The UN Committee has determined that the forced imposition of Russian citizenship on residents of the temporarily occupied Crimea is discriminatory and violates human rights. Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, stated.

Furthermore, the Committee determined that the russian federation is in violation of international human rights standards by transferring Ukrainian citizens from the Crimean Peninsula to its territory to serve sentences.

The UN Committee determined that the russian federation had indeed violated human rights in accordance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which it is a party. In particular, the following points require attention:

• The russian federation is detaining Ukrainian citizens without cause. They were convicted for actions committed before the russian federation extended its criminal legislation to Crimea.
• The transfer of Ukrainian citizens to russia to serve their sentences was illegal.
• The forced granting of russian citizenship also violated Ukrainian citizens’ rights and was ethnic discrimination.

It is important to highlight that the criminal acts perpetrated by the aggressor state on the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine also contravene the principles of international humanitarian law (IHL).

In particular, IHL establishes minimum human rights standards in time of war and in occupied territory that must be observed even in situations of armed violence when some human rights cannot be objectively ensured.

The Ministry of Reintegration, in collaboration with the National Information Bureau, is developing an electronic information system to document violations of international humanitarian law resulting from armed aggression against Ukraine.

A new information system will be created and populated with the objective of enabling specialized international organizations to respond more effectively to violations of IHL. This will facilitate the prosecution of perpetrators.