Human rights activists call for tougher sanctions against Russia for persecuting Ukrainians in Crimea

"We call on international organizations and governments of democracies to condemn Russia's actions, increase sanctions pressure and facilitate the work of independent monitoring missions in Crimea," the statement reads.

The document also calls on the Ukrainian authorities to "develop and approve comprehensive legislation in support of Ukrainian political prisoners."

"We call on the Ukrainian authorities to investigate the persecution of Ukrainians in Crimea, to develop and approve comprehensive legislation in support of Ukrainian political prisoners, and to bring Ukrainian laws into line with international law by establishing liability for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed in the occupied Ukrainian territories," the authors of the statement wrote.

According to ZMINA, more than 100 Ukrainian political prisoners are currently held in prisons in Russia and Russian-occupied Crimea. More than 70 of them are Crimean Tatar Muslims who are being prosecuted on blatantly fabricated charges of terrorism and extremism. About 200 young children were left without their parents.

The statement was signed by the ZMINA Human Rights Center, the Association of Relatives of the Kremlin Political Prisoners, the Center for Civil Liberties, Crimea-SOS, the Crimean Human Rights Group, the Media Initiative for Human Rights, the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union, and the Regional Center for Human Rights.

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