The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on Tuesday condemned the fundamental rights violations committed by Russia in Crimea since the annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula in 2014.
Seized by Kyiv in 2014 and 2018, the court, which has its seat in France in Strasbourg (north-east), found in a judgment of the Grand Chamber, its highest instance, that Moscow had violated Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights (right to life) due to “the existence of an administrative practice of enforced disappearances and a lack of effective investigation” into this matter.
The Russian state, excluded from the ECHR following the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, was also guilty of a large number of violations in Crimea, European judges found.
The court found in particular violations of Article 3 (prohibition of torture) due to “ill-treatment inflicted on Ukrainian soldiers, people of Ukrainian ethnic origin, Crimean Tatars and journalists”.
The ECHR also denounces “secret detentions” of the same people and calls on Moscow to “take all necessary measures to ensure, as soon as possible, the return, in complete safety, of the prisoners in question transferred from Crimea to penitentiary establishments located on the territory of the Russian Federation”.
The court also finds Russia guilty of “harassment and intimidation of religious leaders who do not conform to Russian Orthodox worship [in particular of Ukrainian Orthodox priests and imams]”.
She judges her responsible for a “repression against non-Russian media” and a ban on demonstrations in support of Ukraine.
The 17 judges, who ruled unanimously, further found that Moscow had failed in its obligations due to “the banning of the Ukrainian language in schools and the persecution of Ukrainian-speaking students”.
Moscow has also undermined freedom of movement with the establishment of a border between Crimea and mainland Ukraine, according to them.
With regard to the Crimean Tatars, a Muslim minority, the ECHR found that Russia was in violation of Article 14 of the Human Rights Convention, which prohibits discrimination.
Although no longer part of the ECHR, Russia remains accountable for violations committed before its exclusion on September 16, 2022.
She is being prosecuted for other facts, including the military aggression of Ukraine in February 2022 and the destruction of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 in 2024.