Human Rights House Foundation statement
HRC56 – Item 10 – Interactive Dialogue – HC Ukraine
10 July 2024
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Thank you, Vice-President.
We welcome the release of Nariman Dzhelal, the first deputy chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People from his unjust imprisonment, but many more remain unjustly detained and imprisoned.
On 19 April the Rostov Regional Court upheld a decision in favour of Crimean Tatar human rights defender Server Mustafayev with the Court acknowledging his detention conditions were inadequate. Mustafayev was sentenced to fourteen years imprisonment as a result of politically-motivated charges. Yet, Mustafayev continues to suffer deteriorating health and mistreatment and we continue to call for his immediate release.
Vice-President.
We are particularly concerned about the forced transfers of Ukrainian civilians, including children, as outlined in the latest report of the High Commissioner.
According to the findings, large numbers of civilians, including unaccompanied children, have been forcibly transferred within the temporarily occupied territories, and to the Russian Federation, in violation of international humanitarian law. The report highlights the lack of efforts to reunite children with their families, further compounded by the imposition of Russian citizenship, which is in breach of the Geneva Conventions.
Vice-President.
We seek the High Commissioner’s recommendations on specific measures that can be implemented to ensure the safe return and reunification of Ukrainian civilians. What initiatives are in place, and how can the Human Rights Council support these efforts?
Thank you.
