Human rights situation in Crimea focus of OSCE/ODIHR expert meeting in Kherson

The current human rights situation in Crimea and the challenges faced by human rights defenders working on and in Crimea were discussed at an expert meeting on 14 June 2018 in Kherson, Ukraine. The meeting was organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) in co-operation with the Mission of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.

The event brought together 28 participants (15 women and 13 men) from leading civil society organizations working on Crimea human rights issues, intergovernmental organizations and the presidential Mission. Participants examined the current human rights situation in light of the recommendations provided in the 2015 Report of the Human Rights Assessment Mission on Crimea, prepared by ODIHR and the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM).

“The ODIHR/HCNM report highlighted a number of human rights challenges and provided a list of recommendations to address them. It is important to revisit together the recommendations and assess their implementation,” said Jennifer Croft, Deputy Head of the Human Rights Department at ODIHR. “ODIHR’s aim with this event is to facilitate the dialogue between Ukrainian civil society and relevant authorities, with the aim of strengthening joint and co-ordinated responses to the identified challenges and issues.”

Eskender Bariiev, Director of the Crimean Tatar Resource Centre, said: “Co-operation and collaboration among human rights organizations, minority communities and state authorities in Ukraine are at the core of timely and efficient response to pressing challenges that residents of Crimea, including minority and indigenous communities and other vulnerable groups, face.”

“The expert meeting is of great importance for enhancing co-operation between human rights defenders and the Mission of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea,” said Borys Babin, Permanent Representative of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. “This will further the efforts of my office to promote and monitor the observance of the human rights of Ukrainian citizens living in Crimea and of internally displaced persons from the peninsula.”