UN General Assembly approves resolution on Crimea

20.12.2017 09:28

Ukrinform

The UN General Assembly has approved a resolution entitled "Situation of human rights in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, Ukraine," which was supported by the UNGA's Third Committee last month.

The vote was held in New York on Tuesday, December 19, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

The resolution was supported by 70 UN member states, 76 abstained, and 26 countries voted against the document.

As reported, a draft resolution on human rights in Crimea was introduced on October 31, 2017. The document, in particular, confirms that there is an international armed conflict between Ukraine and Russia and condemns the retroactive application of the Russian legal system in the occupied territory and the imposition of automatic Russian citizenship on Ukrainian citizens.

The resolution urges Russia to fully implement the order of the International Court of Justice on interim measures to restore the rights and freedoms of Ukrainian citizens on the peninsula and calls on the Russian occupation authorities to ensure the availability of education in the Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar languages.

At the same time, the document reaffirms concern that the UN human rights monitoring mission in Ukraine continues to be denied access to Crimea, despite its existing mandate, and includes the requirement to prepare a second thematic report on Crimea by the end of the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly (September 2018) and update the Human Rights Council on the issue at its 37th session (March 2018).

In addition, the document welcomes Ukraine's positive decisions in the context of simplifying procedures for unhindered access to Crimea by journalists and human rights defenders, as well as Ukraine's support for media outlets and NGOs that were forced to leave the temporarily occupied Ukrainian territory.

The document also requests the UN Secretary-General to coordinate the actions of the UN structures to ensure the implementation of the provisions of the resolution.