President of Ukraine

Constant monitoring of Russia's human rights violations in the occupied territories of Donbas and Crimea is urgently needed - Ihor Zhovkva

8 April 2021 - 14:06

Constant monitoring of Russia's human rights violations in the occupied territories of Donbas and Crimea is urgently needed - Ihor Zhovkva

Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Ihor Zhovkva met with Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatović who is in Ukraine on a contact mission.

Ihor Zhovkva stressed that ensuring human rights remains a key priority for the Ukrainian state.

In this context, the approval of the National Strategy in the field of human rights and the Strategy of deoccupation and reintegration of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol on March 24, 2021 by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy was announced. These strategies provide for the broad involvement of international human rights mechanisms in the protection of human rights and freedoms in the temporarily occupied territory.

Ihor Zhovkva informed about the systematic violations by the Russian Federation of human rights and norms of international humanitarian law in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol and certain districts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

The modalities of involving the Commissioner in monitoring the human rights situation in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine in strict accordance with the norms of international law and national legislation of our state were discussed. In particular, the Deputy Head of the Office of the President invited Dunja Mijatović to visit the delimitation line in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

Ihor Zhovkva also informed about Ukraine's initiative to create a new international coordination mechanism, the Crimean Platform, the inaugural summit of which will take place on August 23, and invited the Council of Europe Commissioner to join the promotion of the platform's goals.

Dunja Mijatović emphasized the importance of accelerating Ukraine's ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence.