Amnesty International (AI) Monday that Crimean residents have suffered ten years of systematic oppression since Russia’s of the region in 2014. AI reported that since ,
Russia has oppressed Crimea’s non-Russian residents, namely Ukrainians and Crimean Tartars, in two ways: by changing the region’s ethnic demographics and more systematically through “restrictions on education, religion, media, representative institutions, judicial system, and cultural celebrations.” AI explained that
Russian figures post its annexation of Crimea showed a decrease of Ukrainian residents by almost 10 percent and Crimean Tartars by 2 percent, which are figures AI says are inconsistent with even the highest numbers of these residents who fled the peninsula in 2014. AI thus attributed the drop in residents to “ethnic Ukrainians now choosing or feeling compelled to identify as Russian, or a combination of both.” After annexation, all non-Russian residents were given citizenship to Russia unless they “formally opted out.” Opting out puts the “foreigner” in a disadvantaged position regarding their “economic, social, cultural, political and civil rights.” Furthermore, AI noted how schools in the region enforce a Russian curriculum, restricting access to the Ukrainian language. Nine percent of children were taught in Ukrainian prior to annexation, with that number falling to less than one percent. Religiously, the report pointed out the Ukrainian Crimean dioceses “has effectively ceased to exist” after its most recent eviction in 2019. Other minority religions have been affected as well, including the region’s Muslim and Jehovah’s Witnesses populations. Most recently, reported on a Jehovah’s Witness in 2021 who was sentenced to 6 and a half years in
prison, as the religious group is considered an extremist organization. Furthermore, local Ukrainian media, including radio, television and print, was replaced by Russian media, leaving Crimea “severely deprived of information from the rest of
Ukraine.” AI attributed these Russian efforts in Crimea as a way to legitimize Russia’s “illegal”occupation in the region. The annexation was highly controversial in 2014, with the and declaring its transaction illegitimate. and its were also met with
sanctions at the time. AI called for Russia to cease its violations of international humanitarian laws in all of Crimea. In , celebrations were held commemorating the ten years of Crimea’s annexation.
India and Bangladesh sign friendship treaty On March 19, 1972, India and Bangladesh signed a for twenty-five years. The treaty recognized the independence of Bangladesh by India at the conclusion of Bangladesh's war of independence from
Pakistan. The treaty expired in 1997 without renewal. Earl Warren born US
Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren was born on March 19, 1891, in
Los Angeles,
California. He led the Court during a critical period of social change in the 1950s and 1960s and is perhaps best known for his Opinion in . Learn from the Supreme Court Historical Society, and at Kansas State University in 1970, shortly after his retirement, on the theme "The Alternative is Chaos."