ORGANIZATION FOR SECURITY AND CO-OPERATION IN EUROPE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights & High Commissioner on National Minorities Report of the Human Rights Assessment Mission on Crimea (6–18 July 2015) 17 September 2015 TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary .......................................................................................................... 4 Methodology .................................................................................................................... 15 International Standards ................................................................................................. 16 1. Imposition of Russian Laws and Citizenship ........................................................ 19 1.1 Forced citizenship ....................................................................................................... 20 1.2 Residency permits ....................................................................................................... 23 1.3 Civil registration (birth certificates)............................................................................ 25 1.4 Business re-registration ............................................................................................... 26 1.5 Property re-registration ............................................................................................... 29 1.6 Business and property ‘nationalization’ (expropriations) ........................................... 31 1.7 Media organization re-registration .............................................................................. 33 1.8 Non-governmental organization (NGO) re-registration ............................................. 36 1.9 Religious organization re-registration ......................................................................... 38 1.10 Summary of findings................................................................................................. 40 2. Civil and Political Rights ......................................................................................... 41 2.1 Freedom of expression ............................................................................................. 41 2.1.1 Right to hold opinions without interference......................................................... 43 2.1.2 Freedom of access to information........................................................................ 45 2.1.3 Freedom of the media .......................................................................................... 47 2.2 Freedom of peaceful assembly .................................................................................... 51 2.2.1 Regulatory restrictions on freedom of peaceful assembly ................................... 51 2.2.2 Restrictions imposed prior to assemblies ............................................................ 53 2.2.3 Sanctions and penalties imposed after assemblies .............................................. 55 2.3 Freedom of movement ................................................................................................ 59 2.3.1 Restrictions imposed by de facto authorities in Crimea ...................................... 60 2.3.2 Restrictions imposed by Ukrainian authorities.................................................... 61 2.3.3 Demographics of populations impacted by restrictions ...................................... 65 2.4 Summary of findings................................................................................................... 66 3. Economic, Social and Cultural Rights .................................................................. 68 3.1 Right to education ....................................................................................................... 69 3.2 Right to work .............................................................................................................. 74 3.3 Right to health ............................................................................................................. 76 3.4 Right to social security (pensions) .............................................................................. 79 3.5 Summary of findings................................................................................................... 81 1 4. Situation of Minority Communities ...................................................................... 82 4.1. Crimean Tatar community ......................................................................................... 83 4.1.1 Self-governing organizations of Crimean Tatars ................................................ 83 4.1.2 Religious organizations of Crimean Tatars ......................................................... 87 4.1.3 Situation around disputed informal settlements .................................................. 88 4.1.4 Impact of restrictions on public assemblies organized by Crimean Tatar community ..................................................................................................................... 89 4.2 Ukrainian identity and culture .................................................................................... 90 4.3 Education in mother-tongue ........................................................................................ 93 4.3.1 General context .................................................................................................... 93 4.3.2 Education in and of the Ukrainian language ....................................................... 96 4.3.3 Education in and of the Crimean Tatar language ............................................... 98 4.4 Summary of findings................................................................................................. 100 2 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ABL Administrative Boundary Line CESCR UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights CRC UN Convention on the Rights of the Child ECHR European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms FCNM Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities FMS Federal Migration Service (of the Russian Federation) FSB Federal Security Service (of the Russian Federation) ICCPR International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ICERD International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination ICESCR International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights HCNM OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities HRAM Human Rights Assessment Mission ICRC International Committee of the Red Cross IDP Internally displaced person MFA Ministry of Foreign Affairs MSP Ministry of Social Policy (of Ukraine) NGO Non-governmental organization NPM National Preventive Mechanism ODIHR OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights OHCHR Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights OSCE Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe OST Opioid substitution therapy RFE/RL Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty QHA Crimean News Agency UCIPR Ukrainian Center for Independent Political Research UN United Nations UNCAT UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment UNHCR UN High Commissioner for Refugees 3 Executive Summary 1. Following an invitation by the Government of Ukraine on 15 June 2015, the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM) conducted a joint Human Rights Assessment Mission (HRAM) on Crimea from 6 to 18 July 2015. 2. The HRAM evaluated the current human rights situation in Crimea, including the situation of minority groups, as impacted by developments since the release of the previous ODIHR/HCNM report1 on Ukraine in May 2014, soon after the occupation and annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation. 2 3. Notably, the most critical human rights problems in Crimea today are largely congruent with the concerns and negative trends identified in that previous assessment, which ODIHR and HCNM then called upon de facto authorities in Crimea to address. 3 4. Despite their clear mandates to monitor the human rights situation in Crimea, the institutions and independent experts of the OSCE, the United Nations and the Council of Europe have all had their access to the Crimean peninsula either fully or partially restricted since the annexation. The de facto authorities in Crimea did not respond to requests to facilitate access to Crimea for the HRAM, 4 for which reason the HRAM primarily conducted fact-finding and 1 OSCE-ODIHR/HCNM, Report of the Human Rights Assessment Mission to Ukraine (The Hague/Warsaw: 12 May 2014), available at: http://www.osce.org/odihr/118476 . 2 Note on terminology: for the purposes of this report, “occupation” refers to the exercising of control over Crimea by Russian Federation forces since late February 2014 (see note 15 below); whereas “annexation” refers to the Russian Federation’s integration of Crimean institutions into the Russian Federation under the imposition of its domestic legal framework, beginning on 21 March 2014 (see note 17 below). With regard to the status of Crimea, see also , United Nations (UN) General Assembly Resolution No. 68/262 on the “Territorial integrity of Ukraine” (UN Doc. A/RES/68/262; adopted 27 March 2014). 3 In their 2014 joint report (note 1 above), ODIHR and HCNM issued the following recommendations to de facto authorities in Crimea, inter alia : (i) to apply the principle that the change in authorities exercising effective control over Crimea should not have regressive effects on the