UN committee votes to condemn Russian occupation of Crimea
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A key U.N. committee has approved a resolution condemning Russia's "temporary occupation" of Crimea and reaffirming the United Nations' commitment to Ukraine's sovereignty over the Black Sea peninsula.
Russia urged the General Assembly's human rights committee to vote against the resolution, but it was approved Tuesday by a vote of 73-23 with 76 abstentions. The resolution is virtually certain to be adopted by a similar vote when it comes before the assembly next month.
The draft resolution condemns "the abuses, measures and practices of discrimination against the residents of the temporarily occupied Crimea, including Crimean Tatars."
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Anatoly Viktorov, who heads the Russian Foreign Ministry department dealing with human rights, called the resolution "politically motivated," saying residents of Crimea "chose to vote in a historic referendum to reunite with Russia."