Opponents of Russian annexation persecuted in Crimea - Europe rights body

A boy stands in front of Russian police officers during a festive concert marking the second anniversary of Russia's annexation of the Crimea region, in Red Square in central Moscow, Russia, March 18, 2016. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Europe's leading human rights organisation said on Thursday that Crimea's indigenous Muslim Tatars and other opponents of the region's annexation by Russia face persecution including police intimidation and brutality.

The Council of Europe counts both Ukraine and Russia among its 47 member states and was the first international rights body allowed into Crimea since Moscow annexed the Black Sea peninsula from Kiev in 2014, sharply aggravating tensions with the West.