In framework of permanent cooperation with UN bodies our Association sent in the beginning of 2024 the submission to UN OHCHR for the next report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on issues of administrative measures in counter terrorism.
In September, 2024 UN High Commissioner published this Report “Terrorism and human rights” A/HRC/57/29 for UN General Assembly and evaluated in it the NGO submissions for Report drafting, that were also published by UN, including ARC’s submission, prepared by Professor Borys Babin.
ARC’s submission stressed that Russian troops, fake “administrations” and “commandant’s offices” actively use the practice of extrajudicial executions, tortures and enforced disappearances of local civil population in Russia-occupied territories of Ukraine as alleged “fighting with terrorism”.
At the same time, as ARC’s submission added, Russian aggressor’s crimes, accompanied by statements and demands from both the leaders of the occupying “authorities” in the Crimea, Henichesk, Melitopol, and the Russian high-level leadership as a whole, has all the signs of state terrorism.
Also, ARC’s submisison stressed, Russia steps up its campaign of terror against Ukraine, striking at crucial energy infrastructure. Association’s submission reminded also on some chauvinistic and racist tatements of illegal “Crimean authorities”, that promised to initiate “official” death penalty for “high treason and terrorism” after terroristic act was committed on 22 March 2024, at the Crocus City Hall music venue in Krasnogorsk.
ARC’s submission reminded to UN that International Court of Justice, ICJ concluded in its Judgment on January 31, 2024 in case 166 that Russia has violated Article 9 of the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism as upon receiving information from Ukraine that persons who has committed or who is alleged to have committed an terroristic act may be present in Russian territory, Russia did not take such measures as may be necessary under its domestic law to investigate the facts contained in the information.
ARC’s submission added, that after this Crocus City Hall provocation, connected with Russian punitive structures, Russia initiated “negotiations” with Ukraine in alleged “relations” of Ukrainian authorities with terroristic acts in Russia that is a direct fabrication of “respond” case aganst Ukraine in ICJ after mentioned ICJ Judgment in case 166.
It is worth to add, that Russia in its comments for draft Report A/HRC/57/29 declared that UN allegedly “fixated too attention” on allegedly “secondary gender and human rights issues” and Russia’s proxies from Minsk talked to UN about “Great Patriotic War” and “Nazi invaders” as allegedly more important issues.
Anyway, Report A/HRC/57/29 reflected not aggressor’s fakes but reality, where UN High Commissioner stressed that the expansive use of administrative measures in counter-terrorism may also undermine the principle of legal certainty and “broad and ambiguous definitions of terrorism, often underpinning or embedded in administrative measures, may facilitate the overbroad application of such measures”
Regarding above-described aggressor’s manipulations Report A/HRC/57/29 confessed that in administrative measures’ implementation “in some contexts, human rights defenders, dissidents and people belonging to minority groups have been targeted”.
The High Commissioner concluded in this document that responses that do not comply with international human rights law are counterproductive and risk creating new or exacerbating pre-existing grievances that could be conducive to the spread of terrorism.
Report summarised that any administrative measures imposed against terrorism must be necessary, proportionate, based on individualized risk assessments, and non-discriminatory. Our communication with UN bodies on those issues will be continued.
