MOSCOW, April 15 (RIA Novosti) – Local activists and journalists who did not support Crimea’s March 16 referendum on joining Russia have faced persecution, according to a report published Tuesday by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
“There have also been credible allegations of harassment, arbitrary arrest, and torture targeting activists and journalists who did not support the referendum,” says the report, based on the findings of Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ivan Simonovic and the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU).
The document said “the OHCHR delegation received many reports of vote rigging,” adding that “the presence of paramilitary groups” and “soldiers in uniform without insignia” was not conducive to an atmosphere of freedom, in which people could freely exercise their right to vote.
Such “allegations,” “claims,” “reports,” and “concerns” constitute the body of evidence for the report, which repeatedly restates the March 27 decision of the General Assembly that the referendum had no validity. The document also reiterates Ukraine’s refusal to recognize the results of the Crimean referendum, claiming that it was in violation of the country’s constitution.
Remarkably, the report did not conclude that the results of the referendum would have been different if Russia had made no attempts “to influence the vote.”
The incriminating report follows a series of Western claims denouncing Russia’s position on Ukraine and dismissing the results of the Crimean referendum to join Russia as illegitimate.
Following the change of power in Kiev in a coup, Crimea, a predominantly ethnic Russian region, rejected the legitimacy of the new self-proclaimed Western-backed Ukrainian government. The autonomous republic moved to rejoin Russia after the government in Kiev introduced measures aimed against Russian-speakers in the country.
A referendum held on March 16 in the predominantly Russian peninsula saw almost 97 percent of voters support reunification with Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on March 21 to ratify reunification treaties with the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, which has a special status within the region.
Although widely denounced by the West, the referendum in Crimea was fully compliant with international law and must be recognized as legitimate, according to the Russian government.
