The authors of the letter draw attention of the United Nations to the alarming tendencies in the field of human rights in the temporarily occupied Crimea in the context of the thematic report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights "Situation of human rights in the temporarily occupied Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol (Ukraine)" dated September 25, 2017. Concern was expressed that even after the publication of the UN report, the repression of the Russian occupation authorities against the citizens of Ukraine not only did not stop, but also intensified. New illegal searches, detentions and arrests of Crimean Tatar activists took place.
In the appeal concerning the issue of the mass repressions by the Russian Federation in the occupied territories of Ukraine, the authors also consider the possibility of introducing the following measures:
1. To hold international hearings at the UN on systemic and large-scale violations of human rights in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine - in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and in Sevastopol, as well as in the Donbass.
2. To demand from the Russian Federation the suspension of political persecution and the immediate release of Ukrainian citizens, prisoners for political reasons in Russia and the occupied Crimea, to demand respect for their rights and freedoms, in particular freedom from torture, the right to protection, the right to a fair trial, etc.
3. To demand from the RF access of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (UN HRMMU) and other international human rights mechanisms to the territory of the temporarily occupied Crimean Peninsula.
4. To demand from the Russian Federation to stop the practice of using anti-terrorist and anti-extremist legislation against dissidents.
5. To demand effective investigations into gross violations of human rights and war crimes, as well as further prosecution of perpetrators of crimes committed in the temporarily occupied territory of the Crimean Peninsula.
6. To recommend that governments take restrictive measures (including the freezing of financial assets and the ban on international travel) concerning Russian officials and officials in the occupied territories responsible for gross violations of human rights, unlawful, politically motivated persecution of persons (falsification of cases, criminal prosecution, torture), illegal sentences, etc.)
7. To encourage governments to review the procurement policies of energy and other resources from the country (Russia), whose actions led to violations of international human rights law, international humanitarian law and wide repressions and persecution of dissent.
