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On
July 25, 2024, the Russian authorities designated several Indigenous
Peoples’ and national minorities’ rights organisations and other
groups as “extremist organisations”. The Observatory for the
Protection of Human Rights Defenders (FIDH-OMCT) and the
Anti-Discrimination Center Memorial (ADC Memorial) urge the Russian
authorities to put an immediate end to this escalating crackdown on
organisations protecting the rights of Indigenous Peoples and ethnic
minorities in Russia and civil society in general.
Paris-Geneva-Brussels,
August 2, 2024 – On
July 25, 2024, the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation
included
55 organisations, among them Indigenous Peoples’ and national
minorities’ rights organisations in
the list of “extremist organisations”.
These
organisations have been labelled as “structural divisions” of the
so-called “Anti-Russian Separatist Movement,” which was
recognised as “extremist” and banned
by Russia’s Supreme Court on June 7, 2024. This alleged movement,
which
does not formally exist,
is defined by the Ministry of Justice as an “international public
movement to destroy the multinational unity and territorial integrity
of Russia.” This broad definition is considered to aim at
facilitating repression against Indigenous Peoples and ethnic
minorities organisations, who face up to six years in prison if
accused of involvement in the banned “Anti-Russian Separatist
Movement.”
Moreover,
after their explicit inclusion in the list of “extremist
organisations”, the organisations’ members face even higher risks
of severe criminal prosecution and arbitrary imprisonment
solely
for their involvement in these organisations, preventing them from
continuing their essential and legitimate actions in safe and
effective conditions.
Among
the organisations designated as “extremist” on July 25, 2024 is
the Aborigen-Forum, an informal association of independent experts,
activists, leaders, and public organisations of the small-numbered
Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia, and the Far East of Russia,
and the International Committee of Indigenous Peoples of Russia
(ICIPR), an international Indigenous-led organisation that was
created in March 2022 as a reaction of several Russian Indigenous
leaders and activists to the war in Ukraine.
In
Russia, Indigenous communities and minorities face
severe restrictions to their fundamental rights,
including freedom of expression, the right to self-determination and
cultural rights, as well as racism, structural discrimination and
xenophobia. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the
so-called partial mobilisation in September 2021 drastically and
disproportionally affected young men from ethnic minorities and
Indigenous people living in the poorest regions of Russia, leading to
extremely high death rates among mobilised men from Indigenous
communities and ethnic minorities. Some of the organisations now
labelled as “extremist”, like the Free
Buryatia Foundation
founded in March 2022, which fights against Russia’s war in
Ukraine, had already been designated as “undesirable” and
“foreign agent” by the Russian authorities, highlighting that the
shrinking civic space in the country is particularly affecting
Indigenous Peoples’ and minorities’ rights organisations.
The
recent decision to include these organisations in the list of
“extremist organisations” is part of a context of increasing
repression of critical voices in Russia. In a similar move, in March
2024, Russian authorities added the equally non-existent
“international LGBT movement” to the list of “extremist and
terrorist organisations”, also referring to “its structural
units”, thus criminalising all LGBTQI+ activism. After this
decision, multiple activists were arrested on grounds of being
“extremists”. This decision illustrates a further escalation in
efforts to silence the human rights movement.
The
Observatory and ADC Memorial stand in solidarity with the targeted
Indigenous Peoples’ and minorities’ rights organisations, and
strongly condemn this unprecedented repression, as it appears to be
aimed solely at punishing these organisations for their peaceful and
legitimate human rights activities.
The
Observatory and ADC Memorial urge the Russian authorities to reverse
this decision, put an end to the banning of Indigenous Peoples’ and
minorities’ rights organisations and the criminalisation of their
members, and allow them to continue their legitimate activities
without any hindrance or fear of reprisal. The two signatory
organisations further call on the authorities in Russia to guarantee
in all circumstances the right to freedom of association, as
enshrined in international human rights standards, and particularly
in Article 22 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights.
The
Observatory and ADC Memorial call upon international and
intergovernmental organisations as well as governments and other
diplomatic actors to condemn this decision and increase the scrutiny
on the escalating situation facing Indigenous Peoples’ and
minorities’ rights organisations in Russia. The signatory
organisations further call upon them to reinforce the protection
mechanisms to allow the organisations to continue their legitimate
actions safely.
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