12/03/2022 19:05

Commissioner: the occupier's initiation of a referendum on the secession of the Kherson region is a gross violation of international documents on the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms

The occupiers of the Russian Federation plan to hold a referendum in occupied Kherson for the creation of the "Kherson People's Republic" against the will of the people.

 Currently, the invaders are calling the deputies of the local regional council and offering to cooperate to create an "independent republic" in the Kherson region.

 I emphasize that, in accordance with the 1907 Hague Convention, the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, and Additional Protocol 1 to the 1977 Geneva Convention, the occupying power does not acquire sovereignty over the occupied territory and must comply with the laws in force in that territory.

 In the case of any election or referendum, it is the Constitution of Ukraine, Article 73 of which stipulates that issues of the territory of Ukraine are resolved exclusively by an all-Ukrainian referendum.

 The occupier's initiation of a referendum on the secession of Kherson, obviously without the consent of the local population, is a gross violation of the right to choose and participate in governing their country, established by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1966, Protocol № 1  on the European Convention of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of 1950.

 I appeal to the world community to increase the sanctions pressure on the aggressor state of the Russian Federation and to take all measures to withdraw the occupying racist troops from Ukraine.