On Tuesday, February 16, representatives of the Crimean Tatar Resource Center met with the Deputy Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Ukraine Jiří Preclík and the Third Secretary (Political Department) Jakub Lewandowski. The diplomats were presented with the album Hostages of Occupation, told about human rights violations in the occupied Crimea, and also presented the methodology developed by the CTRC for assessing the feasibility of introducing personal sanctions against persons who cooperate with the occupation authorities. In addition, the parties agreed to jointly hold a number of events in the Czech Republic.
The meeting was attended by Deputy Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Ukraine Jiří Preclík, Third Secretary (Political Department) Jakub Lewandowski, Head of the Board of the Crimean Tatar Resource Center, Head of the Department for Legal Affairs and Foreign Affairs of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People Eskender Bariiev, manager of the CTRC Zarema Bariieva.
Representatives of the Crimean Tatar Resource Center informed the diplomats about the situation with human rights violations in the occupied Crimea, about political prisoners who disappeared and died during the occupation of the peninsula. The clickable charts Victims of the occupation of Crimea, developed by the organization, which are permanently available on the organization's website in 4 languages and reflect the actual number of political prisoners, missing and dead people during the occupation of Crimea were presented.
The diplomats were told about the replacement of the population, as well as about illegal military exercises on the peninsula.
The manager of the CTRC Zarema Bariieva, presenting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in the Crimean Tatar language, noted the need to preserve and develop the legal Crimean Tatar language, and on the eve of a decade of indigenous languages, stressed the importance of translating a number of international documents into the Crimean Tatar language.
Representatives of the CTRC also spoke about the humanitarian situation on the peninsula. The diplomats were given a report prepared by the CTRC on the topic The impact of the irrational policy of the occupying Russian authorities on the water balance of the Crimea, which was sent to the UNHCHR office. The document contains detailed information about how inexpedient the invaders are using water on the peninsula.
The CTRC presented to the embassy staff the album "Hostages of the Occupation", which tells about 20 life stories of Crimean Tatar families who became hostages of the occupation of Crimea: 10 internally displaced and 10 families that remained on the peninsula. They also handed over the booklets prepared by the Crimean Tatar Resource Center about the political prisoners of Crimea who disappeared and died during the occupation of Crimea, the booklet “My dad is a hero!”
The Head of the Board of the CTRC Eskender Bariiev spoke about the methodology developed by the organization for assessing the feasibility of introducing personal sanctions against persons who cooperate with the occupation authorities. He emphasized that this methodology can become an important tool for sanctions policy, both for the Ukrainian state authorities and for international partners.
CTRC manager Zarema Bariieva informed the diplomats about the exclusive documentary Crimea. Dehydration, prepared by the CTRC and the Peace and Co Foundation, which raises one of the most pressing topics of our time: water scarcity on the peninsula, and highlights the irrational approach of the Russian authorities to the use of water resources. The Czech Ambassador and embassy staff were invited to an online presentation of the English version of this film, which will take place on 23 February.
Given the pandemic of coronavirus infection, the parties agreed to jointly hold a number of events in an online format, within the framework of which the CTRC is ready to inform the MPs of the Czech Parliament about the situation in the occupied Crimea, provide more complete information about political prisoners and hold exhibitions Hostages of Occupation, Crimean Tatars, as well as demonstrate a number of informational videos about the situation on the peninsula.
Representatives of the CTRC voiced a number of proposals to diplomats for further joint cooperation:
– Implementation of the Godfather initiative, which provides for political patronage over the political prisoners of Crimea and their families;
– The adoption in the Czech Republic of a law analogous to the Magnitsky Act, which provides for the introduction of personal sanctions against persons responsible for human rights violations in the occupied Crimea. This initiative remains particularly relevant given the latest EU resolution on Ukraine's implementation of the Association Agreement, in which the EU called on the European External Diplomacy Service to promptly enact the EU's global sanctions regime in the field of human rights (a European law analogous to the Magnitsky act);
– assistance in the recognition by the Czech Parliament of the deportation of the Crimean Tatar people as an act of genocide.
Representatives of the Crimean Tatar Resource Center handed over a package of documents recognizing the deportation of the Crimean Tatar people as an act of genocide, which includes:
– appeal of Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people to all parliaments of the UN member states,
– appeal of the Crimean Tatar Resource Center to the head of the Senate of the Czech Republic Miloš Vystrčil,
– copies of the resolution of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine On the recognition of the genocide of the Crimean Tatar people,
– Resolution of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine On the appeal of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to the UN, the European Parliament, PACE, OSCE PA, NATO PA, OSECO PA, governments and parliaments of the countries of the world on respecting the victims of the genocide of the Crimean Tatar people and condemnation of violations by the Russian Federation as an aggressor state of the rights and freedoms of the Crimean Tatar people,
– statement of the Saeima of the Republic of Latvia In memory of the 75th anniversary of the deportation of the Crimean Tatar people and support for the policy of non-recognition of the illegal annexation of Crimea,
– Statement of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania On the recognition of the genocide of the Crimean Tatar people by the Soviet Union as an act of genocide,
– legal qualification of the deportation of the Crimean Tatar people as an international crime against the indigenous people.
The diplomats, in turn, recalled their continued support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine and stressed that the Czech Republic would never recognize the illegal annexation of Crimea. The parties also agreed to hold a number of events directly in the Czech Republic.
Album "Hostages of the Occupation" was developed with the support of the Democracy Assistance Fund of the US Embassy in Ukraine.