“The ECHR ruling is just the beginning of a long process”: How Ukraine is striving to hold Russia accountable for human rights violations in Crimea
On March 12, 2025, the Ukrainian Crisis Media Center hosted a public discussion organized by the Center for Civil Liberties together with its partners—the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union (UHHRU) and the Regional Center for Human Rights. Experts in human rights, lawyers, and representatives of state and international organizations participated in the event. Participants examined the progress in implementing the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) judgment in “Ukraine v. Russia” and discussed its significance for ordinary people.
On June 26, 2024, the judgment in the inter-state case “Ukraine v. Russia” came into force, becoming the first ruling by an international court regarding the mass human rights violations in Crimea. The Court established numerous facts of enforced disappearances, torture, inhuman treatment, and violations of the right to life and liberty. It recorded instances of torture against Ukrainian military personnel, ethnic Ukrainians, Crimean Tatars, and journalists, as well as degrading conditions of detention. The Court specifically noted the unlawful imprisonment of Ukrainian political prisoners, the use of unlawful judicial mechanisms under Russian law, and the lack of effective means to challenge these actions. There were also documented violations of the freedom of peaceful assembly, the persecution and intimidation of religious leaders and Ukrainian religious organizations, the unlawful deprivation of property, the harassment of Ukrainian-speaking children, restrictions on the right to education, and the impossibility of refusing Russian citizenship.
From March 4 to 6, 2025, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe—the body responsible for overseeing the execution of ECHR judgments—began shaping Russia’s obligations regarding enforcing this ruling. Ukrainian human rights defenders submitted their proposals concerning the implementation procedure.
Margarita Sokorenko, the Government Agent before the European Court of Human Rights, noted that the ECHR ruling has not only legal but also political significance: “This is the first instance in which the Court officially recognized large-scale repressions in Crimea. The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe confirmed that the violations recorded by the ECHR point to a systemic practice of human rights abuses caused by the illegal application of Russian legislation to the occupied territory. In this regard, the Committee called for restoring Ukrainian legislation in Crimea. Right now, it is essential to coordinate the efforts of state agencies and civil society to implement the ruling, including securing the release of all Ukrainian political prisoners and ending the persecution of our citizens.”
Volodymyr Yavorskyi, Program Director at the Center for Civil Liberties, explained that the ECHR decision is only the beginning of a lengthy process: “Enforcement of the ruling has several dimensions: financial, general, and individual measures. The general measures concern systemic issues, while the individual ones relate to specific people whose rights have been violated. These are not just statistics—there is a real name behind every violation. Many of these individuals are currently behind bars in Russia and need to be brought home. It is also necessary to restore the activities of public and religious organizations that have been repressed. The violations recorded by the ECHR did not end—they have been ongoing since 2014 and continue to this day. Therefore, it is crucial to develop an effective program for implementing this ruling.”
According to Oleksandr Pavlichenko, Executive Director of the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union, it is now necessary to increase international pressure: “Monitoring mechanisms and appropriate international institutions, including the UN and Council of Europe missions, must be involved to ensure proper oversight over the enforcement of this judgment. It is important that this process not remain purely declarative but be accompanied by concrete steps that force Russia to fulfill its obligations.”
Mikita Petrovets, an expert at the Regional Center for Human Rights, emphasized the significance of violations of international humanitarian law in the Court’s and Committee of Ministers’ decisions: “The European Court of Human Rights acknowledged that the human rights abuses it identified in occupied Crimea bear the hallmarks of serious violations of international humanitarian law, and hence constitute war crimes. Importantly, the Committee of Ministers considered our organization’s proposal and obliged the Russian Federation to ensure the investigation and prosecution of those responsible for these actions, including the military and political leadership. This recommendation should serve as a reminder to the International Criminal Court that Russian criminals are awaiting arrest warrants for the international crimes committed in occupied Crimea from 2014 to 2022.”
In summary, the participants stressed that although Russia has yet to comply with the ECHR judgment, this does not mean that international pressure should wane. Furthermore, Ukraine must continue working on mechanisms for compensation and holding the perpetrators accountable.
