In framework of permanent cooperation with United Nations’ bodies and agencies our Association communicated this year with the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief Professor Nazila Ghanea for her next report to the UN General Assembly on freedom of religion or belief and migrants, internal displaced persons, and refugees.
ARC’s submission, published at official UN web-sources now, stressed that crimes of Russia-controlled troops and mercenaries, committed in Ukraine, including the occupied Crimea, targeted Ukrainian Orthodox, Muslims and Jews; anti-Semitic statements of illegal officials become stronger.
Relevant aggressor’s repressions have direct negative impact on processes of migration from the Crimea to third countries persons, seeking for a religious freedom, submission stressed.
As those migrants often are Crimean Tatar, who are Muslims and Indigenous People, regarding relevant next UN report our submission added that special attention must be paid to indigenous migrants regarding their rights, guaranteed by UN Declaration 2007, including cultural and spiritual rights and right to return on historic native land.
ARC’s submission reminded UN officials about the previous Report of that UN Special Rapporteur A/HRC/58/49, that reflected our previous submissions on the situation in the Crimea and other Russia-occupied territories of Ukraine. In point 46 that Report stresses, referring to our materials, that systemic discrimination based on religion or belief can also amount to coercion, and that we “chave reported regular incidents of communal violence due to religion or belief, where perpetrators enjoy impunity”, on issues of individuals tortured with the aim of changing their beliefs.
But exactly such illegal pressure becomes a tool for ethnic cleansing in the Crimea, our next submission summarised. So our new submission stressed, with grounds of UN Special Rapporteur’s previous activities, that a special UN research on the situation with the freedom of thought in conditions of the armed conflicts and related “grey zones” like Crimea may be a starting point, of work, also as the UN Special Rapporteur’s visit to Ukraine.
