Over the past two years, members of the Crimean Tatar nationality and anyone involved in their self-government, the preservation of their cultural heritage, and their fight for their rights and freedoms have faced relentless persecution in Crimea. Many members of this nationality have an extremely unfavorable view of Russia\u2019s annexation of Crimea in 2014, which was accompanied by the deployment of Russian troops, the removal of Ukrainian authorities under the threat of violence, and the establishment of Russian government bodies on Crimean territory.<\/p>\n
After the annexation, the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, which is the representative body of the Crimean Tatars chosen by the Qurultay (general assembly) of the Crimean Tatar People, expressed the opposition of native residents of Crimea towards Russia\u2019s seizure of this peninsula. The Mejlis has received repeated threats that its \u201cactivities on Russian Federation soil will be banned\u201d in connection with protest actions and the failure of the Crimean people to subjugate themselves to the Russian government (this was in reference to peaceful actions in the form of demonstrations, meetings, and car rallies, as well as attempts to disrupt economic measures and the Ukrainian government\u2019s energetic support of an annexed Crimea).<\/p>\n
The leaders of the Crimean Tatar people\u2014Mustafa Dzhemilev (the first chairman of the Mejlis) and Refat Chubarov (the current chairman)\u2014were basically run out of Crimea and banned from returning. Criminal cases were opened against them in Russia. As for the Mejlis itself, the Russian government is trying to have it banned as an \u201cextremist organization,\u201d and the corresponding lawsuit was filed with the Supreme Court of Crimea on February 15. The banning of \u201cextremist\u201d organizations is a widespread practice in Russia which entails the criminal prosecution of anyone who is in any way connected with the banned organization and even of people (primarily writers in the mass media and online) who mention the shuttered entity without using the words \u201cwhich is banned in the Russian Federation.\u201d What this actually amounts to is the complete criminalization of the activities of any \u201cbanned\u201d entity. The obligatory use of the claim \u201cwhich is banned in the Russian Federation\u201d also paints this entity as anathema.<\/p>\n
When we are referring to the banning not just of the self-government body of the Crimean Tatar people, but also of its elected representatives, repressions apparently also apply to anyone who participates in the activities of elected entities which run communities, nominate representatives, and implement decisions adopted over the past 25 years regarding the lives of the Crimean Tatar people. This attempt to ban the Mejlis, this new stage in the incursion on the rights of Crimean Tatars, amounts to the ethnic, cultural, and political (on the grounds of political convictions) discrimination of the Crimean Tatar people.<\/p>\n
When First Deputy Chairman of the Mejlis Nariman Jelal received the lawsuit \u201cto ban the activities of a public association,\u201d he called the lawsuit\u2019s title \u201cthe first mistake, since the Mejlis is not a public association, but the representative body of the Crimean Tatar people.\u201d He also noted that \u201cIt is important to remember that the Mejlis is not just a structure. It is an idea, a distinct symbol, a set of specific actions. And these kinds of direct, crude bans don\u2019t change anything, because this national movement has always found a form that corresponds to a concrete moment in history, to concrete government actions, and, as a result, this period of history passes. Anyone who believes that he is still responsible to his own people, who, through their votes, gave him the right to represent them, will continue to bear this responsibility in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
And this lawsuit truly does abound with mistakes. Moreover, almost all the charges the prosecutor lodged against the Mejlis are in direct violation of the norms of international and Russian law. For example, the Mejlis leaders were charged in relation to actions that took place outside of the Russian Federation (both in Ukraine until 2014 and currently) and in relation to the Declaration of National Sovereignty of the Crimean Tatar People (adopted on 26.06.1991), which was criticized by prosecutors and actually dates back to the time of the Soviet Union (of which the uninformed prosecutors are apparently unaware, since they noted that the Mejlis was \u201ccreated in 1991 in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, which was part of Ukraine\u201d).<\/p>\n
It is not at all clear what business the Regulations, which the Mejlis adopted in 2004 to \u201csecure a status for Crimea as part of Ukraine,\u201d are of the Russian Prosecutor\u2019s Office or how they could serve as grounds for a charge of \u201cviolating the integrity of the Russian Federation.\u201d The ominous words from the lawsuit that \u201camendments to the Regulations of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People were not made\u201d do not offer an explanation either. Moreover, there is no longer a need to secure a status for Crimea\u2014two years ago Ukraine guaranteed \u201cprotection and the realization of the inalienable right of the Crimean Tatar people to self-determination as a part of a sovereign and independent Ukrainian state.\u201d<\/p>\n
The parts of the lawsuit that lay out the problems that the Russian authorities have with the leaders of the Crimean Tatar people are no less absurd. It states that a decision was adopted in relation to Mustafa Dzhemilev regarding the \u201cundesirability of his stay in the Russian Federation,\u201d while the very next sentence says that Russia has put him on an international wanted list. The authors of this lawsuit accuse Refat Chubarov of \u201ccollecting tendentious information during voting to discredit the elections\u201d and delivering a speech in Ukraine \u201cto the general public.\u201d The lawsuit also accuses these men of organizing a protest action, \u201cinfringing on the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation\u201d by demanding Crimea\u2019s return to Ukraine, and \u201cpromoting the creation of conditions for committing crimes.\u201d<\/p>\n
It is abundantly clear that neither peaceful protest actions against the sudden violent change in state borders (when the opinion of the native people of Crimea was completely disregarded), nor a desire to seek recognition of the right to self-determination, nor the collection of information about elections can be considered a legal basis for banning the activities of the representative body of the Crimean Tatar people.<\/p>\n
The only somewhat serious charge of extremism in connection with \u201cestablishing preferences for people of the \u2018Crimean Tatar nationality,\u2019\u201d which the lawsuit alleges appears in the Declaration of National Sovereignty of the Crimean Tatar People (of 26.06.1991), actually directly contradicts the text of this Declaration (which is not quoted once in the 10-page lawsuit, even though it is attached to the lawsuit as evidence). On the contrary, in the Declaration we find the requirement \u201cto guarantee the observance of the rights and freedoms of all people, regardless of their race, nationality, political views, or religious beliefs.\u201d<\/p>\n
There is no doubt that the repression of the Mejlis and Crimean Tatars violates the right to non-discrimination, equality of peoples, and their rights to self-government, preservation of their cultural heritage, and the development of autonomy.<\/p>\n
We demand an end to the persecution of Crimean Tatars in Crimea, a renunciation of any attempt to ban the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, and the opportunity for all members of this nationality to live freely and peacefully in their land.<\/p>\n
Anti-Discrimination Centre Memorial
\nCenter for Civil Liberties
\nHuman Rights organization Citizens’ Watch
\nKharkiv Regional Foundation “Public Alternative”
\nCrimea SOS Social Initiative
\nHuman Rights Information Center
\nthe Coalition \u201cJustice for Peace in Donbas\u201d:
\nAlchevsk Human Rights Analytical Center
\nEastern-Ukrainian Center for Civic Initiatives
\nPublic Movement \u201cOchyshchennya\u201d
\nDonetsk \u201cMemorial\u201d
\nLuhansk Regional Human Rights Center \u201cAlternative\u201d
\nPublic organization \u201cMirny bereg\u201d
\nPublic Committee for Protection of Constitutional Rights and Freedoms of Citizens
\nStarobilsk public organization \u201cVolya\u201d
\nStarobilsk district public human rights women\u2019s organization \u201cVictoria\u201d
\nKharkiv Human Rights Protection Group
\nEcological and Cultural Center \u201cBathmat\u201d<\/p>\n
Kirovograd Province Organization \u201cAssotiation of Political Sciences\u201d
\nKirovograd Province Civil Organization \u00abCommittee on Restoring of Historical Justice \u00bb
\nAll-Ukrainian Initiative \u00abMovement of State Builders \u00bb
\nCivil Organization \u00abPeople\u2019s Watch of Kirovograd Province\u00bb
\nUkrainian Human Rights Monitors on Law Enforcement
\nCenter of Political Studies and Analysis
\nInformation agency Article 20
\nCharitable foundation ECOSOCIS
\nSolidarit\u00e4t mit der B\u00fcrgerbewegung in Russland e.V.
\nCivic Assistance Committee
\nFund “Open Society”<\/p>\n
Other signatures of the statement are welcome,\u00a0contact us here\u00a0https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/adcmemorial\/<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Ukrainian version is available on Russian web-page<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Over the past two years, members of the Crimean Tatar nationality and anyone involved in their self-government, the preservation of their cultural heritage, and their fight for their rights and freedoms have faced relentless persecution in Crimea. 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