Today, Ukraine, along with the international community, celebrates the International Day of the World's Indigenous People. This year, its main theme is the anniversary of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Ten years ago, on September 13, 2007, the UN General Assembly adopted this important document which was supported by Ukraine. The relevant Resolution of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine No. 1140-VII of March 20, 2014 stressed the need to preserve and develop the ethnic, cultural, linguistic and religious identity of the Crimean Tatar people as indigenous people, as well as of all national minorities in Ukraine.

Being a multinational and multicultural unitary state, Ukraine promotes the consolidation and development of the Ukrainian nation, its historical consciousness, traditions and culture, as well as the development of the ethnic, cultural, linguistic and religious identity of all indigenous peoples and national minorities. Our state shares the fundamental principles of UNESCO on supporting indigenous people, based on universal respect for the law, the rule of law, human rights and fundamental freedoms for the peoples of the world, regardless of race, gender, language or religion.

Today, we would like once again to draw attention to the systematic violations of human rights by the Russian Federation in the territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol (Ukraine), where the international observers, in particular the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, observes the numerous repression cases on the ground of people’s origin, as well as politically and ethnically motivated persecutions by the state bodies of the Russian Federation of the citizens of Ukraine.

Resolutions and decisions of the UN General Assembly, the Human Rights Council, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, as well as of other international organizations, stress the need to cease violations of human rights by the Russian Federation in the territory of the peninsula.

The gross violations of human rights by Russia in the temporarily occupied by it territory have led to Ukraine's appeal to the International Court of Justice with regard to the violation by the Russian Federation of standards of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. On April 19, 2017, the Court ordered the Russian Federation to refrain from application of existing and new measures hampering the activities of representative bodies of the Crimean Tatar community, in particular the Mejlis, and to ensure access to education in the Ukrainian language.

Ukraine will continue to make every effort for the full de-occupation of the territory of Crimea, restoration of its sovereignty and the territorial integrity, as well as human rights of all peoples and national minorities living in its territory.

We are convinced that all responsible for temporary occupation of Crimea, as well as systematic and widespread violations of human rights within this territory will be held to account.

We are confident in further support of the international community on this issue.