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More than 150 people attended the sixth online lecture in the series on transitional justice and international criminal and humanitarian law. At the webinar on 5 May, the participants learned from the Permanent Representative of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Anton Korynevych, the concept of an international crime and the category of international crimes (crime of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, crime of aggression) and how international crimes are reflected in the legislation of Ukraine.

For more than six years, international humanitarian law (IHL) and international criminal law are relevant to the millions of citizens and citizens of Ukraine who have been victims of armed aggression by Russia, because IHL is a set of international legal norms and principles, regulating the protection of victims of war, as well as restricting the methods and means of warfare, and international criminal law provides for individual criminal responsibility for the commission of serious international crimes “Anton Korynevych participated in a webinar on international crimes”

At the end of last year, the updated checkpoints points of entry/exit at the administrative border of Kherson region with the temporarily occupied AR of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol became operational. The main purpose of their reconstruction was to make it as comfortable as possible for citizens to cross the administrative border and to obtain administrative services.

In March 2020 the officials of the Mission of the President of Ukraine in the AR of Crimea the Ministry of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine, representatives of the Ukrainian Helsinky Human Rights Union and CrimeaSOS visited the checkpoints at the administrative border with the temporarily occupied Crimea to monitor the work of the Administrative Service Center  and service zone, situated there.

The results of the visits are available in the Monitoring report on crossing the administrative border via the checkpoints with the temporarily occupied Crimea in March 2020

On the third webinar of the series, dedicated to transitional justice on transition of Ukraine from war to sustainable peace, the issues of implementation of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) were discussed, in particular the concept of armed conflicts and their classification.

Anton Korynevych explained the difference between the international and non-international armed conflict, as well as on relationship between the modern conflict classifications (“hybrid”, “informational”, “economic” wars) including categories, provided by the IHL. He also characterized the situation in Crimea and Donbas with respect to international law “Online lecture was given by Anton Korynevych, the Permanent Representative of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea”

On 08 April 2020 the so-called “investigative committee” reported that om 10 April the leader of the Crimean Tartar People Mustafa Dzhamilyov would be charged in a “criminal case”, opened in summer of 2014.

Mustafs Dzhamilyov is accussed of allegedly illegal crossing the state border of the Russian Federation and “illegal careless storage  of weapons”

The so-called  Simferopol “court” detained Dzhamilyov in absentia as a preventive measure on the grounds that he is “a fugitive from investigation and trial, can put pressure on witnesses, destroy evidence, being a citizen of  another state without a permanent place of residence in the territory of Crimea”.

The occupier continues to violate the international humanitarian law  applying its criminal legislation in the occupied Crimea and practice politically motivated persecution in absentia against the Ukrainian authorities using this as an element of propaganda as well.

We emphasize that the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol are integral parts of Ukraine. Politically motivated criminal proceedings opened by the so-called “law-enforcement agencies of the occupying – state” against Mustafa Dzhamilyov is ultimately just an unlawful persecution against the leader of the Crimean Tatar People for his opposition to Russian aggression and struggle for territorial integrity of Ukraine. It is also a reaffirmation of systemic policies of the occupiers, aimed to discredit and obstruction of the activity of Mejlis of Crimean Tatar People.

We are confident that this fact will be assessed not only within national criminal proceedings but also by courts at the international level.

The world is now facing great challenges. The virus that spreads around the world does not choose its victims by nationality, color, sex, or age. The consequences of the pandemic are already being felt. But for Ukraine it is also a challenge and a great test, because all of this we are experiencing against the background of the war and occupation of part of our territories, and the impossibility of the Ukrainian health system to provide assistance to citizens in the occupied territories.

The Russian Federation occupied the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol implementing its legislation and healthcare system throughout the peninsula. This resulted mainly in negative consequences for quality and accessibility to medicine in Crimea. The occupying authorities systematically withhold reliable information on humanitarian situation in the peninsula; do not allow access of humanitarian and human rights missions to the peninsula not to inform the international community on the current situation and the measures to prevent the  occurrence and spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the occupied Crimea. That is why it is very important for Crimeans to take care of themselves and their families by taking responsibility for their own health and life “Dear Crimeans!”

Entrance to and exit from the temporarily occupied AR of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol by the citizens of Ukraine is possible on humanitarian grounds and in accordance with the decision of the State Border guard service of Ukraine( subsequently informing the Ministry of Reintegration of the Occupied Territories of Ukraine).

Today, the Government of Ukraine has adopted the decision on amending the order of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated 14 March 2020№291-р “On a temporary suspension of work of entry–exit checkpoints with the temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea” which is aimed to prevent the spread of acute respiratory infection COVID-19 throughout the territory of Ukraine, which is caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 “Government: border guard allows entrance and exit from Crimea for humanitarian needs”

 The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for the period of quarantine temporarily decided not to apply to internally displaced persons the need to confirm the presence on the Government controlled territory of Ukraine, so that Ukrainians could maintain the IDP status and receive pensions and social benefits freely after the quarantine “Mandatory verification for IDPs has been suspended at the time of quarantine”