Written declaration No. 629 | Doc. 14305 | 04 July 2017

International community reaction on the increasing pressure of the Russian occupants on Crimean Tatars

Signatories: Mr Volodymyr ARIEV, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Ms Boriana ÅBERG, Sweden, EPP/CD ; Ms Iwona ARENT, Poland, EC ; Mr Vilhjálmur ÁRNASON, Iceland, EC ; Ms Erika BENKŐ, Romania, EPP/CD ; Mr Boryslav BEREZA, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Mr Tobias BILLSTRÖM, Sweden, EPP/CD ; Mr Algirdas BUTKEVIČIUS, Lithuania, SOC ; Mr Boriss CILEVIČS, Latvia, SOC ; Mr Şaban DİŞLİ, Turkey, EPP/CD ; Lord Alexander DUNDEE, United Kingdom, EC ; Mr Nigel EVANS, United Kingdom, EC ; Mr Thomas FEIST, Germany, EPP/CD ; Mr Salih FIRAT, Turkey, EC ; Sir Roger GALE, United Kingdom, EC ; Mr Xavier GARCÍA ALBIOL, Spain, EPP/CD ; Ms Iryna GERASHCHENKO, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Mr Valeriu GHILETCHI, Republic of Moldova, EPP/CD ; Ms Nino GOGUADZE, Georgia, EC ; Mr Oleksii GONCHARENKO, Ukraine, EC ; Mr Mehmet Kasım GÜLPINAR, Turkey, EC ; Ms Emine Nur GÜNAY, Turkey, EC ; Mr Andres HERKEL, Estonia, EPP/CD ; Mr John HOWELL, United Kingdom, EC ; Mr Michael Aastrup JENSEN, Denmark, ALDE ; Mr Frank J. JENSSEN, Norway, EPP/CD ; Mr Giorgi KANDELAKI, Georgia, EPP/CD ; Mr Talip KÜÇÜKCAN, Turkey, EC ; Mr Luís LEITE RAMOS, Portugal, EPP/CD ; Mr Georgii LOGVYNSKYI, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Ms Kerstin LUNDGREN, Sweden, ALDE ; Mr Jaak MADISON, Estonia, EC ; Mr Ján MAROSZ, Slovak Republic, EC ; Mr Duarte MARQUES, Portugal, EPP/CD ; Mr Rónán MULLEN, Ireland, EPP/CD ; Mr Killion MUNYAMA, Poland, EPP/CD ; Mr Jarosław OBREMSKI, Poland, EC ; Mr Pieter OMTZIGT, Netherlands, EPP/CD ; Mr Suat ÖNAL, Turkey, EC ; Ms Liliana PALIHOVICI, Republic of Moldova, EPP/CD ; Mr Martin POLIAČIK, Slovak Republic, ALDE ; Mr Adão SILVA, Portugal, EPP/CD ; Mr Serhiy SOBOLEV, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Ms Zühal TOPCU, Turkey, EC ; Mr Egidijus VAREIKIS, Lithuania, EPP/CD ; Mr Viktor VOVK, Ukraine, EC ; Ms Serap YAŞAR, Turkey, EC ; Mr Leonid YEMETS, Ukraine, EPP/CD ; Ms Kristýna ZELIENKOVÁ, Czech Republic, ALDE ; Mr Emanuelis ZINGERIS, Lithuania, EPP/CD

This written declaration commits only those who have signed it.

As of the beginning of 2017, persecutions and intimidations of Crimean Tatars in Crimea sharply increased. The Russian occupation authorities used their military forces for ethnic profiling checks and raids in the Bahchisaray region, detaining Crimean Tatars at the Simferopol market, stepping up pressure on Mejilis members, totally ignoring all calls by international organisations, including the Council of Europe.

In light of this, the Order of the International Court of Justice – the principal judicial organ of the United Nations – on the request for the indication of provisional measures submitted by Ukraine in the case of Ukraine vs Russia, is of great importance. The Court ruled that Russia must refrain from maintaining or imposing limitations on the ability of the Crimean Tatar community to maintain its representative institutions, including the Mejlis; and must ensure the availability of education in the Ukrainian language in Crimea.

We, the undersigned, welcome the above-mentioned Order, that reaffirmed numerous calls on the Russian authorities to respect international law and human rights.

We also look forward to the assessment of the human rights violations in the occupied Crimea by the European Court of Human Rights in a number of cases pending before this highest European judicial body. Given the urgency of the matter and utmost importance of the Convention rights involved, we believe that these cases deserve priority treatment by the Court.

Keeping that in mind, we point out that restoring full scale co-operation between the Parliamentary Assembly and the Russian Federation could only be achieved following the de-occupation of Crimea and full implementation of the Minsk Agreements.