NEW YORK, March 21 (RIA Novosti) - UN Assistant Secretary General for Human Rights Ivan Simonovic traveled to Crimea on Friday to lay the groundwork for a human rights monitoring mission to the region.
UN Secretary General Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters that Simonovic and his team “met in Simferopol today with [Prime Minister] Sergei Aksyonov and [Parliament Speaker] Vladimir Konstantinov, as well as representatives of the ombudsperson, civil society, journalists and regional organizations.”
Simonovic previously said he had been unable to visit Crimea for security concerns earlier this week, but later received an official invitation to visit regional capital Simferopol.
The Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, which has a special status within the region, were added as subjects of the Russian Federation following a referendum Sunday in the Black Sea region, which saw over 96 percent of voters in the region back the motion to leave Ukraine and rejoin Russia.
