We the representatives of the International Civic Society Movement for the De-occupation of Crimea and Solidarity with the Crimean Tatar People, the movement conceived as a righteous reaction to the widespread round-ups, arrests, kidnappings, murders and other unspeakable forms of persecution to which threaten all of the peninsula’s Crimean Tatars, Ukrainians as well as the representatives of other ethnicities:
Are fully aware of the importance of uniting all the efforts possible in order to resist the Russian aggression against Ukraine in general and in the occupied Crimea particularly;
Support only the traditional methods of non-violent struggle;
Only act according to national and international law;
Respect the basic right of every individual and every group for self-determination;
Develop, promote and strengthen the basic principles of freedom, democracy and justice;
Act according to an undeniable fact that the Crimean Tatar People are a subject of the international law and that no people or nation has the right to subdue another people or nation;
Acknowledge that Crimea undeniably is an integral part of Ukraine and is currently occupied by the Russian Federation as a result of and outrageous and brutal breach of the core principles of international law, UN Statute and a wide range of other bilateral and multilateral international agreements.
The aggressor – Russian Federation has explicitly breached the basic collective rights of Crimean Tatar People as a group, unlawfully prohibiting all the activities of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People – the main representative organ of the Crimean Tatars. The decision of the UN International Court on the immediate cancellation of the prohibition of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, passed in April 2017 was consequently ignored. Thus, Russia de-facto denies the right of the Crimean Tatar People for existence as a distinct group and people.
In order to protect the Crimean Tatar People and prevent their exodus from the peninsula as well as restore the territorial integrity of Ukraine we, therefore, have the following as our main goals:
Seeking the immediate release of all Ukrainian prisoners of war and political prisoners;
Contributing to the development of de-occupational strategy of Crimea and its consequent reintegration policy into the Ukrainian legal, political, economic and cultural environment;
Demanding the strengthening of a wide range of international measures and sanctions against the Russian Federation in order to stop its persecution of the Ukrainian citizens, particularly Crimean Tatars and ethnic Ukrainians of the Crimea in the occupied territories;
Demanding the authorities of the countries all over the world to continuously and effectively implement the newest and the most effective sanctions and other measures of pressure against the Russian Federation in order to force it to return to the international legal framework and return the previously occupied territories of Ukraine to their rightful and sovereign owner.
To achieve our main goal, we call upon all the segments of Ukrainian political force and civic society as well as the international organization to ensure the following measures are taken:
The intensification of the political dialogue within Ukraine in order to consequently and continuously update the Crimean agenda in terms of de-occupation, the protection of human rights and the release of political prisoners;
To prepare a package of legislation and other regulatory documents considering the issue of the indigenous peoples, and, in particular, to ensure the amendments to Chapter X of the Constitution of Ukraine in the aspect of proclaiming the Autonomous Republic of Crimea the national-territorial autonomy of the native Crimean Tatar People, as well as on the denunciation of an agreement on joint use of the Sea of Azov with Russian Federation, etc.;
To join all the efforts possible and conceivable all over the world to put an end to the illegal occupation of Crimea and the great historic injustice the Crimean Tatar People were subjected since the late XVIII century A.D. and are still being subjected to.
History has shown that repressive authoritarian and totalitarian regimes are all doomed to an ultimate collapse one day or another and no occupation lasts forever. However, such a liberation has always been made possible due to the most sincere solidarity and real mobilization of the international community with those who were oppressed and stripped off their innate and undeniable human rights. As an example, we might take a glimpse at the South African racist apartheid regime, that was forced to dissolve itself under the pressure of the rest of the civilized world.
The 26th of February – The Resistance to the Crimea’s Occupation Day;
The 18th of May – Commemoration of the Victims of the Crimean Tatar Genocide Day,
The 26th of June – Crimean Tatar National Flag Day;
The 5th of December – The Signature of the 1994 Budapest Memorandum Day;
The 10th of December – Human Rights Day.
We call on the international community to influence in any possible and conceivable legal and non-violent way the decision-making process by the officials in order to promote the Crimean agenda in their respectful country’s forefront of foreign policy and to constantly demand the immediate de-occupation of Crimea, the consequent restoration of the territorial integrity of Ukraine within its sovereign and internationally recognized borders, including the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol’.
Crimea is Ukraine!
Crimea shall be free!
#LIBERATECRIMEA!
Glory to Ukraine!
Glory to the Crimean Tatar People!