In 2024, the situation concerning human rights and international humanitarian law has continued to deteriorate in Crimea under the Russian Federation’s occupation. Reports from international organisations and monitoring bodies, as well as findings of Human Rights House Crimea member organisations, highlight ongoing and worsening violations:
- Suppression of Political and Civil Rights: The occupation authorities continue to suppress political and civil rights, silence independent media, and misuse counterterrorism laws to persecute dissenters.
- Forced Conscription and Demographic Changes: Russian authorities have intensified forced conscription in Crimea, breaching international law, while implementing policies aimed at forcibly altering the region’s demographic composition by settling Russian citizens and displacing Ukrainian civilians.
- Persecution of Journalists and Activists: Human rights defenders, journalists, and activists in Crimea continue to face arbitrary detention, torture, and unfair trials on politically motivated charges.
- Suppression of Ukrainian Identity Using Crimea: The systematic suppression of the Ukrainian language, culture, and national identity remains a core element of Russia’s occupation policies, severely infringing on the rights of Crimean residents. The occupied peninsula has also become a hub for the militarised re-education of Ukrainian children, including those from newly occupied regions. In 2024 alone, during the summer campaign, approximately 9,000 children were subjected to indoctrination in at least 13 camps. Additionally, at least 4,000 Ukrainian children from newly occupied territories now live permanently in Crimea, where they are integrated into Russia’s politicised education system.
- Destruction and looting of Ukraine’s cultural heritage: From 2014 to 2024, the Russian Federation issued at least 1,359 permits to Russian researchers to conduct archaeological work (over 60 percent for excavations) at 175 important Ukrainian cultural heritage sites on the peninsula’s territory. During the excavations at one site alone, the «Tauric Chersonese and its Chora», Russian researchers removed over 7 million cultural objects. The Russian Federation transfers part of this cultural property to its own territory under the pretence of “restoration, research and recovery” or exhibits them in Russian museums as part of “Russian heritage and culture”.
- Using Crimea as a Detention Site for Abducted Civilians: Occupied Crimea continues to serve as a prison for civilians abducted by the Russian authorities in the newly occupied territories, in particular from the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, since the start of the full-scale invasion.
- Attacks on civilian objects in Ukraine from Crimea: The Russian Federation has constantly launched missiles and drones from occupied Crimea and the Black Sea, causing civilian casualties and damage to Ukraine’s infrastructure.
These developments underscore the urgent need for the international community to address the escalating human rights crisis in Crimea and to hold the Russian Federation accountable for its actions.
An important step towards accountability occurred on January 31, 2024, when theInternational Court of Justice issued a decision in the case ‘Application of the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism and of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Ukraine v. Russian Federation)’. The Court found that the Russian Federation, by the way in which it implemented its educational system in Crimea after 2014 regarding education in the Ukrainian language, violated its obligations under Articles 2, Paragraph 1 (a), and 5 (e) (v) of the International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Furthermore, the court determined that by maintaining limitations on the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, the Russian Federation violated its obligation under Paragraph 106 (1) (a) of the Order of 19 April 2017 indicating provisional measures.
On June 25, 2024, the European Court of Human Rights in the case ‘Ukraine v. Russia (re Crimea) held, unanimously, that there had been: violations of Articles 2 (right to life), 3 (prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment), 5 (right to liberty and security), 6 (right to a fair trial), 7 (no punishment without law), 8 (right to respect for private and family life), 9 (freedom of religion), 10 (freedom of expression), 11 (freedom of assembly), 14 (prohibition of discrimination) and 18 (limitation on use of restrictions on rights) of the European Convention on Human Rights. It also found violations of Article 1 of Protocol No. 1 (protection of property), Article 2 of Protocol No. 1 (right to education) and Article 2 of Protocol No. 4 (freedom of movement). The Court ordered Russia to take measures as soon as possible for the safe return of the relevant prisoners transferred from Crimea to penal facilities located on the territory of the Russian Federation.
Russia continues to disregard these judgments, undermining international law and evading accountability.
In light of these violations, we call on the international community to:
- Enhance Monitoring, Investigation and Accountability Mechanisms: Expand and reinforce international monitoring mechanisms to systematically track and respond to the militarisation of civilians, the politicised and militarised re-education of children, and the forcible demographic changes, with special emphasis on protecting vulnerable populations.
- Intensify Targeted Diplomatic and Economic Measures: Strengthen, enforce and coordinate targeted sanctions against individuals and entities directly responsible for war crimes and systematic human rights violations in occupied Crimea, ensuring their alignment with broader international accountability efforts.
- Ensure the Safe Return and Reintegration of Deported Ukrainians: Support creation and implementation of a mechanism for the unconditional and safe return, without unreasonable delay, of displaced persons including children and other protected groups, with full restoration of their rights and restitution of their property.
- End Political Repression, Arbitrary Detention, and Judicial Abuse: Demand the immediate release of individuals facing politically motivated charges and establish independent international oversight to prevent the Russian Federation from weaponizing the legal system against dissidents.
- Secure the Immediate Release of All Political Prisoners: Call for the unconditional release of all those unlawfully detained, including Emir Usein Kuku, Vladyslav Yesypenko, Bohdan Ziza, Server Mustafayev, Iryna Danylovych, Vilen Temeryanov, the Akhtemov brothers, and other Crimean political prisoners.
- Guarantee Immediate and Adequate Medical Assistance for Detained Political Prisoners: Demand urgent medical intervention, access to independent healthcare, and international oversight for approximately 50 Crimean political prisoners facing severe health risks due to inhumane detention conditions.
- Halt the eradication of Ukrainian identity and the re-education of Ukrainian children: Insist on terminating the application of the Russian educational standards, as well as using Russian teaching and methodological materials in the temporarily occupied territories, as well as ensuring the availability of education in the Ukrainian language, and the right of all Ukrainians to maintain and develop their culture, traditions and identity.
- Bolster International Coordination to Protect At-Risk Populations: Strengthen cooperation among UN treaty bodies, regional organisations, and specialised agencies to develop a cohesive, sustained international response to ongoing human rights abuses in occupied Crimea.
- Extend and Strengthen the Mandate of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine: Ensure the Commission’s continued operation with sufficient resources, expanded access, and enhanced collaboration with the OSCE, the Council of Europe, and relevant UN mechanisms to comprehensively document human rights violations and war crimes.
- Demand Compliance with the decisions of the international and regional courts: Insist that the Russian Federation fully implement the decisions of the ICJ and the ECHR, including ending its discriminatory policies against Crimean Tatars and Ukrainians.
- Support for the International Crimea Platform: Continue supporting the International Crimea Platform as the only existing consultative framework for the de-occupation and reintegration of Crimea.
We urge all UN Member States, international organisations, and civil society to take decisive action. Immediate, coordinated, and sustained measures are essential to counter the growing human rights violations and repression in occupied Crimea. The failure to act now will perpetuate impunity and further embolden violations of international law. Global solidarity and concrete action is needed now—justice, accountability, and fundamental rights must be restored for the people of Crimea.
Top photo: Stas Yurchenko
