MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on the Crimean Tatars
10.5.2016 - (2016/2692(RSP))
pursuant to Rule 135 of the Rules of Procedure
Geoffrey Van Orden, Raffaele Fitto, Monica Macovei, Charles Tannock, Jana Žitňanská, Kazimierz Michał Ujazdowski, Ryszard Czarnecki, Anna Elżbieta Fotyga, Ryszard Antoni Legutko, Tomasz Piotr Poręba, Angel Dzhambazki, Zdzisław Krasnodębski, Mark Demesmaeker, Ruža Tomašić, Arne Gericke on behalf of the ECR Group
See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B8-0582/2016
The European Parliament,
– having regard to its previous resolutions on the Eastern Partnership (EaP), Ukraine, and the Russian Federation,
– having regard to the European Council decision (21 March, 27 June, 16 July 2014) imposing sanctions on the Russian Federation as a follow-up to the illegal annexation of Crimea,
– having regard European Parliament resolution of 11 June 2015 on the strategic military situation in the Black Sea Basin following the illegal annexation of Crimea by Russia,
– having regard to the Reports of the Human Rights Assessment Mission on Crimea conducted by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM),
having regard to the ruling of the occupying power Crimean Supreme Court on 26th April which allegedly found the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people as an extremist organisation and banned its activity in the Crimean peninsula;
A. whereas the Russian Federation has occupied Crimea, and therefore violated international law including the UN Charter, the Helsinki Final Act and the 1994 Budapest Memorandum;
B. whereas illegal annexation of Crimea by Russia has caused grave deterioration of the human rights situation in the occupied peninsula; whereas Russian occupation authorities introduced systemic violation of the fundamental rights and liberties of local population, particularly targeting the Crimean Tatars and ethnic Ukrainians, including disappearances, extrajudicial killings, tortures and intimidations;
C. whereas Crimean Tatar leaders, such as Mustafa Dzhemiliev, a member of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, and Refat Chubarov, the Chairman of the Mejlis, were banned from entering Crimea; whereas they are currently allowed to enter, but under threat of arrest; whereas a Russian court has now issued an arrest warrant for Mustafa Dzhemiliev, who earlier spent 15 years in Soviet prisons for his efforts to allow his nation to return to their native land in Crimea;
D. whereas the entire population of Crimean Tatars, an indigenous people of Crimea, was forcibly deported to other parts of the then USSR in 1944 with no right to return until 1989; whereas on 12 November 2015 the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted a resolution in which it recognised the deportation of the Crimean Tatars in 1944 as genocide and established 18 May as a Day of Remembrance;
E. whereas Russians become majority of the population of Crimea due to the deportation of Crimea Tatars in 1944; whereas Russian propaganda falsely argues that "Crimea had always belonged in Russia's territory"; whereas Russian authorities suggest that questioning of the legitimacy of the so-called referendum on joining Russia after its occupation of Crimea in 2014 should be considered "extremist activity" for "falsifying reports of historical events and facts".
F. whereas since the beginning of Crimea's occupation more than 130 criminal cases against Crimean Tatars were held, 21 representatives of Crimean Tatars were kidnapped, 9 are still missing, 3 were later found dead; whereas the atmosphere of fear, intimidation, physical and psychological pressure forced over 20,000 Crimean Tatars to leave occupied Crimea and move to mainland Ukraine;
G. whereas the activities of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people have been suspended and it has now been banned and named as an extremist organisation; the decision of the allegedly posing as the Crimea Prosecutor General and the occupation power Supreme Court are intrinsic parts of the policy of repression and intimidation of the Russian Federation which is punishing this minority for their loyalty towards the Ukrainian state during the illegal annexation of the peninsula two years ago;
H. whereas in a clear breach of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) including 1907 Hague Convention (IV), Fourth Geneva Convention (1949) and Additional Protocol I (1977), that the occupying power cannot prosecute civilians for crimes occurring before the occupation and the penal laws of the occupied territory shall remain in force, Russia continues to arrest, trails and sends to prisons in Russia citizens of Ukraine against whom Russian laws and citizenship are applied by force and retroactively, even for crimes allegedly committed on mainland Ukraine and before the occupation;
I. whereas after the illegal suspension and dissolution of the Mejlis Muslim communities have been target of attacks; whereas priests of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Kiev Patriarchate and the Ukrainian Greek Church were intimidated, abducted, interrogated, and accused of extremist activity; whereas recent anti-Turkish measures including banning of employment in Russia for Turkish citizens may create additional concerns for Crimean Tatar organizations;
1. Strongly condemns the decision of the occupation power institution allegedly posing as Supreme Court of Crimea to ban the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people and demands its immediate reversal;
2. Condemns unjustified and selective criminal prosecutions against Crimean Tatar and pro-Ukrainian activists and organisations, including leaders Crimean Tatar people Mustafa Dzhemilev and Refat Chubarov;
3. Demands immediate release of prisoners such as Oleg Sentsov and Oleksandr Kolchenko, as well as Ahtem Chiigoz, the deputy chairman of the Mejlis, Mustafa Degermendzhi and Ali Asanov who were arrested in Crimea for their peaceful protest against the occupation, and to guarantee their safe return to Ukraine; urges the Russian Federation to end the politically motivated prosecution of dissidents and civic activists; condemns their subsequent transfer to Russia and the forcible attribution of Russian citizenship;
4. Calls on the international community to commence an investigation into the crimes committed since the occupation of Crimea and the conflict in eastern Ukraine, especially all cases of disappearances, torture and human rights abuses; calls on the UN to extend responsibility of the Hague International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia to former Soviet Union as out of the 1,400 cases concerning events in Crimea and eastern Ukraine, the alleged crimes of aggression may fall under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court only after January 2017, subject to a decision to be taken then by participating states;
5. Demands release of all other Ukrainian citizens illegally prosecuted in Russia including Nadiya Savchenko and Sergiy Lytvynov to be immediately released; suggests that Russia should turn over all the cases to the International Criminal Court or, as suggested here, to the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia and former Soviet Union;
6. Calls Member States to adhere strictly to the non-recognition policy of the illegal annexation of the Crimea; calls on the European Commission to evaluate state of implementation of the EU non-recognition policy by the Member States and prepare assessment report;
7. Call the Council, Commission, the EEAS and the Member States to coordinate and strengthen information policy regarding non-recognition policy on Crimea in order to prevent and counter disinformation policy of Russia aimed at building legitimisation of occupation of Crimea on falsification of history and more recent events; calls Member States to coordinate their Strategic Communication also with Ukraine;
8. Reiterates that the existing EU sanctions against Russia imposed in response to the illegal annexation of Crimea will remain in force until restoration of Ukraine's sovereignty over Crimea;
9. Calls the Council to elaborate the next set of sanctions against Russia regarding its illegal annexation of Crimea to be enacted if Russia refuses to stop prosecution of Crimean Tatars Mejlis and other violations of human rights in Crimea;
10. Condemns visits to Crimea of officials from the EU Member States in violation of EU non-recognitions policy; calls the EU Member States to prevent any visits to their territory of the representatives of the Russian occupation authorities, including to the event held by the international organisations on territory of the EU Member States;
11. Calls the EEAS the Council and the EEAS to strengthen pressure on Russia to allow access of international organisations to Crimea for monitoring human rights situation in view of the ongoing gross violations of fundamental freedoms and human rights in the peninsula, establishing permanent international monitoring and conventional mechanisms; to stress that any international presence on the ground should to be well coordinated and agreed with Ukraine and supported by the major human rights international organisations;
12. Calls on EU to create financial instruments to support Mejlis activities while in exile; calls for increased financing of human rights organizations working for Crimea;
13. Welcomes the Ukrainian initiative to establish an international negotiation mechanism on the reestablishment of Ukrainian sovereignty over Crimea in the ‘Geneva plus’ format, which should include direct engagement by the EU; calls on Russia to start negotiations with Ukraine and other parties on the de-occupation of Crimea, to lift trade and energy embargos and to revoke the state of emergency in Crimea;
14. Calls on Turkey to join the EU and US sanctions against Russia in response to Russian occupation of Crimea;
15. Calls on NATO to include in the conclusions of the NATO Warsaw Summit recommendations of the EP report on the strategic military situation in the Black Sea Basin following the illegal annexation of Crimea by Russia;
16. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the VP/HR, the Council, the Commission, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the President, Government and Parliament of Ukraine, the Council of Europe, the OSCE, the President, Government and Parliament of the Russian Federation, and the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People as well as Secretary General of NATO.