KYIV – The Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly on November 14 adopted the draft resolution on the “Situation of human rights in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, Ukraine.” Voting in favor were 67 U.N. member states, 23 voted against, 82 abstained. The Permanent Mission of Ukraine to the United Nations reported that 38 countries became co-sponsors of the draft resolution. The document concerns the violations of human rights in Crimea by the Russian Federation as an occupying state.
The Third Committee – one of six main committees of the U.N. General Assembly – is concerned with social, humanitarian and cultural issues, including human rights, around the globe.
According to a U.N. press release, the resolution deplores the failure of the Russian Federation to comply with the General Assembly’s repeated requests and demands. It also condemns the total disregard by the Russian Federation of its obligations under the Charter of the United Nations and international law.
What’s the resolution about?
This resolution demands that the Russian Federation stop its forcible change of demographics on the Crimean peninsula. Russian officials force migration of their citizens to illegally occupied Crimea and conduct forced resettlement from the peninsula.
The United Nations General Assembly condemns the detentions of activists and human rights advocates based on their alleged support of “terrorism.” Members of the civic initiative Crimean Solidarity are among those suffering as a result of this Russian policy, so they are mentioned in this document. Furthermore, the resolution calls on the Russian Federation to stop such persecution and to release people detained for expressing their position, in particular before the beginning of the illegal occupation of the peninsula.
The resolution condemns the long-lasting practice of drafting men in Crimea into the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation and criminal prosecution of those who refuse to serve in the army of the country that has now occupied their land. During the last five years, men in the Crimea have had to either take an oath of loyalty to Russia Federation or be prosecuted for refusal, even if they are Ukrainians or Crimean Tatars.
According to the document, the United Nations demands the immediate release of Ukrainian citizens illegally imprisoned by the Russian Federation and calls for provisions for their safe return back home. The Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly appeals to the international community to continue denouncing human rights violations by the Russian Federation on both the bilateral and multilateral levels.
Furthermore, this resolution “Requests the Secretary-General to take all steps necessary to ensure the full and effective coordination of all United Nations bodies with regard to the implementation of the present resolution, and also requests the Secretary-General to continue to provide his good offices and pursue his discussions relating to Crimea, involving all relevant stakeholders and including the concerns addressed in the present resolution.”
The document is drafted based on the secretary-general’s report submitted on August 2 of this year – a sign that this topic has a high priority at the United Nations.
Among the authors of the resolution are Ukraine’s long-term partners, including Australia, Canada, France, Georgia, Germany, Poland, the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, the United States. In total, 38 U.N. member states became co-authors of the draft resolution.
Why is this important?
The United Nations General Assembly “condemns all attempts by the Russian Federation to legitimize or normalize its attempted annexation of Crimea, including the automatic imposition of Russian citizenship, illegal election campaigns and change of the demographic structure of the population of Crimea.” This strong sentence in the resolution is another step to prevent attempts by Russia to move forward on legitimizing its illegal occupation.
Today it is unclear when and how exactly Ukraine will resume full control of what it says is temporarily occupied Crimea. While the Russian Federation is trying to integrate the annexed peninsula into its sociopolitical systems, Ukraine needs to work on not only its Crimea reintegration strategy, but also on the prevention of further Russian moves.
Thanks to the international community, at this point the annexation of Crimea is not recognized on any official international level. Only a small number of states, Afghanistan, Cuba, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Nicaragua, Sudan, Syria and Zimbabwe, have recognized the results of the 2014 Russian-imposed referendum in Crimea. Most of these countries are entirely dependent on Russia on the economic or political level.
This resolution provides yet another reason for many countries to refrain from supporting the Russian Federation. Each year, fewer and fewer U.N. member states vote in favor of Russian resolutions. The next country that might be willing to recognize the illegal referendum held in Crimea would risk a lot more on the international level thanks to this latest resolution.
This is not the first document of its kind adopted by the United Nations. The first wording of the resolution on human rights in illegally annexed Crimea was considered in December 2016. Seventy countries supported it, 77 abstained and 26 voted against it. On December 19, 2017, the United Nations General Assembly approved its amended version with 70 countries for it and 26 against, while 76 abstained. On December 23, 2018, the United Nations General Assembly again supported the updated resolution on the “Situation of human rights in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, Ukraine.” In total, 65 countries backed the resolution, 70 abstained, and 27 voted against.
What’s next?
The resolution will come into force in December after approval by the full U.N. General Assembly. The Russian Federation will be compelled to fulfill all the demands outlined in the resolution. However, as usual, it is expected that Russia will not complete those requirements. It will be another sign of Russia’s disrespect for international law. Such a reaction to the U.N. resolution could be used for further sanctions – both political and economic. Thus, the new resolution is a strong addition to the instruments currently being used by Ukraine to counter Russia’s aggression.
Ukraine should continue work on connecting with Crimean people and creating all relevant conditions to return control under the peninsula. The United Nations “supports the efforts of Ukraine to maintain economic, financial, political, social, informational, cultural and other ties with its citizens in the occupied Crimea in order to facilitate their access to democratic processes, economic opportunities and objective information.”
In recent years, the focus has moved from Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea to Russia’s war in the east of Ukraine. Some pessimists even assume that the Crimean question is off the agenda. This U.N. resolution, however, is a strong statement that Crimea is a top priority for both Ukraine and the international community.