13/05/2022 11:35

Commissioner: Initiation of "referendum" in Mariupol by occupiers is a gross violation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Russian invaders are preparing for a so-called "referendum" on the accession of Mariupol as part of a self-proclaimed pseudo-state entity on the territory of the ORDO to the Russian Federation.

The occupiers call May 15 the possible date of the "referendum".

Russia's intention to integrate Mariupol is evidenced by the city's transition to the russian mobile code and russian banks and higher education institutions, which may soon appear in the city.

In addition, Russia plans to define a separate list of institutions that will not only enroll children from the temporarily occupied territories, but also work directly in the region.

In local schools, the occupiers are already forcing children to sign notebooks "Mariupol.  Rostov region ".

According to 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.

The occupier's initiation of a referendum on Mariupol's accession to the self-proclaimed pseudo-state entity on the territory of the ORDO, apparently without the consent of the local population, is a gross violation of the right to choose and participate in governing one's country established by the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Protocol.  № 1 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of 1950.

I appeal to the UN Commission for Investigation Human Rights Violations during the Russian Military Invasion of Ukraine to take into account these facts of human rights violations in Ukraine.