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.
