Venediktova, CoE representatives discuss human rights violations in occupied Crimea

Prosecutor General of Ukraine Iryna Venediktova discussed human rights violations in the temporarily occupied Crimea with representatives of the Council of Europe.

As the press service of the Prosecutor General's Office reports, Venediktova discussed topical issues of counteracting human rights violations in the temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol with Director General for Human Rights and the Rule of Law of the Council of Europe Christos Giakoumopoulos, Director of the Council of Europe's General Human Rights Directorate Christophe Poirel, and Director of the Council of Europe's Political Affairs Directorate Alexander Gessel through video conferencing.

The Prosecutor General stressed that the investigation of this category of cases was one of the priority areas.

“Currently, there are about 400 proceedings in this category. Almost 100 of them were opened over violation of the laws and customs of war. In these cases, 77 people were served with notices of charges. In addition, the systematic persecution of pro-Ukrainian activists and the violation of the rights of the Crimean Tatar population by the occupation authorities of Crimea are being investigated,” Venediktova said.

As noted, the International Council of Experts on Crimes Committed amid Armed Conflict started working under the Prosecutor General’s Office. It involves foreign and international experts, national experts in international humanitarian and criminal law, as well as representatives of non-governmental human rights organizations. The purpose of the advisory body is to study the experience of investigating war crimes and crimes against humanity and to develop national standards in this area.

“We submit cases to national courts and we realize how important it is to cooperate with international bodies in this area. We actively cooperate with the International Criminal Court. Twelve communications on violations in Crimea have been already sent to the ICC,” Venediktova said.

The Director General for Human Rights and the Rule of Law of the Council of Europe noted that it was extremely important to monitor the human rights violations in Crimea so he looked forward to further fruitful cooperation on this issue.

Photo: gp.gov.ua

ol