Europe’s highest human rights court rules on Russian actions in Crimea

The European Court of Human Rights is expected to rule on Tuesday in a case concerning alleged Russian human rights violations on the Ukrainian-occupied Black Sea peninsula of Crimea.

Ukraine, which brought the case before Europe’s highest human rights court, says Russia has repeatedly violated human rights in Crimea since February 2014, when Moscow annexed the territory in violation of international law.

The Strasbourg court’s decision on Tuesday is not about the annexation itself, but about Russia’s actions in the aftermath.

Ukraine’s allegations include unlawful detentions, mistreatment of civilians, and suppression of Ukrainian media and the Ukrainian language in schools.

Russia refuses to recognize the court’s rulings.

The country was expelled from the Council of Europe in February 2022 following Moscow’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine. As a result, it is no longer a member of the European Convention on Human Rights, which the Court in Strasbourg is responsible for enforcing.

However, the court can also rule on incidents that occurred before Russia’s exclusion. The case discussed on Tuesday dates back to March 2014.

The Council of Europe is an institution independent of the European Union.