Human rights court accepts Ukrainian complaints against Russia

The European Court for Human Rights announced on Jan.
14 that it ruled to accept the majority of Ukraine’s complaints filed against
the Russian government for its violation of human rights in its illegal
occupation and annexation of the Crimean peninsula.

It was the court’s first ruling on Ukraine’s
complaints, having accepted 14 out of 17 filed, as reported by the
eurointegration.com.ua news site. In particular, the court will review
complaints of Russia’s inappropriate lack of investigating murder, the
persecution of non-Russian language mass media and restrictions on non-Russian
language education, the intimidation and persecution of religious leaders, the
automatic granting of Russian citizenship to residents, and the restriction of
free movement to the Ukrainian mainland, among others.

In a separate ruling, the court determined that Russia
had achieved effective control of the Crimea peninsula already on Feb. 27,
2014, when Russian armed forces took effective control of its parliament. That
was prior to the illegal political and legal actions securing the annexation,
including the March 16, 2014 referendum. “On the night of Feb. 27, the
legitimate civilian government in Crimea was removed by force and replaced by
Russian agents,” the ruling said. Also as of that night, all rulings issued by
Crimean courts are illegal, the court said. “Starting from Feb. 27, 2014, the
courts that were active in Crimea can’t be considered to have been formed in a
legal manner,” the ruling said.

In reaching its ruling, the human rights court took
into account the statements of Russian President Putin in confirming the fact
of his military having seized the peninsula, as reported by the Ukrinform news
agency. Putin told the leaders of his law enforcement structures on the night
of Feb. 22 that he reached the decision “to begin the work of returning Crimea
to the Russian Federation.”

His second statement came during a television appearance
on Apr. 17, 2014, in which he said Russia “had armed military subunits and law
enforcement bodies” and “Russian soldiers supported Crimea forces of
self-defense.” He acknowledged that the unidentified men in green uniforms are
Russian military personnel who were in Crimea “to protect” its population, “so
that there aren’t tanks and military units of nationalists and people with
extreme views and well-armed with automatic weapons. Of course that’s why our
soldiers stood at the backs of the Crimean self defense. They acted very
properly, decisively and professionally,” Putin said.

Zenon Zawada: This ruling
is a key victory for Ukraine because it sets the legal foundation for all
rulings to follow by this court and others. What’s particularly important is
that the court established the date of Russian control, which preceded by about
three weeks the referendum that was held which Russia claims legitimized its
annexation. Instead the referendum and its outcome is now recognized at the
international level as being directed by Russia, and not an independent
expression of will.

This ruling will also give Ukrainian lawyers the
ability to unfreeze numerous other complaints filed with the court, which were
on hold pending this fundamental ruling, authorities said. It will also serve
as a legal foundation for the complaints being filed against Russia’s
occupation of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

All the rulings in Ukraine’s favor will become
practical when the Russian leadership decides, or is forced, to withdraw from
Crimea. We don’t see that happening under the rule of Putin, who has
successfully resisted Western sanctions and other pressure.