France, Paris, 14 Avenue de l’Opera, 75001   Ukraine, Kyiv, 56 Kharkivske highroad, 02175
arcconstructionofcrimea@gmail.com
18.02.2022 № 037/2022
To UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, including its causes and consequences
Forced Labour and Indigenous Communities in the Crimea
DrHab, Prof. Borys Babin, PhD Hanna Ustinova-Boichenko, PhD Olexiy Plotnikov, PhD Andrii Chvaliuk, PhD Victor Filatov, experts of ARC
Responding to the call for submissions for thematic report on experiences of persons belonging to ethnic, religious and linguistic minority communities discriminated on the basis of work and descent, our Association of Reintegration of Crimea, as non-governmental expert and human rights organisation, with activities devoted to Crimea’s issues, submits this application to the UN Special Rapporteur. Our responses are devoted to the situation with risks for enforced labour in the Crimea; it deals with the issues identified by the Association in its work, namely the issue of intentional and organised Russian policy against ethnic and religious groups’ rights in the Crimea since 2014. We informed UN Rapporteur already on role of organised criminal groups with regard to contemporary forms of slavery in the Crimea and on the nexus between forced displacement and contemporary forms of slavery in the Crimea. No positive changes happened on those issues in the Crimea in 2021-2022. 
Illegal occupation of Crimea by Russia since 2014 have been condemned in a set of international acts, including UN GA resolutions 2014 68/262, 2016 71/205, 2017 72/190, 2018 73/263 2019 74/168, 2020 75/192, 2021 76/70, 2018 73/194, 2019 74/17, 2020 75/29, 2021 76/179, resolutions of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe 1988 (2014), 2028 (2015), 2067 (2015), 2112 (2016), 2132 (2016), 2145 (2017), 2198 (2018), 2231 (2018) etc., of the European Parliament’s resolutions 2014/2841 (RSP), 2014/2965 (RSP), 2016/2556 (RSP), 2016/2692 (RSP), 2017/2596 (RSP), 2017/2869 (RSP), 2018/2754 (RSP), 2018/2870 (RSP),  2019/2734 (RSP), 2019/2202 (INI) etc. Attempted annexation the Crimea by Russia was never recognized by the international community. Human rights violations in the Crimea now are the subject to consideration in international courts, including the International Court of Justice (case 166) and the European Court of Human Rights (case 20958/14 and others). European Court established in its Decision on 16 December 2020 in case 20958/14  that such Russian de-facto “authorities`” administrative practices exist in the Crimea against certain ethnic groups since 2014, including discrimination the Crimean Tatars.
Our Association reflected the issues of discrimination of the Crimea’s ethnic groups in a set of analytic materials, granted to the competent structures of UN and OSCE. Association’s experts highlighted the problems of historic, social and legal consequences of illegal deportations the ethnic groups, indigenous’ and minorities’ rights including linguistic, ecologic and humanitarian ones, aspects of stigmatization the ethnic groups as “terrorists” and “extremists” and their ongoing racial discrimination, as Russia uses the mechanisms of “countering the extremism” and “countering the ideology of terrorism” to discriminate ethnic Ukrainians, Crimean Tatars and other groups in the Crimea. 
Association gives such information for the questions, pointed by the Rapporteur:
1. The key forms for risks for ethnic Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars residing in the Crimea on issue of the forced labor are the so-called “punishment in administrative and criminal order” as against allegedly “extremists and terrorists” and so-called conscription to the Russia’s army forces. Both actions are committed by the Russia’s de-facto “authorities” against the ethnic Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars illegally in the occupied Crimea, violating the IV Geneva Convention. So the presence of the Crimea-origin Ukrainian citizens, ethnic Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars in places of non-freedom and in the Russian army units is illegal in any circumstances; so their forced labour in such places and units is also illegal and is a form of modern slavery. Such forced labour is banned by the part 3 (a) of article 8 of International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and reservations of the points part 3 (c)i and part 3 (c)ii of article 8 of Covenant are not applicable.
2. The key factor of such forced labor is discriminative punitive policy of Russia’s de-facto authorities in the Crimea.
3. Crimean Tatars as Sunni Muslims are especially vulnerable for the conditions of the   places of non-freedom and in the Russian army units too far from their religious doctrine.
4. Ukrainian Government protests against those illegal actions, including “International Crimean Platform” and by above-pointed international cases and actions. The UN GA resolution 2021 76/179 reflects deep concern about restrictions faced by Ukrainians, including the indigenous people of Crimea, in exercising their economic, social and cultural rights. It also as expresses grave concern about the constant use by Russia of “military courts”, including those located in the territory of Russia, to try civilian residents of Crimea, including Crimean Tatar “activists” and the failure of the occupying Power to respect fair trial standards. The UN GA resolution 2021 76/179 demands Russia to end the practice of compelling Crimeans to serve in the armed or auxiliary forces of Russia, including through pressure or propaganda, and in particular to ensure that Crimeans are not compelled to participate in military operations of Russia and cease using the “education system” for the propaganda of service in the armed or auxiliary forces of Russia among children; it demands Russia also to end the practice of criminal prosecution of inhabitants of Crimea who resist conscription into the armed or auxiliary forces of Russia.
5.6. Russia’s de-facto “authorities” ban access to the international mission to the Crimea and such “authorities” eliminated all independent non-governmental entities in the region; so any relevant activities against the enforced labour in the Crimea is impossible. Our Association informs UN and OSCE bodies in the current situation.
7. Since 2014, Russia bans usage of medical drugs certified by the Ukrainian authorities, including antibiotic and antivirus medicals produced in European countries and allowed for usage in Ukraine. In 2020, Russia banned all anti-COVID vaccines in Crimea, except those which are produced in the Russia without internationally recognized certification procedure (like “Sputnik” vaccine). To make things worse, the vaccination of Crimean inhabitants by the Russian non-certified vaccine is de-facto obligatory for citizens, including all places of non-freedom and so called “army units” where the forced labor happens. Such policies bear features of a medical experiment over the population of the occupied territory. 
Russia’s de-facto “authorities” in Crimea did not take action to prevent and address racial discrimination, hate speech, xenophobia, and related intolerance including in the COVID-19 context. Racial discrimination of ethnic Ukrainians and indigenous Crimean Tatars in Crimea, is now subject to consideration in the International Court of Justice. All Russian policies and measures “to minimize health risks associated with the COVID-19” by blocking the visits of Crimean residents to Ukraine’s mainland and of IDPs to Crimea are not effective even potentially, since in 2020-2021 the Russia’s “authorities” organized mass visits of Russian tourists to Crimea (more than one million in 2020), the resettlement of own residents to Crimea (more than sixty thousands of Russians have been resettled to Sevastopol alone in 2020), and by massive military trainings. The Russian “anti-COVID” policy in Crimea violates the right to sustainable development, guaranteed by the above-pointed multilateral treaties. Russia’s “authorities” did not adopt the “COVID-19 socio-economic response and recovery plan” and do not use the human rights-based approach in pandemic-related issues, they do not use the human rights and gender-sensitive indicators in this area. Russia’s “authorities” do not protect human rights of the population of Crimea, including IDPs, in the COVID-19 context. Such “powers” violate their right to health, housing, education, information, social protection, basic services, safe and dignified return and sustainable reintegration.
8.9.10. As no mechanisms is available for the Crimean residents for their defense from being subjected by the so-called “authorities” to contemporary forms of slavery, our Association believes that a special research on the contemporary forms of slavery in situations of armed conflicts and related “grey zones” like Crimean peninsula, done by the UN Special Rapporteur, may be a starting point for improvement of the situation. The Special Rapporteur’s visit to Ukraine, including Crimea would contribute to collection of information, and would enable the Rapporteur to make a first-hand impression of the situation with contemporary forms of slavery. The reports of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine may be suitable for the UN Rapporteur regarding this issue also; we may recommend to this UN Mission monitor more actively the issues of human rights’ violations in the Crimea, especially regarding gender and racial dimension, indigenous and minorities rights, personal and labour rights and right to sustainable development.
18th February, 2022                              In the name of the Association of Reintegration of Crimea
Prof. Borys Babin