Contents tagged with human rights

  • European Parliament may adopt resolution on human rights situation in Russia

    According to Ukrainian human rights activist Maria Tomak ,the European Parliament will debate a resolution on the human rights situation in Russia, particularly regarding the case of Oleg Sentsov, a Ukrainian film director from the Crimea.  

    “On Thursday [June 14], there will be a vote on the document. The idea and initiative for the resolution lays with European Deputy Rebecca Harms, for whom the topic of Ukraine has been a priority for a long time and who has closely monitored the situation …

  • Canada says that sanctions against Russia must be maintained

    Canada strongly condemns the “illegal annexation” of Crimea by Russia and stresses the importance of maintaining international pressure on Moscow and keeping sanctions in place “until Russian respects international law and Ukraine’s sovereignty.” This was stated by Chrystia Freeland, Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs.

    “Today is the three year anniversary of the illegal annexation of Crimea. We strongly condemn the violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine…Canada …

  • Crimean Ombudsmen: International observers cannot come to Crimea because they consider the Peninsula as part of Ukraine

    The reasons why international observers have not been able to come to the Crimea have been paperwork issues, as well as that their belief that the Crimea is part of Ukrainian territory, assumed Crimean Ombudsmen Ludmila Lubina in an interview with Radio "Sputnik in the Crimea."

    “These organizations do not recognize the Crimea as Russia and when coming to our territory they ask for permission from Ukraine. Ukraine gives these permissions, but they are filled out in an unclear manner. We declare …

  • Ukraine’s resolution on the Crimea to be submitted to the UN General Assembly

    Ukraine’s draft resolution on the human rights situation in the Crimea will be submitted to the UN General Assembly. The document was adopted by the third committee of the UN General Assembly on social, humanitarian and cultural issues.

    A total of 73 countries voted for the document, 23 voted against it, and 76 abstained from voting. Many European countries, and the US, supported the draft resolution. Russia, China, Kazakhstan, India and Serbia are among those who are against.

    The document …

  • Ukrainian MP: CoE's Human Rights Commission is obstructed by Russia

    Huge obstacles for the work of the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, Nils Muižnieks, have been created in the Russian Federation. This was stated by the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights of Ukraine, Valeriya Lutkovska, while on the air with the ZIK TV channel.

    The Ukrainian Ombudsman emphasized that the interference in Muižnieks’ work in Russia began after his last report on the annexed Crimea. “He even had to cancel his last visit because of the conditions he …

  • Human rights activists put Kadyrov and Putin on the list of enemies of free speech

    Thirty-five heads of state and government, including political and criminal groups such as the so-called Islamic State, the Yemeni Houthis, Afghan Taliban fighters, and the Los Zetas were added to the list of politicians and organizations that are recognized by Reporters Without Borders as the main enemies of free speech.The Presidents of Eritrea, Sudan, Burundi, Gambia, Syria and Cuba, the leaders of China, Russia, North Korea and also several former Soviet States - Azerbaijan, Belarus, …

  • Russia was voted off UN Human Rights Council

    According to the results of a vote held on Friday, Russia was voted off the United Nations Human Rights Council for the period from 2017 to 2019, Interfax-Ukraine reported.

    According to the results of the voting, Hungary and Croatia were elected, receiving 144 and 114 votes, respectively. Only 112 countries voted for Russia.

    During the vote in the UN General Assembly, 14 new representatives were elected to the UNHRC on Friday, and will be members from 2017 to 2019.

    As reported on October 25, …

  • UN urges Russia to amend 'law on foreign agents'

    Russia needs to amend its "law on foreign agents", according to the High Commissioner of the World Organization for Human Rights, Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein. He said this during the opening of the 32nd session of the UN Council on Human Rights in Geneva, TASS reported on Monday, June 13, 2016.

    "This week a number of amendments to Russian laws on "foreign agents" have come into force. More than 90 non-governmental organizations are now listed as "foreign agents." This definition implies that their …

  • EU condemns Belarus after prisoner execution

    The European Union has condemned Belarus after receiving news that the former Soviet republic executed another prisoner, Radio Free Europe reported.

    Belarus is the only country in Europe that still practices capital punishment.

    In a statement issued on May 7th, the EU stated that the execution of Syarhey Iwanow was "particularly disturbing" because his complaint was pending with the UN Human Rights Committee.

    “Despite the many calls made by the European Union, another execution has been …

  • European Commissioner for Human Rights: Kiev has to minimize the isolation of the Donbas

    The Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe, Nils Muižnieks, stated that Ukraine must minimize the isolation of the Donbas. "I know that it is difficult and all is in Ukraine’s hands but it is necessary to maintain contact with the people of that region and try to support them because it will benefit the interests of the future generation of Ukrainian people," Muižnieks said, as reported by zn.ua.

    According to the Commissioner, since July of 2015, when he visited Donetsk, life …