What the Crimean Indigenous Peoples REALLY need from the World

What the Crimean Indigenous Peoples REALLY need from the World

March 18th, 2014

By: Tai Pelli

You see all this about Russia and Ukraine having Crimea as the prized possession.  You see it in the news, you flick the channel, you see it on the internet, you scroll down...

Let me share with you why this is so important to me,

My biggest concern are the Indigenous Peoples of Crimea, particularly, the Crimean Tatars. They had lived in Crimea for hundreds of years. Change in governments  began an ethnic cleansing and genocide; over 200,000 people died of disease and starvation when they were deported from their homeland into Siberia and Central Asia. (That is a lot of people.) As a strategy to “fill” Crimea, many Russians were sent to Crimea to increase their population in this territory. In the mid 1900’s, Crimea was "given" to Ukraine, while the Soviet Union was still intact. It was not until the 1990's that Crimean Tatars began filtering back to Crimea, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and still under Gorbachev. The thing is, Indigenous Peoples in Crimea, are not recognized as such by either country, not Ukraine, not Russia! They are considered something else, "minority groups". The ideal situation for many in power, would be the total assimilation and abandonment of their cultural practices, religion and knowledge.

Ukraine swore up and down that the Crimean Tatars would pick up arms in this conflict to defend Ukraine from Russia.  This information was spread by the news. The reality being that Crimean Tatars have no interest in engaging in any type of violence or conflict, much less pick up arms to defend one side or another. What they do want is the guaranteed safety of their Peoples and the respect of their inherent Human Rights as defined by International Law, by both parties.

Although we may see much debate on the validity of the referendum that took place in Ukraine, the bottom line is that Russia is going through with it, as if all is ok. (In their eyes, it is.) A majority vote, leaned towards reintegration to Russia. We already knew that Crimea had a Russian population of over 60%. Most Crimean Tatars did not vote, as they followed instructions  given by their leaders. Those who voted, felt it was under duress, concerned at an expressed risk of losing their governmental jobs. It is estimated that about 90% of Crimean Tatars did not vote.

The big question now is; what is going to happen to the Crimean Tatars? A couple of days ago Russia stated the paramilitary gangs were out of their control. What does this mean now? Will all the Indigenous Peoples of Crimea be respected and protected from any part of this conflict or will they end up reliving that, which their own grandparents lived? Will they be deported, will they be forbidden from speaking their languages, teaching their culture, practicing their religion, etc?

It is here where we need to know the strength of those International Laws, Covenants and Treaties which have been written, signed and ratified by many countries. If they do not want to act upon the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, (both Russia and Ukraine abstained from voting), adopted in September 2007, then perhaps we still have International Law and these other Mechanisms, which are legally binding, and protect the inherent fundamental basic human right to self-determination, Free, Prior and Informed Consent and the right of Liberty and Security of person, among others.

Here are some of the suggestions that could help the Indigenous Peoples of Crimea:

·         Fact finding mission as the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) had began to do, but had to leave Crimea.

·         A Statement from The Special Rapporteur on the situation of Indigenous Peoples of Crimea, particularly Crimean Tatars

·         A Statement from the High Commissioner of the Human Rights Council

·         An invitation to a Delegation of Indigenous Peoples from Crimea to the HRC office to make a presentation to the HC, it’s designated representative or ad hoc Commission.

The future is very uncertain and unstable for all Indigenous Peoples of Crimea. Timely action and Public Awareness are of the essence.

I urge all NGO’s, Indigenous Organizations, Indigenous Nations,  Indigenous and Human Rights Advocates to make their voices be heard and send your letters to the applicable Mechanisms to help our brothers and sisters.