becoming a joint Russian-Chinese tool of illegal activities against maritime safety and security issues.
ARC stressed that the “RMRS” has proven connections with such structures as the “Research and Design Institute of Testing Machines, Instruments, and Mass Measuring Instruments,” aka ”NIKIMP,” and “Association Russian Register,” aka “ARR,” and with the hidden network of inspectors and branches of the “RMRS” in European countries.
The ARC submission stressed that by manipulating maritime safety categories and facilitating, by providing fake classification documents, the “RMRS” violates the requirements of the MLC, SOLAS, MARPOL, and STCW conventions with relevant threats to maritime safety of seafarers and others.
So the activities of the “RMRS” in international organizations, in particular the IMO and the UN economic commissions, should be terminated, and the relevant recommendations on the recognition of the “RMRS” should be withdrawn, ARC submission summarized.
