MOSCOW, November 16. /TASS/. The UN resolution, devised by Ukraine alleging that Crimea supposedly violates human rights and seeking to pressure Russia into allowing international observers to visit the Black Sea peninsula, is nothing more than a smear campaign against Crimea and Russia in general, Sergei Zheleznyak, a member of Russia’s State Duma (lower house of parliament) International Affairs Committee, told reporters on Wednesday.
"The draft resolution on the human rights situation in Crimea, which Ukraine is trying to force through and submit to the UN General Assembly, is another attempt to conjure up a negative public opinion worldwide about the situation on the peninsula and in our country. Kiev’s initiative has nothing to do with the true state of affairs in Crimea," the parliamentarian stressed, adding that "international organizations should adopt a balanced approach to such inflammatory commotion."
He drew attention to the fact that "Russia has always been unique in terms of its multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-religious diversity, with all peoples and traditional religious all enjoying equal rights, and Crimea is an integral part of Russia." "Our country pays considerable attention to developing and maintaining national cultures, preserving the traditions and languages of all ethnic groups living in Russia. That was why after Crimea’s reunification with Russia it was decided to endorse three official languages in that territorial entity - Russian, Ukrainian and Tatar," Zheleznyak emphasized.
"We respect international organizations’ deeds in protecting human rights rather than just words, and we are open to cooperation with them. I am certain that any monitoring should be impartial instead of reflecting the interests of individual political groups whose aim is to demonize our country," he stated.
According to Zheleznyak, "international human rights groups should not be baited by dangerous lies emanating from Ukrainian authorities but pay more attention to studying the catastrophic situation in Ukraine and denouncing the crimes of the Maidan junta responsible for the deaths of thousands of people in Donbass, who are defending their right to be part of the Russian civilization."
On November 15, the UN General Assembly’s Third Committee passed a Ukraine-initiated resolution condemning the supposed human rights situation in Crimea. The resolution was supported by 73 counties, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and EU member-states. A total of 23 countries voted against, including Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Venezuela, China and India to name a few, while 76 abstained.
The four-page document condemns the alleged discrimination and human rights abuses against residents of Crimea, including the Crimean Tatars, Ukrainians and members of other ethnic and religious groups.