July 21, 2021 – a day that went down in history! It was on this day that President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed the Law of Ukraine “On the Indigenous Peoples of Ukraine” initiated by him, which the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted on July 1, 2021.
Yes, it happened!
But what was the path to success? How did it all begin? What contribution did the team of the Crimean Tatar Resource Center make?
On the international level:
June 5, 1957 – ILO Indigenous and Tribal Populations Convention
June 27, 1989 – ILO Convention No. 169 concerning Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries
1995 – 2007 – Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people is a member of the UN working group on the development of the draft of UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
In Ukraine:
August 24, 1991 – the restoration of independence of Ukraine. For the first time, the question arose about determining the status of the Crimean Tatars, Karaites and Krymchaks
November 25, 1995 – The Mejlis was accredited to the UN Intersessional Working Group to develop the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). In accordance with UN ECOSOC Decision 1995/317, the Mejlis was recognized as an indigenous people’s organization and, as such, was admitted to the work of the UN; this decision, in accordance with a special procedure, was made with the prior written consent of the host country of the organization of indigenous peoples (that is, Ukraine agreed to admit the Mejlis to the UN as an organization of an indigenous people)
June 28, 1996 – the first mention of indigenous peoples appears in Articles 11 and 92 of the Constitution of Ukraine
September 10, 1999 – Roman Bezsmertnyi introduced to the Verkhovna Rada the draft Law of Ukraine "On the Status of the Crimean Tatar People", the draft did not get into the session hall
April 20, 2000 – The Resolution of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine "On Recommendations of Parliamentary Hearings "Problems of Legislative Regulation and Implementation of State Policy to Ensure the Rights of the Crimean Tatar People and National Minorities Who Were Deported and Voluntarily Return to Ukraine" was adopted.
September 3, 2003 – Mustafa Dzhemilev submitted to the Verkhovna Rada the draft Law of Ukraine "On the Status of the Crimean Tatar people", the draft did not get into the session hall
March 23, 2004 – The Verkhovna Rada adopted the Law of Ukraine "On the Restoration of the Rights of Persons Deported on Ethnic Grounds", however, President Leonid Kuchma vetoed this law
May 16, 2012 – Resolution of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine "On Sending to the Repeated First Reading of the Draft Law of Ukraine On the Restoration of the Rights of Persons Deported on Ethnic Grounds" (the draft law was not adopted in the first reading)
June 20, 2012 – Resolution of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine "On the Adoption of the Draft Law of Ukraine on the Restoration of the Rights of Persons Deported on Ethnic Grounds"
March 13, 2014 – MP Hennadii Moskal submitted two bills: "On the Restoration of the Rights of the Indigenous People of Ukraine, Forcibly Resettled from the Territory of Crimea" and "On the Status of the Crimean Tatar People"
March 15, 2014 – Appeal of Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people to the Verkhovna Rada and the Ukrainian people, about the support of the territorial integrity of Ukraine
March 20, 2014 – Resolution of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine "On the Statement of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Regarding the Guarantee of the Rights of the Crimean Tatar People as Part of the Ukrainian State", which recognized the Crimean Tatar people as the indigenous people of Ukraine
March 20, 2014 – Vitalii Klychko submitted to the Verkhovna Rada the draft Law of Ukraine "On the Rights of Indigenous Peoples of Ukraine"
April 17, 2014 – Verkhovna Rada adopted the Law of Ukraine "On the Restoration of the Rights of Persons Deported on Ethnic Grounds"
August 25, 2015 – The National Human Rights Strategy was approved by the Decree of the President of Ukraine, in which one of the strategic goals is defined as “Ensuring the rights of indigenous peoples and national minorities”
November 23, 2015 – The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine approved the Action Plan for the Implementation of the National Strategy in the Field of Human Rights for the period up to 2020, which sets the task for the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine to develop a draft law "On the legislative regulation of the status of the indigenous peoples of Ukraine" by the IV quarter of 2016
November 10-11, 2016 – OSCE Supplementary Human Dimension Meeting (National Minorities, Relationship Building and Integration) in Vienna took place. Eskender Bariiev, as part of his speech, provided recommendations on the need for legislative regulation of the rights of indigenous peoples in Ukraine
2016 – CTRC developed a draft Law of Ukraine "On the Indigenous Peoples of Ukraine" and sent it to the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine
April 24, 2017 – during the side event "Indigenous Crimean Tatars. Keeping the Dream Alive" within the framework of the 16th session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, organized by the CTRC, recommendations were made to protect the rights of the indigenous Crimean Tatar people, including the adoption of a relevant law in Ukraine
May 11, 2017 – The Constitutional Commission created a working group to work out amendments to Section X Autonomous Republic of Crimea of the Constitution of Ukraine, which included representatives of the CTRC
June 11, 2017 – Representatives of the Crimean Tatar Resource Center held an official meeting with the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Mrs. Victoria Tauli-Corpus, during which they discussed her visit to Ukraine and the necessity to adopt the Law of Ukraine "On the Indigenous Peoples of Ukraine".
December 16, 2017 – participation in the conference Crimea. Annexation and Lawlessness or the Beginning of the End of the Empire, at which the CTRC voiced recommendations for the political and legal provision of the rights of the indigenous peoples of Ukraine
2018 – The CTRC launched a campaign to monitor the election programs of presidential candidates: Candidate, Tell Me, Whom does Crimea belong to?"
9-13 July 2018 – 11th session of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples took place. Eskender Bariiev spoke at two plenary sessions, during which he noted the importance of the adoption of the Law "On the Indigenous Peoples of Ukraine" and urged EMRIP experts to assess the draft law developed by the CTRC
July 6, 2019 – a meeting of the CTRC team with the Permanent Representative of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea Anton Korynevych, during which they discussed the necessity to adopt the Law of Ukraine "On the Indigenous Peoples of Ukraine"
August 9, 2019 – round table "Realization of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Ukraine and All Over the World: Problems and Prospects", organized by the CTRC, took place. The participants of the event declared the necessity to adopt the Law On the Indigenous Peoples of Ukraine
August 29, 2019 – Akhtem Chyyhoz submitted to the Verkhovna Rada the draft Law of Ukraine "On the Status of the Crimean Tatar people in Ukraine", which was withdrawn
September 12, 2019 – The Crimean Tatar Resource Center sent the draft Law of Ukraine "On the Indigenous Peoples of Ukraine" to the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy
December 11, 2019 – The CTRC held a workshop within the framework of the National Human Rights NonConference "How to Ensure the Realization of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Ukraine? The participants of the event developed recommendations on the implementation of the collective rights of indigenous peoples in Ukraine, including the necessity to adopt a law
June 15, 2020 – CTRC submitted proposals to the National Human Rights Strategy in the direction of Ensuring the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and National Minorities, the main of which was the adoption of a relevant law
July 8, 2020 – participation in committee hearings on the topic "Problematic Issues of Legislative Regulation and Implementation of State Policy to Ensure the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and National Minorities". Representatives of the CTRC proposed to form a working group under the committee to develop a draft law "On the Indigenous Peoples of Ukraine"
August 9, 2020 – CTRC organized an international expert online discussion "International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples as a Tool for Protecting the Rights of Indigenous Peoples". Ukrainian experts emphasized the need for legal regulation of the status of indigenous peoples in Ukraine
February 19, 2021 – participation in the press conference "The State of Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar Languages in the Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine". Representatives of the CTRC provided recommendations aimed at the preservation and development of the Crimean Tatar language, including through the adoption of the Law "On the Indigenous Peoples of Ukraine"
March 22, 2021 – The CTRC held the 18th session of the Crimean Discussion Club on the topic: "7 years since the official recognition of the Crimean Tatars as the Indigenous People of Ukraine: assessment of the consequences and prospects". Experts provided recommendations to the Government regarding the adoption of the Law of Ukraine "On the Indigenous Peoples of Ukraine"
May 18, 2021 – The President of Ukraine submitted to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine the draft Law of Ukraine "On the Indigenous Peoples of Ukraine" as an urgent
July 1, 2021 – the Law of Ukraine "On the Indigenous Peoples of Ukraine" was adopted by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine
July 21, 2021 – The Law of Ukraine "On the Indigenous Peoples of Ukraine" was signed by the President of Ukraine
July 23, 2021 – The Law of Ukraine "On the Indigenous Peoples of Ukraine" came into force.
In addition, hundreds of interviews have been recorded for various media outlets.
It is worth noting that in the Strategy of the Crimean Tatar Resource Center (2017-2022), our team proclaimed one of the 6 goals "Protection of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and Their Identity". As part of achieving this goal, the task was set – to ensure the rights at the legislative level, the indicator of the achievement of which we identified the adoption of the Law "On the Indigenous Peoples of Ukraine". We understood that it would take a lot of effort to make this a reality. We did not wait and worked hard over these past 5 years.
Work continues …