News

Two years ago, the phrase “little green men”, until then confined to the sci-fi fan vocabulary,  suddenly acquired an ominous new meaning as heavily armed military without insignia were flooding the  streets and  towns of Crimea, leading to its complete takeover. An annexation by military force, buttressed by hate filled propaganda and lies. Having first denied the military presence in spite of glaring evidence to the contrary, later, in a cynical turnaround the Kremlin awarded those presumably non-existent forces with medals coined specially for the occasion of Crimea’s annexation.

Medals for actions which plunged Crimea into abuse and repressions of the indigenous population by the occupying authorities. For actions that constituted a most direct and blatant  violation of the UN Charter, the Helsinki Final Act, the Paris Charter, multiple provisions of international law, as well as Russia’s own bilateral and multilateral treaty obligations and commitments.   

Two years since, the human rights situation of the Crimean Tatar community, local Ukrainians, and all those who did not accept the annexation could not be more difficult. Every single report by OHCHR and other bodies points to continuous abuses, persecutions of the dissenters, torture, enforced disappearances, threats and intimidations,  trumped up charges against Tatar activists, restrictions of the freedoms of religion, belief, assembly, and speech,  as well as loss of employment  and property rights due to extortionist citizenship laws.

People are forced to adopt Russian citizenship or else remain without even the basic of services. It is frankly shocking to read in the latest OHCHR report that somebody died simply because she would not be offered medical services because of citizenship.

Independent media has been suppressed. The teaching of Ukrainian and Tatar has been banished from schools which have imposed Russian curricula for all, irrespective of nationality. The Tatar community is increasingly branded as extremist and treated accordingly for standing up for their rights. We are particularly worried that on 15 February the prosecutor of Crimea filed a request with the supreme court of Crimea to designate the Mejlis, the self-governing body of the Crimean Tatars, as an extremist organisation.

Crimean Tatar leaders in particular are subjected to persecution and demonization, and are prevented from returning home. Even such outstanding personalities as Mustafa Djemilev, who is a well-known human rights defender and had endured years of Soviet persecution and labor camps, are barred from entering Crimea.

Let us not forget that Tatars have no other home but Crimea. They have the right to live in their historic homeland in freedom and dignity, without fear that their children will be taken away, tortured, and thrown to rot in some ditch. 

Together with the entire EU, Lithuania calls for full compliance with international human rights standards and other obligations under international law. We also call to bring all those who are perpetrating the abuses and human rights violations to account, including through the ICC. International human rights bodies and organisations must have full unrestricted access to all of Crimea.

Even if in the eyes of some, Crimea may not be on the world’s top agend, it is not a local crisis, to be brushed off and forgotten.  If anyone thinks that it does not matter - they could not be more wrong.

As stated by the EU High Representative earlier today, Crimea’s illegal annexation “remains a direct challenge to international security, with grave implications for the international legal order that protects the unity and sovereignty of all states”.

Because once the UN Charter is breached – as it has been, most blatantly in the case of Crimea, - and the international community fails to respond adequately,   how can we rest assured that more breaches will not follow? 

How can we expect, as pointed out in today’s joint statement by Danish, Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Finnish and Swedish Foreign Ministers, to deter future aggressors and violators of international law if we fail to respond?   How can we expect to be safe and secure if the very norms that have guaranteed our safety, security, and peace for the past seven decades are being dismantled under our passive watch? As long as Crimea’s annexation continues, so must continue the sanctions against the perpetrator of annexation. 

Lithuania stands in solidarity with the people of Ukraine and will to call for the end to Crimea’s annexation and the restoration of Ukraine’s  unity and territorial integrity.  Our government will continue to support the cause of the Crimean Tatars, who have strong and lasting historic links with our nation, including by assisting the World Congress of Crimean Tatars to organize its Executive Committee meeting on 11-12 April 2016 in Vilnius, Lithuania, with a focus on the human rights situation in Crimea.  

(as prepared)