07/16/2018

Putin and Trump meet in Helsinki - Don’t let Crimea down

Russian occupying power continues to criminalize human rights activists (Press Release)

Human Rights Action by the Society for Threatened Peoples in Berlin. Picture: Svenja Osmers for STP

On the occasion of the meeting between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) warned that the serious human rights violations in Russian-occupied Crimea should not be ignored. The human rights organization accused Russia of systematically criminalizing human rights activists who dare to protest against the illegal occupation of the peninsula. “Trump should be careful not to stab the human rights activists in the back by legitimizing the annexation of Crimea,” demanded Ulrich Delius, the STP’s director, in Göttingen on Monday. “Putin must not be rewarded for his ruthless occupation policy."

If the US were to walk out on Crimea, this would not only have disastrous consequences for the inhabitants of the peninsula, who are suffering from the occupation, but would also lead to a loss in confidence in the US foreign policy, the human rights organization warned. While the US government has officially condemned the occupation of Crimea, Trump recently made several ambiguous statements on the international status of Crimea.

Delius emphasized that the way the Ukrainian Yevhen Panov and the Crimean Tatar human rights activist Volodymyr Balukh are being harassed clearly shows how the Russian-dominated judiciary treats human rights advocates. Last Friday, the Crimean Supreme court had sentenced Yevhen Panov to eight years in prison for alleged arms smuggling. The defendant had claimed to be innocent – but in vain. On July five, Volodymyr Balukh had been sentenced to five years of in a penal camp for alleged illegal possession of weapons. Balukh claimed to be innocent too, accusing the Russian court of political motifs. The human rights activist had been arrested at the end of 2016, and was sentenced to four years in prison in August 2017. Then, a prison director accused him of an attack – which is why he is now facing another five years in prison.

According to the STP, the Russian security forces often deport Crimean Tatars as a means to silence unwelcome critics. Thus, the human rights activist Asan Egiz was arrested, beaten, and deported on May 28, 2018. A few days before, the Russian authorities had refused to investigate the abduction of Crimean Tatar activist Ervin Ibragimov, although there is a video that proves the violence. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has collected evidence for 28 human rights violations in Crimea between February and May 2018.