On June 25, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg announced its decision in the landmark interstate case “Ukraine v. Russia (regarding Crimea).” The ECHR unanimously recognised that the Ukrainian government had proven the existence of systematic violations against Ukrainians since the beginning of the occupation of Crimea in February 2014. These violations included disappearances without effective investigation, cruel treatment and unlawful detentions, forced conversion of Ukrainian citizenship to Russian, illegal imposition of Russian laws, systematic mass searches, and the persecution of religious leaders not affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church.
Furthermore, Ukraine provided evidence of the closure of non-Russian media outlets, including Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar TV stations, continuous persecution and attacks on journalists, prohibition of peaceful assemblies and protests (including attacks and persecution of organisers), expropriation (forced seizure) of private property, closure of Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar educational institutions, and violations of the right to freedom of movement between occupied Crimea and mainland Ukraine. The case also highlighted discrimination against Crimean Tatars and violations of the rights of political prisoners.
Ukraine filed its first complaint in this case back in 2014, followed by additional complaints in 2015 and 2018. According to Bloomberg, the Strasbourg court stated that between 2014 and 2018, there were 43 cases of disappearances or abductions, along with the forced relocation of approximately 12,500 Crimean prisoners to Russia. The mistreatment of these individuals included “arbitrary arrests and detentions” and “torture,” with victims being “held incommunicado, blindfolded, beaten, and electrocuted,” as reported by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Margaryta Sokorenko, the Ukrainian representative to the European Court of Human Rights, stated that the ECHR’s decision is devastating for the aggressor country. In January 2021, the Ukrainian government and the ECHR “demolished” Russia’s narrative regarding the “expression of will” and the “legal annexation of Crimea to the Russian Federation.” “Today, on June 25, 2024, the substantive ruling nullifies Russia’s decade-long claims that human rights in Crimea are being upheld!” wrote Margaryta Sokorenko.
This decision marks the first time an international judicial body has held Russia accountable for its policy of large-scale and systematic violations of various human rights and freedoms in the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea. “This decision is unique—the ECHR recognised a range of conclusions and violations under the Convention for the first time in its practice today, including the application of Russian law, illegal courts, and forced change of citizenship. This is a significant step towards holding the aggressor state accountable under international law,” added Margaryta Sokorenko.
The consideration of this case was also significant because all individual complaints to the ECHR had been on hold due to the lack of a decision in the interstate case. Ludmyla Korotkykh, a lawyer at the Crimean Tatar Resource Centre, noted that we can now expect the court to start considering individual complaints submitted by victims with the help of human rights organisations and to issue decisions in these cases.
She added that more than ten individual cases regarding the ban of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people were submitted to the ECHR. “The June session is important because, in January, the International Court of Justice issued a disappointing decision on the case concerning violations of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, failing to recognise the ban on the representative body of the Indigenous people on the peninsula as discrimination. However, there is hope that the ECHR will issue a different ruling from now on, taking into account individual complaints from specific people who faced persecution, pressure, or rights violations due to the ban of the Mejlis in Crimea,” Korotkykh noted.
Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets also reacted to the European Court’s decision, calling it historic. “This decision is living proof that the Russian Federation blatantly lies about respecting human rights in occupied Crimea. It is also a significant step towards holding the guilty accountable and restoring justice,” he wrote.
