Фото з сайту https://uk.wikipedia.org/

How is the United Nations contributing to our diplomatic struggle for Crimea?

Start

Since 2014, Ukrainian diplomacy has shown significant progress in securing international condemnation and bringing to justice the Russian Federation, which is carrying out armed aggression against Ukraine. The efforts of diplomats were not in vain. Over the past eight years, an architecture of international support for Ukraine and condemnation of the aggressor state has been built, one of the key elements of which is the United Nations (UN).

The United Nations is the largest international organization, which includes all recognized countries except the Vatican. In fact, it is in the fields of the United Nations that decisions are made that have the best prospects of being defined as those taken by the “world community.” The Permanent Body of the United Nations, which is responsible for maintaining international peace and security, is the Security Council. The Council consists of 15 member countries – 5 permanent (Russia, Great Britain, USA, France, China) and 10 non-permanent. Decisions require nine votes, including the votes of all five permanent members of the Board. Due to the fact that the Russian Federation is directly carrying out armed aggression against Ukraine and has the right to veto the decisions of the Security Council, the adoption of objective decisions by this body on the situation in Ukraine is virtually blocked. That is why when we talk about UN decisions / resolutions on Crimea, we mean the resolutions of the UN General Assembly (UNGA).

The General Assembly is the main representative body of the United Nations, consisting of 193 UN members and is the main forum for multilateral discussions on important issues of an international nature. The issues of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine and the temporary occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol are not left out of the attention of the General Assembly. Since 2014, the General Assembly has adopted 11 “Crimean” resolutions, which can be divided into three groups:

– UN General Assembly Resolution “On the Territorial Integrity of Ukraine”;

– Resolutions of the UN General Assembly “Situation of human rights in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol, Ukraine” (6 resolutions);

– Resolutions of the UN General Assembly “The problem of militarization of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol, Ukraine, as well as parts of the Black and Azov Seas” (4 resolutions).

Foundation for International Support

The first and fundamental decision of the UN on Crimea is the UN General Assembly Resolution “On the Territorial Integrity of Ukraine” № 68/262 of March 27, 2014. The document was adopted by a vote of UN member states, 100 of which voted in favor, 11 against and 58 abstentions.

This resolution is the most important international document related to the temporary occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol.

Adopted in the first months of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation, the resolution defines the main principles on which the international community is based so far: support for Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity within internationally recognized borders; inadmissibility of forced change of borders; non-recognition of the so-called “referendum” on March 16, 2014.

One of the important parts of the resolution is: “(General Assembly) Calls on all states, international organizations and specialized agencies not to recognize any changes in the status of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol on the basis of the above referendum and to refrain from any actions or behavior that may be interpreted as a recognition of any change of status. ” Thus, the foundation of the policy of non-recognition of the temporary occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol was laid, which remains a key element of Ukraine’s state policy on the deoccupation of Crimea.

Proof of the fundamental importance of this document is that all subsequent UN resolutions, decisions of many other international organizations (including resolutions of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly) and states on non-recognition and condemnation of the occupation of Crimea refer to this resolution as the first to define the position of the international community this issue.

Human Rights

One of the topics on the UN agenda is human rights violations in the temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol. The issue of human rights violations in Crimea is revealed in the resolutions of the UN General Assembly “The situation with human rights in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, Ukraine.” Such a resolution has been adopted annually since 2016 and as of now there are 6 (links to the relevant resolutions can be found in the notes to the article).

These resolutions have the same form and contain, in general, similar wording condemning certain actions of the Russian Federation calling for an end to such actions, as well as refraining from taking measures contrary to international law and fulfilling its obligations as an occupying power.

Despite the similarity of the form, we can clearly state the progress in the quality of the content of each subsequent resolution. The first resolution of 2016 contains, for the most part, general provisions condemning the occupation and the attempted annexation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol by the Russian Federation; inadmissibility of violation of generally accepted norms of international law, etc. Thus, condemning serious human rights violations, politically motivated persecution, discrimination against Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars, persecution of journalists and human rights defenders, etc., the resolution does not mention specific cases of such violations (names of victims; circumstances; motives of the occupying state). The only example of the Russian Federation’s violation of international law in the occupied Crimea in the first UN General Assembly resolution of 2016 is the condemnation of the ban on the Crimean Tatar People’s Majlis and the call for its abolition.

Each subsequent resolution identifies more and more areas where violations of international law and specific cases of such violations occur. For example, the 2017 UN General Assembly resolution on human rights contains the following new provisions:

– condemnation of persecution of religious organizations, in particular, the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate (now – the Orthodox Church of Ukraine);

– the need to ensure access to education in Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar languages;

– condemnation of the forced automatic granting of “citizenship” of the Russian Federation to the inhabitants of the occupied Crimea etc.

In 2018, the UN General Assembly resolution will be supplemented for the first time by condemning the illegal detention of Ukrainian citizens in the occupied Crimea: Oleg Sentsov, Volodymyr Balukh, Emir-Usein Kuku. Mention is also made of the Russian Federation’s blocking of Ukrainian websites and TV channels, the practice of deporting Ukrainian citizens from the Crimea from the Russian Federation, and so on.

In 2019, the resolution condemns the illegal detention and torture of not only Oleg Sentsov, Vladimir Balukh and Emir-Usein Kuku, but also «many others». It is very important that in 2019 it is mentioned for the first time that one of the main goals of the Russian Federation as an occupying power is to change the demographic composition of the Crimean population by preventing certain groups of people (Ukrainian activists, journalists, etc.) from living in Crimea. Attention is also drawn to the persecution of the «Crimean Solidarity» public initiative by the Russian occupation authorities.

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 resolution emphasizes that the Russian Federation is using the COVID-19 pandemic to impose additional restrictive measures (including the closure of the CPVD) and is failing to fulfill its responsibilities as an occupying power to prevent infection on the peninsula.

The latest resolution, 2021, mentions additional cases of illegal detention of Ukrainian citizens by the occupying state: Emir-Usein Kuku, Halyna Dovgopola, Server Mustafayev, Vladislav Yesipenko, Nariman Dzhelyal and many others. It is extremely important to mention the militarization of the Crimean youth by joining «military-patriotic» organizations and training for service in the military units of the Russian Federation. Attention should be paid to the call on UN member states to join the work of the International Crimean Platform.

The following are just some of the issues and cases that have been mentioned in each subsequent UN General Assembly resolution “The Human Rights Situation in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol, Ukraine”. Thus, the names of the victims of political persecution by the Russian Federation are gradually appearing in the texts of the resolutions, which is especially important in the context of international lawsuits against the occupying power. Every year, the resolutions reveal more and more the issue of violation of international law by the Russian Federation as a consistent policy, which includes the following goals: changing the demographic composition of the population of the peninsula; militarization of education; liquidation of education in Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar languages; ousting dissenters, in particular, Ukrainian activists, journalists, etc. There is no doubt that a significant path has been made since 2016 in terms of quality content of resolutions, but many issues still remain unanswered in these decisions, in particular, the issue of purposeful policy of the occupying power to destroy Ukrainian identity.

Militarization

The second issue that later appeared on the UN agenda on the issue of human rights violations in Crimea is the ongoing militarization by the Russian Federation of the temporarily occupied territories of Crimea and Sevastopol, the Azov-Black Sea region. To date, the UN General Assembly has adopted 4 resolutions “The problem of militarization of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol, Ukraine, as well as parts of the Black and Azov Seas” (links to the relevant resolutions can be found in the notes to the article).

As in the case of the resolutions “Situation of human rights in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, Ukraine”, each subsequent resolution on militarization demonstrates progress in its content.

The first resolution of 2018 laid the foundation used in the preparation of the following. Thus, the resolution emphasizes that the temporary occupation of Crimea is not only a violation of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine, but also threatens the security and stability of neighboring states and the entire European region. The resolution condemns the ongoing militarization of Crimea, including the transfer of Russian troops to the peninsula and large-scale military exercises. Attention is also drawn to the difficulties of navigation in the Black and Azov Seas, the construction of a bridge across the Kerch Strait and the restriction of international trade due to the actions of the Russian Federation. In addition, the first resolution does not address the issue of seizure by the Russian Federation of Ukrainian boats in the Kerch Strait on November 25, 2018.

The second resolution on militarization in 2019, in general, retains the structure of the first, but details the issue of militarization of Crimea and the Azov-Black Sea region by Russia. Thus, the second resolution from 2019 pays more attention to the issue of possible deployment of nuclear weapons in the occupied Crimea. The illegal conscription of Ukrainian citizens in the Crimea into the armed forces of the Russian Federation and the militarization of youth are condemned. The Russian Federation emphasizes the use by the Russian Federation of Ukrainian enterprises of the military-industrial complex located in the Crimea for further militarization of the peninsula, as well as further restrictions on the access of merchant ships to Ukrainian ports on the Azov coast.

The 2020 resolution calls on the Russian Federation to stop incorporating the Crimean education system into Russia’s “military-patriotic” education system, which aims to indoctrinate young people and introduce military training in schools with continued service in the Russian armed forces. In addition, it is confirmed that the construction of the Tavrida highway was for military purposes.

The latest resolution from 2021 calls for support for the deoccupation of Crimea, in particular in the framework of the International Crimean Platform. Also, attention is drawn to the expansion of naval bases of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Crimea, granting the right to the National Guard of the Russian Federation to block certain areas of maritime waters and Russia’s ongoing exploitation of natural resources on the Ukrainian Black Sea shelf.

Thus, we can state a positive trend in filling the resolutions of the UN General Assembly “The problem of militarization of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol, Ukraine, as well as parts of the Black and Azov Seas.” The main positive factor in this is the path from the complete absence of UN decisions on militarization of Crimea in 2014-2017 to understanding the scale of militarization of the peninsula and the threats it poses to the Azov-Black Sea region and Europe in general, which is increasingly revealed in UN General Assembly resolutions.

UN General Assembly resolutions: significance

Russian propaganda creates a narrative that UN GA resolutions are not important for Ukraine, and their adoption is only a moral justification for the lack of real will of the world to change the behavior of states violating international order. It is necessary to realize that resolutions have no legal force, and therefore really can not directly affect the position of individual states. Nevertheless, the adoption of the resolutions has several important consequences for Ukraine.

First, the resolutions of the UN General Assembly have political and symbolic significance. The General Assembly remains the largest platform for discussing important issues of international importance. Decisions made on such a platform can be described as crystallizing and expressing the views of the international community. Thus, the adoption of the resolution on the one hand has the potential to change the behavior of many countries around the world and, on the other hand, puts pressure on states that do not support such decisions. The very fact of adopting “Crimean” resolutions and their support by the world’s most influential international organization is used by Ukraine to lobby for important issues in the international arena: adherence to the policy of non-recognition, expansion of the sanctions regime, and so on.

Secondly, the decisions made by the UN General Assembly affect the position of international courts. To date, there are precedents for the International Court of Justice to use and take into account UN General Assembly resolutions as evidence or to replace customary international law. For example, in the case of Texaco Overseas Petroleum Co. against the Libyan Arab Republic, Arbiter Rene Dupuis relied on the UN General Assembly’s December 14, 1803 resolution “Permanent sovereignty over natural resources” to resolve the dispute. In addition, UN General Assembly resolutions have played an important role in the decisions of the UN International Court of Justice, especially in those concerning the self-determination of peoples. Thus, in its advisory opinion of June 21, 1971, the International Court of Justice referred, inter alia, to the UN General Assembly resolution of October 27, 1966 №2145 (XXI), as a result of which the well-known principle of international law “Namibian Exceptions” was formed. used by countries around the world.

In 2017, Ukraine filed a lawsuit with the UN International Court of Justice alleging violations of the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. In addition, a number of cases involving the Russian Federation’s armed aggression against Ukraine are pending before the International Criminal Court and the European Court of Human Rights.

The resolutions of the UN General Assembly will be important in the context of consideration of the already mentioned cases in international courts and, accordingly, for bringing the Russian Federation to international legal responsibility.

Notes

UN General Assembly Resolutions “Human Rights Situation in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol, Ukraine”:

UN General Assembly Resolutions “The problem of militarization of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, Ukraine, as well as parts of the Black and Azov Seas”:

Ivan KRYMSKY

 

Implemented within the project “Information Platform” Voice of Crimea. Culture “- about Crimea honestly, qualitatively, actually” with the support of the Media Development Fund of the US Embassy in Ukraine. The views of the authors do not necessarily reflect the official position of the US government.

Spelling error report

The following text will be sent to our editors: