A/HRC/44/21 protecting its sources and systematically assesses the potential risks of harm and retaliation that those who were interviewed might face. The Secretariat was guided by the relevant rules of international humanitarian law and international human rights law in preparing the present report. 7. In further efforts to ensure the implementation of resolution 74/168, OHCHR transmitted notes verbales on specific human rights issues to the Governments of Ukraine and the Russian Federation. The Government of Ukraine provided information on citizens of Ukraine detained in Crimea and on detainees transferred from Crimea to the Russian Federation. The Government of the Russian Federation did not provide the information that OHCHR requested, citing “principled non-acceptance” of the resolution. OHCHR also sent requests for information to relevant organizations, including the Council of Europe, the Organization for Cooperation and Security in Europe and the International Committee of the Red Cross. The Council of Europe provided information on cases that were pending before the European Court of Human Rights. 2 III. Human rights A. Administration of justice and fair trial rights 8. International human rights law provides that in the determination of any criminal charges, everyone shall be entitled to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal established by law. Other fair trial rights, applicable to any person facing criminal charges, include the presumption of innocence, the right to defend oneself or be assisted by a lawyer of one’s own choice, the right to trial without undue delay and the right to appeal or review.3 International humanitarian law requires the occupying Power to take all measures in its power to restore, and ensure, as far as possible, public order and safety, while respecting, unless absolutely prevented, the laws in force in the country. 4 It also provides that the penal laws of the occupied territory shall remain in force, with the exception that they may be repealed or suspended by the occupying Power in cases where they constitute a threat to its security or an obstacle to the application of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War (Fourth Geneva Convention). It further provides that the occupying Power may, however, subject the population of the occupied territory to provisions which are essential to enable the occupying Power to fulfil its obligations under that Convention, to maintain the orderly government of the territory, and to ensure the security of the occupying Power, of the members and property of the occupying forces or administration, and likewise of the establishments and lines of communication used by them.5 During the reporting period, the Russian Federation continued to apply its criminal legislation in Crimea. 9. Court hearings concerning allegations of membership of Hizb ut-Tahrir,6 espionage and subversive activities, which were likely to attract public attention, were often held in camera, with the public, family members and media banned from the courtroom. In three cases documented by OHCHR, as justification for the closed hearings, courts in Crimea relied on the “need to ensure the safety of the participants in the proceedings” without mentioning specific reasons in support of the decision to restrict the defendants’ right to a public hearing. OHCHR received information from the defendants’ lawyers and relatives asserting that the practice of excluding the public from court hearings had been used to limit public awareness of trials, restrict public scrutiny and exert additional pressure on the 2 3 4 5 6 Between 1 July 2019 and 31 December 2019, 153 individual applications concerning Crimea were introduced and were pending before the European Court of Human Rights. As at 28 February 2020, the total number of individual applications concerning Crimea that were pending was just over 900. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, arts. 14–15; Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (European Convention on Human Rights), art. 6. Regulations respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land of 1907 (the Hague Regulations), art. 43. Fourth Geneva Convention, art. 64. Hizb ut-Tahrir is a Muslim group considered as a terrorist organization under the law of the Russian Federation, but not under Ukrainian legislation. 3