The UNESCO Secretariat published the Director-General report pursuant to the UNESCO Executive Board’s decision “Follow-up of the situation in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea (Ukraine)”, which notes the deterioration of the situation in the temporary occupied Crimea in UNESCO’s fields of competence (page 7).

The report is based on the information, provided by the UNESCO Secretariat, Ukrainian Side and UNESCO’s institutional partners: the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Representative on Freedom of the Media Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the International Council on Monuments and Sites and Amnesty International.

The document highlights brutal violations by the occupying authorities, in particular in the sphere of protection of cultural heritage. The reports states that the so-called “restoration works” at the territory of the Khan's Palace in Bakhchysarai threaten the historical and cultural authenticity of this property inscribed into the World Heritage Tentative List. It also notes the illegal archaeological excavations and illicit trafficking of artifacts from the territory of Crimea which are held in breach of international law.

The report underlines that the UN General Assembly resolutions on Crimea must be fulfilled. The latest resolution “Situation of human rights in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol (Ukraine)” adopted on December 19, 2017 obliges Russia to comply with the Order of the International Court of Justice on the rights of the Crimean Tatar community and the availability of education in the Ukrainian language on the occupied peninsula.

The document notes that Ukraine and UNESCO have agreed the main parameters for UNESCO’s direct monitoring of the situation in the occupied Crimea in the fields of its competence.

The report of the Director-General will be considered at the 204th session of the UNESCO Executive Board, which will be held in Paris from April 4 to 17, 2018.