
The Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) welcomes the European Parliament’s (EP) resolution 2018/2754(RSP) on Russia, notably the case of Ukrainian political prisoner Oleh Sentsov, which was overwhelmingly supported on 14 June 2018. In the context of an ongoing hunger strike by Oleh Sentsov and several other Ukrainian political prisoners, the resolution is a response to the blatant human rights violations by the Russian Federation, including illegal detentions, trials, imprisonments, and torture of Ukrainian citizens for political reasons.
The resolution urges the Russian Federation authorities to release “immediately and unconditionally” Ukrainian filmmaker Oleh Sentsov and all other Ukrainian political prisoners in the Russian Federation and occupied Crimea, whose number currently surpasses 70. The EP lawmakers reminded the Russian Federation of its obligation, as a member of the Council of Europe and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), to comply with the European Convention on Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The resolution condemns the multiple violations of international law by the Russian Federation in occupied Crimea, including the application of Russian laws, the intensive military buildup in Crimea, and pervasive human rights violations against ethnic Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars living on the peninsula.
The resolution calls on the European Union to issue a statement condemning these violations as well as attempts by the Russian Federation to conceal them under the pretext of the FIFA World Cup. Importantly, in the case of Oleh Sentsov and, where applicable, other political prisoners in the Russian Federation, the EP confirms that it does not recognize the jurisdiction of the Russian courts adjudicating on the territory of the temporarily occupied Crimea.
“The Ukrainian World Congress joins the call by the European Parliament for an immediate and unconditional release of Oleh Sentsov and all other Ukrainian political prisoners who are persecuted by the Russian Federation,” stated UWC President Eugene Czolij.