Ongoing Human Rights and Security Violations in Russian-Occupied Crimea”
Commission on Security & Cooperation in Europe: U.S. Helsinki Commission “Ongoing Human Rights and Security Violations in Russian-Occupied Crimea” Commission Staff Present: Orest Deychakiwsky, Policy Advisor, Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe Participants: Oksana Shulyar, Embassy of Ukraine to the United States; John E. Herbst, Director, Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center at the Atlantic Council; former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine; Paul A. Goble, Editor, Windows on Eurasia; Professor, The Institute of World Politics; Taras Berezovets, Founder, Free Crimea Project, Kyiv, Ukraine The Briefing Was Held From 2:00 p.m. To 3:45 p.m. in Room B-318, Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, D.C., Orest Deychakiwsky, Policy Advisor, Commission for Security and Cooperation in Europe, presiding Date: Thursday, November 10, 2016 Transcript By Superior Transcriptions LLC www.superiortranscriptions.com DEYCHAKIWSKY: Good afternoon. On behalf of the Commission chairman, Representative Chris Smith, and Co-chairman Senator Roger Wicker, welcome to this Helsinki Commission briefing focusing on the human rights, political and security situation in Crimea. My name is Orest Deychakiwsky, and I’m a policy advisor here at the Commission whose portfolio includes Ukraine. We’re very pleased to have with us today four truly distinguished speaker whom I’ll introduce in a few minutes, but first I want to give some introductory comments and set the scene a bit, if I may. With Russia’s ongoing illegal occupation of Crimea and aggression in eastern Ukraine – where it continues to direct, arm and finance its separatist proxies – Russia continues to flout every single one of the core OSCE principles enshrined in the 1975 Helsinki Final Act, including territorial integrity, inviolability of borders, sovereignty, and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.
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