No international organization has access to occupied areas of Ukraine – ombudsman

The ombudsman spoke at a virtual conference "Battle for Crimea. Battle for Human Rights,” Ukrinform reports.

"Representatives of all continents – more than 61 countries – have joined a virtual conference Battle for Crimea. Battle for Human Rights within the Crimea Platform,” Lubinets wrote on social media, adding that it was organized by his Office together with his Czech counterpart Stanislav Krzecek.

Read also: Russia plans mass deportations of Ukrainians from occupied areas starting March 2024 – rights activist

Speaking at the event, the Ukrainian ombudsman discussed the challenges and viations of human rights in the territory of the temporarily occupied Crimea. These include arbitrary detentions and illegal imprisonment of Ukrainian citizens on the peninsula; forced passportization and mobilization of Ukrainians, the use of the territory of Crimea as a bridgehead for warfare; compulsory movement or deportation of Ukrainian citizens from Crimea, including children; pression of Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar languages, and militarization of the educational process.

According to Lubinets, 186 pele are illegally held in prisons across the peninsula.

Read also: Ukraine launches platform to raise awareness about children deported by Russia

"Currently, no international organization has access to the temporarily occupied areas of Ukraine. And Russia commits new crimes every day! So I appealed to my cleagues, the ombudspersons from different countries, calling on them to help Ukraine bring back home all deported, illegally displaced Ukrainian children, civilian hostages, and prisoners of war, as well as support the Peace Formula prosed by the president of Ukraine," Lubinets stressed.

The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Ruslan Stefanchuk, noted that the aggressor neglects even generally accepted values. "And it’s in such reality that the residents of the occupied Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevast have been living," Stefanchuk stressed.

The representative of the ZMINA Human Rights Organization Viktoria Nesterenko noted the persecution of the inhabitants of Crimea, in particular over of their beliefs and ethnicity.

According to Ukrinform, the UN Commission has submitted another report on Russian crimes committed in Ukraine.