A series of policy discussions and events in Brussels between May 12-16, 2025, will spotlight the grave violations of international human rights and humanitarian law Russia has committed since it began occupying Crimea in 2014.
These abuses, which Human Rights Watch and other groups have been documenting for 11 years, require urgent attention, particularly in the context of the ongoing negotiations to end Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The initiative, called Crimea Week, should be a moment for diplomats, European Parliament members, and European Union officials to discuss with experts and Ukrainian civil society how to renew EU engagement on Crimea and strengthen the international response to the plight of Crimea’s civilians.
Russia’s abuses in Crimea became a blueprint for its abuses in other areas of Ukraine it has occupied. Russia has violated its obligations as an occupying power under international humanitarian law and obligations under multiple human rights treaties. Starting in 2014, Russia unlawfully imposed Russian legislation and policies on Crimea. Russian authorities relentlessly persecute Crimean Tatars and other residents who have openly and peacefully expressed dissent against Russia’s actions there, bringing trumped-up charges against critics and holding hundreds in arbitrary detention. Russian authorities subject Ukrainian children to military and anti-Ukrainian propaganda and try to erase Ukrainian language, culture, and identity. Russia effectively forced Ukrainian civilians in Crimea to take Russian citizenship, and those who refused faced discrimination. Some of Russia’s abuses in Crimea, such as conscripting men into its armed forces and transferring civilian detainees to prisons in Russia, constitute war crimes.
The EU and its member states have consistently drawn attention to Russia’s grave human rights and humanitarian law abuses on the peninsula. They should now insist on continued investigations into violations of the laws of occupation and other international human rights and humanitarian law.
As part of any peace negotiation, the EU should ensure, in line with international law, that there is no amnesty for grave crimes. The EU should also seek the release of civilian detainees unlawfully held by Russia and the return of all deported Ukrainian civilians.
The protection of Ukrainian activists, journalists, and lawyers should also be upheld in talks, as they fight for the rights of Crimean Tatars and other dissenters at great personal risk.
Crimea Week underscores the urgent need to address the systematic repression endured by the people of Crimea under Russia’s occupation. Negotiations need to ensure the restoration of their rights.
