The 9th of August, the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, was established by the UN General Assembly: on this day, in 1982, the first meeting of the Working Group on Indigenous Populations took place – at that time it was the only UN unit with the indigenous peoples’ rights agenda. In 2004, the UN General Assembly, having launched the second Decade of Indigenous Peoples, recommended celebrating the 9th of August not only internationally, but also at the national level, as an annual occasion to draw attention to the needs of indigenous communities suffering from the consequences of colonization, from the barbaric activities of mining companies, from the constant encroachment of the state and business on their traditional lands.
This year, Russia “celebrates” the Day of Indigenous Peoples not by measures to protect their rights, but the absolutely opposite way. At once, 55 organizations were included in the list of “extremists”, being declared by the Ministry of Justice as “structural units” of the non–existent “Anti-Russian separatist movement” – that, in its turn, was recognized as “extremist” and banned by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation on June 7, 2024. Thus, both based in Russia and abroad, both formal and informal organizations and groups that promote the agenda of anti-colonialism, various kinds of emancipation, and the rights of national minorities found themselves in the register. Among them, there are the Aborigen Forum, an informal all-Russia network of activists of indigenous peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East, the expert group Indigenous Russia, the International Committee of Indigenous Peoples of Russia (ICIPR). The latter was created by forcibly emigrated activists after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion to Ukraine; this groups is well-known for its uncompromising anti-war position.
The inclusion of the indigenous organizations in the register of “extremists” has already caused an acute reaction. The International Committee of Indigenous Peoples of Russia immediately issued a statement, and, together with the Indigenous Russia and the Batani Foundation, appealed to UN bodies – both the highest and specialized on protecting the rights of indigenous peoples (the appeal has already been supported by more than 100 organizations and activists from around the world). The statement by ADC Memorial and the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders emphasizes that the Russian authorities have used tried-and-tested tactics to criminalize an entire group: previously, a non-existent “international LGBT movement” was invented by the Russian authorities and declared “extremist”, also with some “structural units”; and completely real repression followed immediately against LGBTI representatives. Now the real danger of criminal prosecution threatens representatives of indigenous peoples, especially those who continue to live in Russia.
The organizations included in the register associate this new round of repression, inter alia, with their advocacy activities at the UN venues. The statement of the International Committee of Indigenous Peoples of Russia lists some previous “milestones”: the session of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Geneva in 2022 – and following blocking of the organization’s website; the session in 2023 – and following recognition of the Committee activist Pavel Sulyandziga as a “foreign agent”; the recent session in July 2024 – the accusations of involvement in the separatist movement and the recognition as an “extremist organization”.
Some cases of repressions from the past years have also been associated with the participation in the UN events. In 2014, activists who were going to take part in the First World Conference of Indigenous Peoples in New York were not allowed to leave Russia. One of them was director of the Center for Assistance to Indigenous Peoples of the North, Rodion Sulyandziga, who had his passport ruined by border officers at Sheremetyevo Airport and was subjected to administrative prosecution for this. In 2019, the Center for Assistance to Indigenous Peoples of the North, a leading expert organization in the field of more than 20 years of history, was liquidated by court. In between these events, the Center was recognized as a “foreign agent”, the team faced searches and seizure of documents, interrogations and threats. In their turn, foreign experts on the rights of indigenous peoples were blocked from entering Russia. Thus, in 2018, the FSB applied a 50 years entry ban to Johannes Rohr, a well-known expert from the Institute of ecology and anthropology (INFOE, Germany), the author of reports to various UN Committees. Having exhausted the Russian legal instances, with the support of ADC Memorial, Johannes Rohr applied for protection to international justice.
In order to understand the role of UN institutions for the representation of the world’s indigenous peoples, let’s turn to history. Until very recent times, international law did not pay enough attention to the indigenous issues. Among the important documents, perhaps only the International Labour Organization Convention No.107 (1957) might be named (it is about the protection and integration of indigenous and other populations leading a tribal and semi–tribal lifestyle in independent countries). However, later, in the 1980s-90s and 2000s, international law and institutions in this field actively developed and became part of the global anti-colonial and human rights agenda. Finally, the international community has come to understanding of the value of cultural heritage of indigenous peoples and the fragility of their natural habitat, inseparable, in fact, from their culture and way of life. It was recognized that it is finally necessary to provide indigenous peoples with “development, peace and security, and human rights that too many have been denied for too long”, as it was said on the occasion of the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples by the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan (2005).
Currently, important international documents include the ILO Convention No. 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples (1989), which replaced the outdated Convention of 1957; the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (1993), which contains a state obligation to support the knowledge and practices of indigenous peoples; and, finally, the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2007), that have been developed more than 20 years – since 1985. As for the international institutions, the most important bodies and at the same time platforms where indigenous peoples can express their position have become the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (in 2006 it replaced the abovementioned Working Group), and the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (since 2000).
All this “machinery” must be kept in mind, since Russia has traditionally had a significant presence and influence there. This is understandable: a big region of Arctic, Siberia and Far East needs to be represented, as there are dozens of recognized by the Russia law “small indigenous” peoples, as well as many other ethnic minorities. The question is – represented by whom and how. On one hand, for independent defenders of the rights of the indigenous peoples of Russia, international forums often become the only opportunity to report violations of their rights – since it is not possible to do so at the national level. On the other hand, Russia manipulates the international institutions of representation of indigenous peoples and increases its destructive influence on them. Russian propaganda is being articulated by loyal indigenous figures, while independent activists, as mentioned above, are prevented from entering international platforms and are being discredited.
The most recent examples are from the last session of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (Geneva, July 2024). Several activists from Buryatia and the Republic of Sakha were not allowed to participate (first they were registered, but later refused, with the explanation of a “technical error”) – their statement was read out by Yana Tannagasheva from the International Committee of Indigenous Peoples of Russia, who raised the problem of Russia’s negative influence on the UN structures. While her speech at the session back in 2022 provoked an aggressive reaction of a representative of the Russian mission, in 2024 this very representative went further and accused the activists in “abusing the status of indigenous peoples in this room”, in living abroad in separation from their communities, in receiving support from Western countries – “former colonial powers” and broadcasting their policies, and finally called for inspecting the UN fellowship program for minorities, that allegedly educate “racists and chauvinists.”
Demagogic arguments about other “colonial powers” and maintaining the image of Russia as an “anti–colonial” power in the eyes of other indigenous peoples of the world (in Africa, Latin America), accusing indigenous activists themselves of “chauvinism” – all this is an attempt to discredit the movement of indigenous peoples of Russia at the international level, and to present in principle opposite positions (a pro–government one – of the loyal activists, and a critical one – of the independent figures) as an internal “quarrel”, where “both are indigenous – these and those”.
The independent activists who were forced to leave Russia complained that they could not sign up to speak at the session of the Expert Mechanism, although many times the floor was given to the Russian delegation and loyal representatives of the Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East (RAIPON). Meanwhile, the RAIPON cannot adequately represent the indigenous peoples of Russia, since it has lost its independence and has taken a completely pro–state position, including open support of the invasion to Ukraine, changing the Constitution of the Russian Federation and Putin’s nomination for a new term.
The history of the transformation of RAIPON into a puppet structure is described in a recent report prepared by the International Committee of Indigenous Peoples of Russia. The authors conclude: “… government-run, government-captured, or simply government funded organizations operating within international forums and spaces and countering human rights accounts with government propaganda, all while in the guise of being independent entities. The country’s biggest indigenous peoples organization RAIPON (Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North), once seen as a solution to the country’s indigenous struggles and independent body representing the rights and interests of indigenous peoples, has now succumbed to the same fate and has become a powerful tool of state propaganda. RAIPON’s journey from an independent organization to an instrument of state propaganda reflects the complexities and challenges encountered by indigenous advocacy groups in Russia. The shift towards state control led to a departure from the organization’s core mission, blurring the lines between its original intentions and government interests. The Russian government’s increasing control over the organization’s leadership, financial reliance and manipulation of information have undermined RAIPON’s independence and credibility”.
New research by Arctida, Verstka and 7×7 reveals one more side of RAIPON’s activities – its dependence on business structures and lobbying in favor of big companies, its affiliation with the governing party and government agencies, corrupt ties of officials affiliated with RAIPON. The report emphasizes that through the statements of loyal representatives of indigenous peoples at the UN, the lifting of sanctions against Russian companies is being lobbied, for example, the odious Norilsk Nickel, responsible for a huge leak of diesel fuel in 2020, which caused an environmental disaster in Taimyr – on the lands of indigenous peoples.
Russia did not support the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples at the time of its final elaboration because of two issues that became a stumbling block: the self-determination of indigenous peoples, and their right to land and resources. The first issue was subsequently removed: a clause on the non- violating the territorial integrity of States and their political unity was incorporated into the final text of the Declaration. The second question turned out to be decisive for the non-recognition of the Declaration by Russia (and, by the way, for the non-ratification of the relevant ILO Convention No. 169, although it was debated several times in the 1990s-2000s). Russia has not agreed to recognize the collective right of indigenous peoples to their ancestral territories and resources, to restitution and compensation.
In those early days, activists of the movement of indigenous peoples of Russia had the opportunity to speak openly – and did expressed their disappointment with Russia’s position on the Declaration, including in profiled and absolutely legal media. Thus, international news from the United Nations and the ILO took a significant part of the magazine “The World of Indigenous Peoples: The Living Arctic” (No. 20, 2006-2007), which is now, in our repressive times, even strange to read – because experts and activists criticized the government policy in such a uncompromising and at the same time constructive way, and nobody saw any “extremism” in this.
Pavel Sulyandziga, that time vice-president of the Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East, in 2005-2010 – a member of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, now living in forced exile and recognized as a “foreign agent”, member of the International Committee of Indigenous Peoples of Russia which is on the list of “extremist organizations”, wrote: “This position of the Russian Federation has caused deep disappointment and a negative reaction from the world community and has put our country in a number of odious states known for their violations of the rights of indigenous peoples. It may happen for Russia to be obstructed by the international community, including by indigenous peoples, who recognize this position of Russia as a betrayal of the interests of indigenous peoples of the world.”
These words, written almost twenty years ago, sound as if they are about the current situation, when protection of the rights of indigenous peoples became outlawed in Russia – unfortunately, without any “may happen” and already in the present tense.
Olga ABRAMENKO, expert of Anti-Discrimination Centre Memorial
First published on the blog of Radio Svoboda (in Russian)