A/HRC/43/CRP.7 “If the lawyer remains here, we will take you to a court and you will immediately be deported from there. You will only have more problems”. – Russian Federal Migration Service employee to a journalist during an interrogation. 116. According to the Russian Federation’s court registry, during 2019, Crimean courts ordered the deportation and forcible transfer of at least 191 individuals considered foreigners under Russian law, including 109 Ukrainian citizens (95 men and 14 women) whom the Russian Federation did not consider as having residency rights in Crimea. 114 This is a more than twofold decrease in deportation orders against Ukrainian citizens compared to the two previous years.115 According to court judgements, the majority of victims of deportation or forcible transfer were not in “legitimate” employment116, had no family and social ties on the peninsula,117 lost their identification documents,118 or had prior records for criminal119 or administrative offences.120 Upon expulsion, victims are frequently banned from entering the Russian Federation, which effectively prohibits them from returning to Crimea, for up to 10 years.121 OHCHR notes that in 2019, Crimean courts tended to show more leniency by imposing monetary fines instead of forcibly transferring Ukrainian citizens whose close relatives in Crimea held Russian citizenship (including civil partners, parents or children), who had lived in Crimea for a considerable amount of time or who had taken steps to acquire Russian citizenship or residency permits. However, in the following case, Russian Federation authorities deported Yalta-based journalist Yevhen Haivoronskyi, a Ukrainian citizen who had lived in Crimea since 2013. In December 2019, the Yalta city court found that as “a foreigner”, he had no right to reside in Crimea, fined Mr. Haivoronskyi for violating “the conditions of residence in the Russian Federation” and expelled him from Crimea. The Court found his Russian passport to be invalid. This is despite the fact that Mr. Haivoronskyi had previously received written confirmation of his Russian passport’s validity from the Ministry of Interior of the Russian Federation. Mr. Haivoronskyi was first deported to the Russian Federation where he was detained in the Centre for Temporary Detention of Foreigners in Krasnodar krai. After 10 days of detention there, he was taken to government-controlled territory in mainland Ukraine. The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) issued an indefinite travel ban in his passport, effectively prohibiting him from entering and residing in Crimea. 117. On 18 January 2020, the FSB denied entry to Crimea to Ukrainian journalist Taras Ibrahimov122 and banned him from entry into Russian Federation territory until 2054, effectively denying his entry into and residence in Crimea. The authorities did not explain the specific grounds for the ban, and the official document provided contains only a reference to the general provision of the Russian legislation which cites grounds of national defence, security, public order, and public health.123 OHCHR recalls that the case follows a pattern of 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 30 The Russian Federation authorities in Crimea treat Ukrainian citizens who are residents on the peninsula as “foreigners”. As such, the courts in Crimea categorise the expulsion of Ukrainian citizens to mainland Ukraine as “deportations”. During 2017, Crimean courts ordered the deportation of 512 individuals, 287 of whom are Ukrainian citizens. In 2018, 435 deportation orders were issued, 231 of them concerning Ukrainian citizens. Judgment of the Feodosiia city court, 5 February 2019, case 5-33/2019. Judgment of the Yevpatoriia city court, 16 September 2019, case 5-367/2019. Judgment of the Alushta city court, 16 April 2019, case 5-128/2019; Judgment of the Kirovskiy district court, 1 April 2019, case 5-50/2019. Judgment of the Kirovskiy district court, 25 July 2019, case 5-106/2019; Judgment of the Yalta city court, 25 April 2019, case 5-201/2019. Judgment of the Armiansk city court, 3 August 2019, case 5-77/2019; Judgment of the Yalta city court, 22 March 2019, case 5-137/2019. In some cases, the Russian FSB may impose travel bans for longer than ten years or even indefinitely. Taras Ibrahimov has been reporting on developments in Crimea, including criminal cases against Crimean Tatars. He works for a Crimea-focused outlet of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and cooperates with a number of other Ukrainian and foreign media outlets. Earlier in 2019, the Russian Federal Migration Service fined Ibrahimov for conducting journalistic work in Crimea without accreditation from the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.