UN 23 Nov. /Offset. TASS Oleg Zelenin/. Russia drew Tuesday attention of the UN Security Council on water blockade of the Crimea, carried out by the Ukrainian side. Speaking at the security Council meeting, the first Deputy permanent representative of the Russian Federation at the world organization Pyotr Ilyichev stressed that the deliberate actions of the Kiev authorities violate human rights and a number of international humanitarian standards.
“the Russian People of Crimea are unlikely to forget, in April 2014, Kiev gave the order to block the gateways of the North Crimean canal, which provided at that time 85% of the needs of about two million residents in fresh water,” – said the diplomat. According to him, these actions of the Ukrainian authorities violate the right to drinking water and sanitation, as well as the right to food and the relevant resolutions of the UN Council on human rights, not to mention article 25 of the universal Declaration of human rights and article 11 of the International Covenant on economic, social and cultural rights”.
Responding to the objections of the Ukrainian delegation, who claimed that problems with the water supply of the Crimea speak of the inability of the Russian authorities to meet the basic needs of the population of the Peninsula, zampolpreda of the Russian Federation indicated that the situation did not arise due to the fact that “the inhabitants of the Crimea refused water from the Dnieper”. “It was a deliberate action of the Kiev authorities that led to the worsening of the humanitarian situation and agricultural disaster. Water blockade did not end, after it was followed by energy and food blockade,” reminded …
Water resources as the root cause of the conflict
the UN security Council on Tuesday held an open debate on the issues of water resources, peace and security. Addressing the meeting, UN Secretary-General ban Ki-moon noted that the differences in the operation of water resources could cause tensions between the two countries, primarily located above and downstream of the rivers, as well as intra-state conflicts. As an example, he cited the struggle between tribes over access to water in Afghanistan and the Sudanese province of Darfur.
According to him, global climate change will only exacerbate these problems, and States need to coordinate their actions for water management. According to the UN news Centre, at the moment there are 276 transboundary water bodies, of which 60 are in Asia and 68 in Europe. While fresh water is only 2% of all water reserves on the planet, and the majority of its reserves located on the territory of nine countries: Russia, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Canada, China, Colombia, Peru and the United States.
As stated at the meeting, Pyotr Ilyichev, Russia proceeds from the fact that natural resources “are themselves neutral”, and their presence or lack of “can not a priori be considered as the causes of conflicts and create threats to peace and security.” According to him, conflicts arise more as a result of “poor management” of these resources.
the Diplomat expressed the opinion that the security Council should not discuss this subject, Recalling that the work of the key UN body “is aimed at dealing with particular conflict situations, especially through reconciliation of conflicting parties”. “It is unclear what practical measures the initiators of today’s meeting, choosing as the subject of the discussion of water resources is expected from the Council,” he said.
the Referendum in Crimea
the Authorities of the Crimea and Sevastopol March 16, 2014 held a referendum on reunification with Russia, which was attended by more than 80% of eligible voters. For reunification with Russia voted 96.7% and 95.6%, respectively. 18 March of the same year the President of Russia Vladimir Putin signed the agreement on the accession of the Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol into the Russian Federation, and on March 21 it was ratified by the Federal Assembly.
Kiev has refused to recognize Crimea part of Russia, despite the strong results of the referendum, whenever it takes political demarches in respect of acts which can be regarded as recognition of Crimea as Russian territory.
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