The ministry expressed its strong protest 'over the illegal taking' of the decision, which banned the Mejlis after declaring it an extremist organization.
“The ban on the Mejlis, a key national self-administration body [representing] the Crimean Tatar people, which is based on the principle of non-violence is yet another violation of the human rights and freedoms, including the Interventional Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination,” the Ukrainian ministry said.
“The urgent need for more action by the international community to protect human rights in Crimea and to provide unhindered access by human rights organizations to monitor the human rights situation“
The Crimean Supreme Court ruled, earlier on Tuesday, to grant Crimean Prosecutor Natalya Poklonskaya's motion to qualify the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People as an extremist association, and ban its activities in Russia.
Poklonskaya found the ruling to be substantiated, while the Mejlis' defense team said it was determined to appeal the ruling with the Russian Supreme Court.
As an organization, the Mejlis is not registered in Russia. It claims to be a representative body of Crimean Tatars. Its current and former leaders – Refat Chubarov and Mustafa Jemilev – currently live in Kyiv. Crimean prosecutors consider them to be involved in the energy blockade of Crimea, and have opened a number of inquiries against them.
