In the framework of permanent cooperation with the United Nations’ structures, our Association sent a relevant submission in the framework of preparing the next report of the UN Secretary-General about the realization of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action regarding the elimination of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related intolerance.
The ARC submission, prepared pursuant to the General Assembly resolution 80/193 and published on the UN official web-sources now, described relevant contemporary manifestations of racial discrimination, in particular in relation to xenophobia and related intolerance, committed in the Russia-occupied territories of Ukraine.
The ARC submission reminded to the UN Secretary-General on the systemic, structural, and institutional racial discrimination against the ethnic Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars by the Russia-controlled “administrations” and “officials” in the Russia-occupied Crimea. The ARC submission pointed to the relevant judgments of the European Court of Human Rights and the International Court of Justice against Russia.
The submission added that in the Russia-occupied territories of Ukraine, the so-called “Russian standards” of education established that reject the issues of human rights education and include strong hate speech against ethnic Ukrainians and elements of racial discrimination; at the same time, Russia-controlled schools in Crimea use neo-Nazi practices.
The submission reminded about the amendments to the UN General Assembly’s resolutions 77/204, 78/190, 79/160, and 80/192, initiated by the ARC, which stress “with alarm that the Russian Federation has sought to justify its territorial aggression against Ukraine on the purported basis of eliminating neo-Nazism, and underline that the pretextual use of neo-Nazism to justify territorial aggression seriously undermines genuine attempts to combat neo-Nazism.”
The ARC submission also pointed out the Concluding Observations CERD/C/UKR/CO/24-26 of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination about the realization of the Durban Declaration by Ukraine and described the intermediary results of the administrative procedure for Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar to obtain legal status as the representative body of Indigenous People, including the relevant Prescript of the Government of Ukraine.
