The European Court of Human Rights ruled on Tuesday that Russia committed rights violations on Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula, which Moscow occupied and annexed in 2014 in violation of international law.
Russia has violated the right to life, the ban on inhuman or degrading treatment, and freedom of expression and assembly, among other abuses.
The ruling means that the judges in Strasbourg sided with Ukraine, which had filed a complaint with the court over a “pattern of persecution” of non-Russians in Crimea.
Ukraine’s allegations include unlawful detentions, mistreatment of civilians and the suppression of Ukrainian media and the Ukrainian language in schools.
According to the court’s unanimous judgment, there was sufficient evidence – corroborated by a series of witness testimonies and reports from non-governmental organizations – to find Russia guilty ‘beyond reasonable doubt’.
It said the “incidents had been sufficiently numerous and
interconnected” and amounted to a “system of violations”.
The impact of the decision is likely to be limited as Russia refuses to recognize the court’s rulings.
The country was expelled from the Council of Europe by Moscow after the large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. As a result, it is no longer a member of the European Convention on Human Rights, which is upheld by the court in Strasbourg.
However, the court can still rule on incidents that occurred before Russia’s expulsion. The case in question on Tuesday dates back to March 2014.
The Council of Europe is an institution independent of the European Union.