UNHCR

Introduction On 27 March 2024, the UN Human Rights Committee (UN HRC) adopted an important decision concerning human rights violations resulting from the application of Russian law in Crimea after its annexation by Russia in 2014. In Bratsylo and others v. Russia (Bratsylo case), the UN HRC found that the applicants’ detention and criminal convictions were based on the retroactive application of Russian law and therefore violated Arts 9(1) and 15(1) ICCPR (paras 8.2-8.6). No basis existed for the application of Russian law in Crimea at the time of the commission of the alleged crimes in 2010 and 2013, before Russia took control over Crimea. After their conviction, the applicants were transferred from Crimea to serve their sentences on the territory of the Russian Federation. The UN HRC considered that this transfer violated the applicants’ right to remain in and enter their own country enshrined in Art 12(4) ICCPR (paras 8.7-8.9). Another, rather novel, aspect of the decision is the HRC’s recognition that the forceful…