25 September 2017•Update: 25 September 2017
By Bayram Altug
GENEVA
Russian agents committed "grave human rights violations" against Crimean Tatars following the 2014 illegal annexation of the region, a UN report revealed on Monday.
The UN Human Rights Office said in a report published Monday that arbitrary arrests and detentions, enforced disappearances, ill-treatment and torture had been documented in Crimea.
Speaking at a news conference, Fiona Frazer, head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, said at least one extra-judicial execution had also been documented.
The human rights situation in Crimea has "significantly" worsened under the Russian occupation, Frazer said.
"There is an urgent need for accountability for human rights violations and abuses and for providing the victims with redress," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein said in a statement.
Zeid also said Russia had failed to uphold human rights for all in Crimea or meet its obligations "as an occupying power", adding that the rule of law and the exercise of the proper administration of justice was also lacking.
The report stressed that Crimean Tatar communities "have been constricted in their ability to display" cultural symbols and publicly celebrate important dates.
"Festivities and assemblies organized by minority groups have only been allowed if those groups supported the position of the Russian Federation on the status of Crimea," the UN claimed.
Along with the UN General Assembly, the U.S., the EU and Turkey do not recognize Crimea as Russian territory.
Since the annexation, Ukraine has been wracked by conflict in its eastern regions with Russian-backed separatists, leading to more than 10,000 deaths, according to the UN.
A report released earlier this month by UN monitors said civilians living near lines of contact between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists were facing hardship.
*Ilker Girit contributed to this story from Istanbul.
