The Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) welcomes the Berlin Declaration and Resolutions adopted by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA) at the 27th annual session held on 7-11 July 2018 in Berlin, Germany (Berlin Declaration). The UWC particularly commends the adoption of the Resolution on Ongoing Violations of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol (Ukraine) which was initiated by the Ukrainian Delegation to the OSCE PA and constitutes an integral part of the Berlin Declaration.
The Berlin Declaration strongly condemned “the illegal occupation by the Russian Federation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, Ukraine” and the “violations, abuses, measures and practices of discrimination against the residents of temporarily occupied Crimea, including Crimean Tatars, as well as Ukrainians and persons belonging to other ethnic and religious groups, by the Russian occupation authorities”.
The Berlin Declaration also called for the immediate and unconditional release of “Crimean activists Oleg Sentsov, Olexander Kolchenko, Oleksiy Cherniy, Remzi Memetov, Seyran Saliev, Volodymyr Balukh, Oleksandr Kostenko, Muslim Aliev, Emir Usein Kuku, Vadym Siruk, Arsen Dzhepparov, Refat Alimov and other Ukrainian citizens, who have been unlawfully detained or imprisoned under the fabricated charges by the de facto authorities in occupied Crimea.”
Finally, the Berlin Declaration urged the Russian Federation “to grant immediately unimpeded access to Crimea for international agencies, institutions, special procedures and independent experts of the OSCE, the United Nations and the Council of Europe, as well as for any human rights NGOs or media outlets that wish to visit, assess and report on the situation in Crimea.”
The UWC also welcomes the adoption of the Report for the General Committee on Political Affairs and Security titled: “Implementing OSCE Commitments: the Role of Parliaments” in which the occupation of Crimea by the Russian Federation was also qualified as illegal and illegitimate.
The UWC has supported the work of the Permanent Ukrainian Delegation to the OSCE PA by co-organizing a series of joint side events, including the one titled “Violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms in Crimea” on 22 February 2018 in Vienna, Austria. Video of the address of UWC President Eugene Czolij at this side event can be viewed HERE.
“The Berlin Declaration condemned the blatant violation by the Russian Federation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and the basic human rights of Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars. The UWC will continue to work with the OSCE PA to ensure that fundamental freedoms are respected by all OSCE participating states, including the Russian Federation,” stated UWC President Eugene Czolij.
