“In our closing statement at last year’s meeting, the United States delegation called for the release of filmmaker Oleh Sentsov and other Ukrainian citizens held by the Russian Federation due to their peaceful opposition to Russia’s occupation of Crimea and aggression in eastern Ukraine.
“As we open the 2018 HDIM [Human Dimension Implementation Meeting], Mr. Sentsov is in perilous health on the 120th day of his hunger strike to protest Russia’s unlawful imprisonment of over 60 of his fellow countrymen. We call on Russia to release these prisoners. We are alarmed about the prospect of another innocent person dying in Russian custody.
“The Helsinki Final Act’s 10 foundational principles link security among states to respect for human rights within states. Russia’s ongoing aggression against Ukraine contravenes all 10 principles, including the inviolability of frontiers and the territorial integrity of states. Mr. Sentsov and his imprisoned Ukrainian countrymen are flesh and blood embodiments of the connection between Russia’s breaches of international security and its abuse of human rights.
“The conflict in Ukraine that Russia ignited and continues to stoke constitutes the worst security crisis in Europe since the 1990s. Its cruelest costs can be counted in human lives: nearly 2 million driven from their homes; more than 10,000 dead. In Russia-controlled parts of eastern Ukraine, those considered to have pro-Ukrainian sympathies are subject to imprisonment, torture and extrajudicial killings. The humanitarian situation along the line of contact is dire. In Crimea, occupation authorities harass and prosecute Crimean Tatars and other Ukrainian citizens who dare to oppose Russian rule.
“We join our European and other partners in affirming that our Minsk-related sanctions against Russia will remain in place until Russia fully implements its Minsk commitments. Crimea-related sanctions will remain in place until Russia returns full control of the peninsula to Ukraine. …”
– Opening statement by the United States at the 2018 Human Dimension Implementation Meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Warsaw, delivered on September 10 by Michael Kozak, head of the U.S. delegation. Source: Ukrainian Canadian Congress Daily Briefing.