The European Parliament hosted a discussion “Exploitated Lands, oppressed peoples: discrimination and persecution of the Indigenous peoples of Siberia, the North and the Far East,“ co-organized by Anti–Discrimination Center Memorial Brussels and Rasa Jukneviciene, MEP from Lithuania. We publish the summary of the speech of Mark Zdor, a native of Chukotka, a member of the International Committee of Indigenous Peoples of Russia and an anti-war activist:
Ettyk tumgyturi! Gymnin nynny Tletegin.
Good afternoon! My name is Mark Zdor. I was born in the village of Neshkan, a Chukchi village of sea hunters and reindeer herders located near the Bering Strait. Traditional environmental management is the main means of survival for many people of my community. But more importantly, it is a key means of preserving the identity of Indigenous peoples. Therefore, for us, nature conservation is not an abstract concept, but literally a matter of survival.
Environmental challenges in Russia’s Indigenous regions
Unfortunately, our Committee must note that the Russian State ignores many threats to the traditional way of life of Indigenous peoples. In our region, the authorities sometimes not only ignore the problems of Indigenous peoples caused by the industrial development of Chukotka, but even act in partnership with industrial corporations in their confrontation with Indigenous communities.
Here are some examples.
- The history of the development of the Amaam coal deposit in the south of Chukotka was accompanied by a confrontation between the coal company and the local community named Altar. At first, the coal company tried to suppress the Indigenous community through the court. When this failed, the authorities provided such enormous administrative pressure that the members of the Altar community had no choice but to close their organization.
- Another example is the Baim copper deposit. In the process of promoting the project, the authorities suppressed any attempts by the Indigenous peoples of Chukotka to express their concerns for a healthy habitat. At first it was a floating nuclear power plant in Pevek. The Indigenous people have feared a nuclear catastrophe. But their worries were suppressed by administrative resources. Then came the plans for the construction of a port at Cape Nagleynin. According to local residents and environmentalists, this project did not take into account the potential damage to the lands of traditional nature management. The suppression of the voices of the opponents of the project took place according to a well-established methodology. The authorities carried out administrative pressure, and law enforcement agencies conducted so-called investigations and threatened independent activists with criminal cases.
The situation is no better in other regions of Russia. Let me recall the story of Sergey Kechimov from the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug. He fought with the oilmen for his ancestral sacred land. The story ended with Kechimov dying of cancer under unclear circumstances. There are other examples. You can find some of them on our website “Indigenous Russia”.
The Indigenous peoples of Chukotka and the war in Ukraine
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been going on for three years now. Ukrainian and Russian soldiers are dying every day, but the worst thing is that civilians are dying.
Indigenous peoples are also suffering. By the end of the first year of the war, Russia had already undergone a “partial” mobilization. In Chukotka, many Indigenous people were forced to go to war in Ukraine. Some researchers estimate that up to 10 young people were mobilized from each Chukchi village. Chukchi villages have an average of 300 to 400 inhabitants. This means that in each village about 10% of Indigenous men of working age could be called up for mobilization.
The protests of Russian citizens, including Indigenous ones, are severely suppressed by the authorities. Recent well-known cases are related to Konstantin and Valery Ledkov, both natives of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug.
At the same time, apparently fearing protests against mobilization, the Russian authorities changed their strategy. Now they are attracting people to the war with big contracts. According to indirect evidence and estimates of information from public sources, over 1,000 volunteers and conscripts left Chukotka for the front in the first two years of the full-scale war. This is about 10% of men of working age in the region. At least half of them are representatives of Indigenous peoples.
We also would like to point out fatal consequences for Indigenous communities. In fact, they are being deprived of their future. Families will not be created in Indigenous villages without young men, and traditional environmental management will disappear along with identity.
Persecution of Indigenous activists by the Russian authorities
I have already mentioned that the Russian authorities use administrative and criminal pressure against activists and leaders of Indigenous peoples and communities. All members of our International Committee of Indigenous Peoples of Russia have been through such persecution. You can find information about our cases on the Indigenous Russia website.
Perhaps the most famous Russian Indigenous political prisoner is Alexander Gabyshev. In 2019, Gabyshev announced a marche to Moscow, protesting against Putin’s dictatorial regime. He was detained by security forces and sent to a psychiatric institution for treatment against his wish. Memorial has recognized Alexander Gabyshev as a political prisoner.
Russian Indigenous activists and political asylum – the situation in Western countries
Our Committee is grateful to the European Union for the support of people from Russia who protested against the war and the dictatorial regime in Russia. Nevertheless, we must pay attention to the fact that Russian activists sometimes do not even have the opportunity to gain access to the EU mechanism for political asylum. Therefore, most of them are forced to hide from the persecution of the Russian authorities in countries such as Georgia, Kazakhstan, or Armenia. Proximity to the borders with Russia contributes to the high vulnerability of political activists.
There are also political asylum seekers among the Indigenous peoples. One of them is Andrey Danilov, a member of our Committee. He has been awaiting political asylum since March 2022. Refusal or non-granting of asylum implies a return to Russia, where activists will be convicted, and in prison they will be tortured and may even be killed.
I have only touched some of the problems and challenges of the Indigenous peoples of Russia. I thank the organizers for the opportunity to provide information about the situation of Indigenous peoples in Russia. We hope that the International Committee of Indigenous Peoples of Russia will continue to cooperate with the European Parliament for the benefit and prosperity of our continent and the world.
Thanks for your attention!