European Parliament’s resolution: Russia’s actions in Crimea against Crimean Tatars constitute a war crime

Members of the European Parliament have adopted a resolution about the 11th year of the occupation of Crimea by Russia and the deterioration of the human rights situation in the Russia-annexed Ukrainian peninsula. The EU Parliament’s website published the text of the resolution.

In the document, the MEPs stated that the Russian occupation forces in Crimea arbitrarily detain civilians, including politically active members of the Crimean Tatar community, journalists, and dissidents, and persecute Crimean Tatars on trumped-up terrorism charges.

“The Russian invader is targeting in particular the Crimean Tatars, ethnic Ukrainians, and ethnic minorities, and has displaced up to 800,000 Russians, thereby forcibly altering the demographic composition of Crimea for ethnic reasons and according to a neo-colonial logic. This constitutes a war crime under international law”, the resolution of the European Parliament reads.

The European Parliament denounced extrajudicial executions, arbitrary detentions on false terrorism charges, illegal conscription of young Crimean men into the Russian army, and other crimes.

“There are more than 200 Crimean political prisoners in Russian prisons, including 133 Crimean Tatars and 67 political prisoners who have serious health problems and need care,” the resolution states.

The European Parliament has once again condemned Russia’s illegal occupation of Crimea. The European Parliament strongly condemns Russia’s persistent targeting of ethnic Ukrainians and systematic persecution of the indigenous Crimean Tatars.

These actions aim to erase the identity, heritage, and culture of these two populations, echoing the genocidal deportations of the Crimean Tatars in 1944, the text reads. It adds that the future of Crimea depends on its recognition as the historic homeland of the Crimean Tatars.

Russian crimes listed by the EU Parliament

• Crimeans are still subjected to serious human rights violations, illegal conscription into the Russian army, forced passportization and russification, arbitrary detentions, often on trumped-up terrorism charges, enforced disappearances, torture, extrajudicial executions, and deprivation of freedom of opinion, assembly, association, and religion.
• The Russian invaders target in particular the Crimean Tatars, Ukrainians, and ethnic minorities and have brought there up to 800,000 Russians, thus forcibly changing the demographic composition of Crimea for ethnic reasons neo-colonial logic, which constitutes a war crime under international law.
• Russian detention centers are holding more than 200 Crimean political prisoners, 133 of whom are Crimean Tatars and 67 of whom require assistance due to serious health issues.
• Russian security services abducted Irina Danilovich, a journalist and human rights activist, in 2022. Russian-installed authorities accused her of possessing explosives and sentenced her to six years and eleven months in prison.

The European Parliament called for the immediate release of all Crimean political prisoners, providing them with medical care and allowing them to communicate with their families, lawyers, and international actors, including the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID).

The European Parliament emphasized that it had taken into account that the occupation authorities of the Russian Federation particularly persecute Crimean Tatars, ethnic Ukrainians, and ethnic minorities and have forcibly changed the demographic composition of Crimea along ethnic lines in a neocolonial manner, which constitutes a war crime under international law.

The text declares that the recognition and protection of the Crimean Tatars’ inalienable right to the peninsula as their historical homeland is crucial for the future of Crimea.

The resolution also recalls the need to establish a special tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine, which would cover Russia’s invasion of Ukraine since 2014.

446 MEPs supported the document, 25 voted against it, and 51 abstained.