Seven years ago, on 27 March 2014, 100 UN members condemned Russia's occupation of Crimea by adopting a relevant resolution at the General Assembly. However, the support for Ukraine's territorial integrity has been less pronounced in the following years. The human rights organization ZMINA analyzed which countries allied themselves with Russia, and who merely abstained, as well as what this means for Ukraine's efforts to de-occupy Crimea.
Nonetheless, for voting to be valid and for the adoption of a resolution by the UN General Assembly, the ratio of votes for and against is what matters. So even if there are more countries that abstained than those that voted in favor, the resolution is still adopted.
Russia and its satellites always vote against - Venezuela, Syria, Cuba, Belarus, Armenia, etc. As well, countries with the greatest human rights problems, such as China or North Korea, become situational allies of Russia: they generally oppose resolutions focused on specific countries/territories.
However, the number of countries supporting the Crimean resolutions is an important indicator, because if more and more countries move from support to passive "abstention," it indicates a certain "fatigue" from the Crimean issue, unwillingness to support Ukraine, which is in a state of war for seven years and opposes the occupation.
That is why the work of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and civil society is so important, so that focus is not lost on Crimean issues at the UN. We hope that the launch of the Crimean Platform, which Ukraine initiated in 2020, will be a new impetus for the consolidation and coordination of international efforts aimed at the de-occupation of Crimea and the protection of human rights there.
For many years, human rights organizations have called for the creation of an international platform for Crimea, and we hope that the efforts will be effective, help in the struggle for the release of political prisoners, and bring the day of Crimea's return to Ukrainian control closer.
A PDF version of this report is available here.
Tetiana Pechonchyk is the head of the board at Human Rights Center ZMINA. Today, ZMINA focuses on monitoring the freedom of speech, the situation of journalists and human rights defenders in Crimea and supports local grass-root initiatives. ZMINA, together with three Crimean organizations, is a member of the Human Rights House Crimea (in exile). In September 2018 ZMINA organized an international human rights mission to Crimea with the involvement of Human Rights Houses from Azerbaijan, Belarus, and Ukraine.
Read also:
- Ukraine “satisfied” as Russia gets nervous about Crimean Platform
- Crimean Platform sets the scene for deoccupation, all UN members should join – Ukrainian expert at UNSC
- UN committee adopts resolution recognizing Russia as occupying power in Crimea (2016)
- New UN resolution on Crimea confirms Russia is an occupying power, brings 10 important changes for Ukraine (2017)
- Why Ukraine’s new UN General Assembly resolution is important for returning Crimea and political prisoners (2018)
- New UNGA resolution: Crimea temporarily occupied by Russia, Russia must release political prisoners & stop repressions (2018)
- The Resolution of United Nations on the Azov Sea and the diplomatic defeat of Russia (2018)
- Russia’s replacement of population in occupied Crimea violates Geneva Convention – UN report (2019)
- UNGA vote on militarization of Crimea highlights Moscow’s international isolation on Ukraine, Portnikov says (2020)
