Report of the Head of the Board of the Crimean Tatar Resource Center, member of Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people Eskender Bariiev at the OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting 2019
Working Session 6: Fundamental Freedoms: Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association, 19 September 2019
Dear representatives of the OSCE member states!
As a representative of the Crimean Tatar people, I express my gratitude to the Member States that supported the Luxembourg Declaration.
The right to peaceful assembly and freedom of association are enshrined in Art. 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Art. 21-22 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Since February 2014, after the occupation of Crimea by Russia, the rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of association have been systematically violated, which negatively affects the preservation and development of the Crimean Tatar people.
I am a member of the representative body of the indigenous people of Crimea – the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people.
The Mejlis is the only authorized representative and executive body of the Crimean Tatar people, elected by the Qurultay, which is guided by its decisions, the norms of international law and the laws of Ukraine. The main goal of the Mejlis is to eliminate the consequences of the genocide committed by the Soviet Union against the Crimean Tatars.
Qurultay is the highest representative body, elected in direct elections, by secret ballot, which decides the main social, political and cultural issues of the Crimean Tatar people.
The last elections of Qurultay delegates took place in 2013. These elections were recognized as democratic by independent observers.
By the decision of the Supreme Court of Russia dated September 29, 2016, the Mejlis was declared an extremist organization and banned, thus violating the collective right of the Crimean Tatars to manage representative institutions.
The occupying power forbids holding meetings of the representative body of the Crimean Tatars to make important decisions for the people. The FSB carries out systematic repressions against a number of members of the Mejlis and delegates of the Qurultay. The occupying Russian government suppresses any form of realization of the right of the Crimean Tatar people to peaceful assembly. May 18 is the Day of Remembrance of the victims of the genocide of the Crimean Tatar people in 1944. Every year, mourning events were held in Crimea, and after the occupation of Crimea, on the eve of all the memorable dates of the Crimean Tatar people, activists receive a Warning about the inadmissibility of violating Russia's laws on extremism.
I would like to give a number of examples of violations of the right to peaceful assembly.
On March 17, in Bilohirsk, an attempt was made to disrupt a prayer service dedicated to political prisoners and people forcibly abducted in Crimea during the occupation period.
On March 29, Tair Ibraghmov was fined for participating in a flash mob in support of the children of Crimean political prisoners.
May 10 in the village of Zuya, the owner of the cafe, was forbidden to provide a venue for a meeting on teaching in their native language.
On May 17, on the eve of the anniversary of the deportation of the Crimean Tatars, activists Nariman Dzhelyalov, Emine Avamileva, Zair Smedliaiev and others were given a warning by the occupants.
Also, warnings were handed to the activists on June 25, on the eve of the Day of the Crimean Tatar flag. In a warning, the occupying prosecutor's office threatens administrative and criminal prosecution in the event of unauthorized peaceful assemblies.
On June 26, the occupants refused to hold a car rally dedicated to the Day of the Crimean Tatar flag.
On July 10, on the eve of the consideration of the appeal against the sentence against the defendants in the Hizb ut-Tahrir case, Crimean Tatar activists took to Red Square in Moscow to protest the persecution of Crimean Tatars. The Russian police detained seven people, and the next day, during the trial of the Crimean Tatars, the security forces detained another 50 Crimean Tatars, who were later fined.
On September 5, the Tverskoy Court of Moscow sentenced activist Konstantin Kotov to 4 years in a penal colony, who repeatedly held solitary pickets against the repressions of the Crimean Tatars, according to the so-called Dadinov article, i.e. repeated violation of the rules for holding rallies, which is contrary to the Constitution of Russia.
In 2018, the next Qurultay elections were to be held. However, due to the ban on the Mejlis and persecution, the Crimean Tatar people are deprived of the right to hold democratic elections for their representative bodies in Crimea.
Recommendations:
On the international level:
1. To develop an Action Plan for Indigenous Peoples in the OSCE Region as a regional document of the UN System-wide Action Plan;
2. The leadership and the OSCE member states needs on a permanent basis, including during bilateral cooperation, to demand from Russia the implementation of the Interim Decision of the UN ICJ, the Resolutions of the OSCE PA, the resolution of the Council of Europe and the Council of Europe on the annulment of the decision to ban the Mejlis.
3. It is necessary to create a systematic dialogue between the OSCE and other international organizations and bodies (UN, UNESCO, UN Human Rights Council, CoE) on the human rights situation in Crimea in order to ensure synergy of efforts;
4. To assist in ensuring free democratic elections to the representative bodies of the Crimean Tatar people under the auspices of the OSCE.
5. To include the issue of protecting the rights of representatives of indigenous peoples and national minorities in Crimea (primarily Crimean Tatars and Ukrainians) on the agenda of the official dialogue between the Council of Europe and the OSCE;
6. It is necessary to strengthen the institutional capacity of law enforcement agencies and public organizations of Ukraine involved in the investigation (monitoring) of human rights violations in Crimea.
At the level of the Ukrainian state:
1. To adopt a law on the indigenous peoples of Ukraine, thus adequately introduce the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people into the legal field of Ukraine;
2. To develop a National Action Plan to improve the situation of indigenous peoples in Ukraine;
3. To develop a mechanism for the institutional representation of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people as part of the Ukrainian representation in inter-parliamentary cooperation.
At the level of the Russian Federation and de facto authorities in Crimea:
1. To execute the interim decision of the UN ICJ, i.e. cancel the decision of the Supreme Court of Russia to ban the Mejlis and allow it to work on the territory of Crimea;
2. To fulfill all of its obligations as the occupying power exercising de facto control over Crimea, in accordance with applicable international law;
3. To release 94 political prisoners in Crimea and Konstantin Kotov;
4. To investigate the enforced disappearances of Ervin Ibragimov and ten other Crimean Tatars;
Head of the Board
Crimean Tatar Resource Center,
Member of Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people
Eskender Bariiev