At 22 April our Association’s expert Olesia Tsybulko took active participation in OSCE Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting “The Role of Civil Society in the Promotion and Protection of International Human Rights Law and International Humanitarian Law” held in Vienna.
Ms. Tsybulko reported on its Session I “The role of civil society in monitoring and ensuring accountability for violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law in conflict” and noticed about relevant activities of illegal “Crimean republican authorities” including Sergey Aksyonov and Vladimir Konstantinov, are closely connected with the interstate criminal world.
Expert stressed that all so called “Crimean authorities” are totally corrupted and are connected to the organised criminal groups involved in the drug, weapon and human trafficking in the Crimea, including their direct connections with “Wagner” and other terrorist groups.
Expert noted that the participation of those criminal groups in war crimes and gross human rights’ violations poses additional challenges to the identification of victims and to relevant human defender’s aid to them, as there are no effective remedies in the peninsula as a “grey zone” and in Russia also.
Ms. Tsybulko reminded that some thousand persons were kidnapped by Russian militaries and punitive structures in occupied part of Kherson Region only, and at the “checkpoints” between the Crimea and Ukraine mainland, including repressions against so-called “Crimean Tatar battalion members”.
ARC’s expert informed OSCE delegates that Associaiton sent more than 150 submissions to UN working groups and rapporteurs regarding Russian aggression, and more that hundred of them was published at UN sources and they were included into some UN reports. Also we sent some submissions to Prosecutor’s Office of the International Criminal Court and we discussed those challenges in “Future of Crimea” strategic forums and at Second Black Sea Security Conference in Sofia this April.
ARC’s expert added that our human rights’ defense activities caused repressions per absentia against Professor Borys Babin and against other Association’s experts, initiated by Russia’s authorities and by illegal “administrations” in Crimea, including so-called “blockade cases” and we informed about it relevant UN special rapporteurs.
Ms. Tsybulko stressed believe that a special research on influence of the armed conflicts, occupation and attempts of annexation to the safety of relevant human rights defenders, done by OSCE structures, may be a starting point for improvement of the situation.
It would be beneficial, expert added, if that research could pay attention to the situation with the relevant consequences of the Russian aggression in Ukraine that includes the occupation the Crimea. The OSCE monitoring activities, including visits to Ukraine, would contribute to collection of information, and would enable to make a first-hand impression of the aggressor’s illegal practices in this area.
