“We are working on a set of issues related to Crimea as a team of the Mission and that is in the vertical of the President of Ukraine. We set for themselves a number of priority tasks, in particular, strengthening the institutional capacity of the Mission, development and approval of the Strategy for Deoccupation and Reintegration of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, working on the internal track of the Crimea Platform and, of course, on the protection and realization of the rights of the indigenous people of Ukraine, in particular, Crimean Tatars.
I can say with confidence that a lot has been done in the last 2 years: Decree on the Day of Resistance to Occupation; Decree on the establishment of Muslim holidays Ramadan and Eid al-Adha, which is very important for the entire Muslim community of Ukraine and its largest part – Crimean Tatars; Decree on the development of Crimean Tatar language for 2022-2032 and approval Crimean Tatar language on the basis of Latin alphabet; and finally what we had been waiting for a very long time – the Law on the Indigenous Peoples of Ukraine, that will soon be signed by the President.
The actual adoption of the law is one of the tasks within the framework of the Deoccupation Strategy. After all, the protection of cultural and religious social rights of indigenous peoples, in particular Crimean Tatars, is one of its tasks; the expected results of the Deoccupation Strategy include the restoration of the rights of Crimean Tatars. In fact, this is the restoration of historical justice for Crimean Tatars and other indigenous peoples.
The Strategy for Deoccupation has a framework character. The central executive bodies are working on a plan of measures for its implementation now. It is very important for us to fill it with the specific content.
We understand the importance of protecting the rights of the Crimean Tatar people and other indigenous people in the context of deoccupation. We see it in Russian reactions to these legislative initiatives. I have often been asked “why do they have such a reaction?”. There are many reasons, one of them is the role of indigenous people in deoccupation.
If we look closely at the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, where Article 30 of the Declaration states: “Military activities shall not take place in the lands or territories of indigenous peoples, unless justified by a relevant public interest or otherwise freely agreed with or requested by the indigenous peoples concerned”. Russia has neglected the relevant norms while occupying Crimean peninsula and still continues to ignore this.
We understand that the law is not a dot, but only a comma before continuing further work in all areas. The speaker on the previous panel Mr. Krasovitsky said that only 2 books had recently been published in Crimean Tatar language, 600 copies each; none Crimean Tatar library is open, therefore, it is very important that within the framework of the action plan for the implementation of the Deoccupation Strategy and the Law “On the Indigenous People of Ukraine” we include such things and began to rectify the situation.
The state has to admit that a lot of time has been lost, but now we have to make more efforts and we see the political will on the relevant issues”, – Tamila Tasheva.
“Indigenous People Session” participants:
- Moderator: Yuliya Tyshchenko, Expert of the National Institute for Strategic Studies
- Snaver Seithkhalilev, Deputy Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories
- Lyubomyra Mandziy, Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine
- Refat Chubarov, Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People
- Maksym Tkachenko, First Deputy Chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights, Deoccupation and Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories.
Details: https://ukraine30.com/