Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze has said that over the three years of the Russian occupation of the Crimean peninsula, 17 people have gone missing, 12 have been killed and 39 have become political prisoners.
“As of today, 17 people are recorded as missing, 12 dead, 39 as political prisoners, ten of them have already been convicted. These are people who suffered for their political and ideological beliefs, because of belonging to the Crimean Tatar people, because of their habit of free speech,” she said during the international forum “Crimea under Occupation: Implications for Ukraine and the World” in Kyiv on Saturday.
According to Klympush-Tsintsadze, human rights violations in Crimea should unite the international community to produce an urgent joint response.
“In these past three years, Crimea has actually reached almost complete destruction of personal rights and freedoms of people, and it has gone a cruel way from oppression to greater oppression. At present, Crimea can serve as a complete guide of violations and harassment of human rights and freedoms,” the deputy prime minister said.
