What changed

B100219/2024

B100235/2024

Motion for a European Parliament resolution on 11th year of the occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol by the Russian Federation and the deteriorating human rights situation in occupied Crimea, notably the cases of Iryna Danylovych, Tofik Abdulhaziiev and Amet Suleymanov

The European Parliament,

–− having regard to its previous resolutions on Ukraine and Russia,

– having regard to Rulerule 150 of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas Russian occupying forces in Crimea arbitrarily detain civilians, in particular politically active members of the Crimean Tatar community, journalists and other dissidents; whereas Crimean Tatars are specifically targeted with trumped-up terrorism charges;

A. Whereas since February 2014, Crimea has been temporarily occupied by Russia which illegally annexed it, following an unlawful and internationally unrecognized referendum;

B. whereas the Russian Federation is implementing a deliberate policy aimed at forcibly altering the demographic composition of Crimea, primarily along ethnic lines, which constitutes a war crime under international law;

B. Whereas since this illegal occupation, Russia has systematically violated the human rights of indigenous peoples in Crimea through military and paramilitary repression, including arbitrary detentions, persecution of minorities, particularly Crimean Tatars, media censorship, forcible nationalization of Ukrainian property, and unlawful conscription into the Russian army, all aimed at forcibly altering Crimea's demographic composition, constituting a war crime under international law;

C. whereas the occupying Russian authorities in Crimea have detained over 218 people on politically motivated charges, including 132 Crimean Tatars; whereas detainees are routinely denied medical care;

C. whereas there are over 218 Crimean political prisoners in Russia, 133 of them are Crimean Tatars, 67 political prisoners experience sever health problems, many require immediate medical assistance;

D. whereas Iryna Danylovych is a journalist and a human rights defender, who was abducted in 2022 by Russian security agents and sentenced to over 6 years imprisonment on trumped-up charges; whereas Danylovych suffered a stroke and became partly deaf due to lacking medical aid;

D. Whereas Tofik Abdulhaziiev, a Crimean Tatar activist arrested in 2019 on false terrorism charges whose health deteriorated severely in detention this year, with serious illnesses that legally warrant release under Russian law; whereas Iryna Danylovych, a Crimean nurse and activist, was abducted by FSB officers in 2022, subjected to psychological and physical abuse, sentenced to prison on fabricated charges, and her health has since deteriorated, with cerebral lesions, neurological disorders, while prison authorities deny her medical care; whereas Amet Suleymanov, a Crimean Solidarity journalist with severe heart disease, was sentenced to 12 years in a Russian high-security prison on fabricated terrorism charges, despite needing a heart valve replacement surgery, making his imprisonment a potential death sentence and the UN urging Russia to suspend the sentence and provide necessary medical care.

E. whereas Tofik Abdulhaziiev is an Crimean social activist who was arrested in 2019 and sentenced to 12 years imprisonment on false charges ,was transferred to a Russian prison and later diagnosed with tuberculosis;

1. Recalls its severe condemnation of the illegal annexation by Russia of the Crimean peninsula and the commitment of the EU, its Member States and the international community to implement the policy of non-recognition of the illegal annexation of Crimea;

F. whereas Amet Suleymanov is a journalist covering the repression of Crimean Tatars who was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment while he suffers from a life-threatening heart condition which requires immediate medical care;

2. Denounces Russia’s actions, including forced conscription, deportations, abductions, Russification, demographic changes, and the persecution of Tatars, along with the militarization of children through a “military-patriotic” education system.

1. Condemns in the strongest possible terms Russia’s continued war of aggression against Ukraine and demands that Russia immediately terminate all military activities in Ukraine, unconditionally withdraw all forces from the entire internationally recognised territory of Ukraine and compensate Ukraine for the damage caused;

3. Condemns Russia's continuation of the Soviet oppressive legacy, targeting the indigenous Crimean Tatars with politically motivated persecution and systematic efforts to erase their heritage and culture in the temporarily occupied Crimea, echoing the tragic deportation of 1944, recognising that act as genocide.

2. Demands that Russia immediately ceases all its violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law against residents of the temporarily occupied Crimea and other occupied territories of Ukraine;

4. Demands the immediate and unconditional release of Iryna Danylovych, Tofik Abdulhaziiev and Amet Suleymanov and all political prisoners; calls for proper medical treatment for their conditions and accountability for those responsible for their inhumane detention.

3. Considers that the future of Crimea must be inextricably tied to the recognition and protection of the Crimean Tatars' inherent right to the peninsula as their historic homeland;

5. Calls on the EU in cooperation with the Council of Europe, to support cultural, educational, and media programs to protect the Crimean Tatar culture and language, threatened by forced assimilation under Crimea's illegal occupation.

4. Urgently calls for the immediate and unconditional release of Iryna Danylovych, Tofik Abdulhaziiev, and Amet Suleymanov; insists further that Russia releases and repatriates all unlawfully detained Ukrainians, ensures adequate medical care, shares information on their whereabouts, and allows communication with their families, lawyers and international actors including the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID);

6. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the Council, the Commission, Member States, the ICC, the Russian Federation, and the President, Government and Parliament of Ukraine and Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People.

5. Calls on the ICRC and UN WGEID to take all required measures to establish the whereabouts and health state of civilian detainees from temporarily occupied Crimea and other occupied territories of Ukraine;

6. Recalls the need for the establishment of a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine which would cover Russia’s invasion of Ukraine since 2014;

7. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the VP/HR, the Council, the Commission, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the President of Ukraine and the Verkhovna Rada, the ICRC, OHCHR, and the Russian authorities.