Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People Condolences over Yelena Bonner’s Death

20 June 2011

Yelena Bonner, the famous human rights advocate, public figure promoting democracy, academician Andrei Sakharov’s widow and associate died at the age of 89 on June 18, 2011 in Boston (USA).

The destiny of this brave woman that lived through many ordeals reflects all social-political cataclysms of the 20th century caused by the communist regime of the USSR. At the age of 14 she left without parents when her father was arrested in May 1937 and executed in February 1938. Her mother was sentenced to 8 years of camps and was released only in 1946.

Since the beginning of war Yelena Bonner went as a volunteer to war demobilizing in August 1945 in the rank of lieutenant of medical service and with the second degree of disability – almost complete blindness of the left eye caused by contusion.

After the war Yelena Bonner graduated from Leningrad Medical Institute, worked in the system of health service, at the same time she practiced in writing, publishing in magazines “Neva”, “Yunost”, “Literary Newspaper” and other editions.

In 1965 Yelena Bonner entered the CPSU, but after the events of autumn 1968 she considered that she made a wrong step and left the CPSU over her convictions.

In January 1972 she married Andrei Dmitrievich Sakharov whom she met in 1970 in Kaluga during the trial over the human rights advocates Revolt Pimenov and Boris Vail.

In 60 – 80-es Yelena Bonner came with an initiative to protest against the pursuit of dissidents promoted the spreading of true information about the court trials.

In 1974 she established the Foundation on assistance to the children of political prisoners in the USSR.

In 1975 she represented the academician Andrei Sakharov on the Nobel Peace Prize Award Ceremony in Oslo.

Yelena Bonner was one of the most consistent and principled human rights advocates in the USSR promoting the rights of the Crimean Tatar people. The Crimean Tatar people will always remember the courage and firmness she showed during Omsk trial in 1976 – frame-up trial organized by the Soviet regime over the participant of the Crimean Tatar national movement and human rights advocate Mustafa Jemilev where she came along with Andrei Sakharov.

After Andrei Sakharov’s exile to Gorky in 1980 and until her arrest in 1984 she kept Sakharov in touch with Moscow and the West. In august 1984 she was found guilty by the Gorky regional court in accordance with the Article 190-1 CC RSFSR “because she systematically spread in oral form deliberately false insinuations discrediting the Soviet State and social regime and prepared in written form the works of the same content”. She was sentenced to 5 years in Gorky.

When she returned to Moscow in 1987 along with academician Andrei Sakharov they took direct part in establishment of such public unions and clubs as “Memorial”, “Moscow Tribune”, etc.

After Andrei Sakharov’s death she founded and headed the International non-governmental organization “Public Commission on perpetuation of the memory of Andrei Sakharov” – Andrei Sakharov’s Foundation.

Being a member of the Commission for Human Rights under the President of Russia since the very its foundation she left it on December 28, 1994 as she couldn’t cooperate with the Administration of the President of Russia that unleashed Russian – Chechen war.

Yelena Bonner was a member of the Council of Directors of the UN International League on Human Rights, took part in the UN Conferences for Human Rights (Vienna), sessions of the UN Commission for Human Rights (Geneva).

In 1997 she was a member of the Initiative group “Common Action”, established by the participants of the democratic movement in 60-70-es and participants of active human rights advocacy organizations.

Yelena Bonner was an author of the book dedicated to activity of academician Andrei Sakharov and human rights movement in the USSR published in many languages, as well as many journalistic materials in Russian and foreign Press. She had the honored title of PhD in Law of a range of European and American universities, International prizes and awards.

The Crimean Tatar people will always preserve in our grateful memory the name of Yelena Bonner as a symbol of selfless human service to the ideals of justice and democracy.

Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people expresses its sincere condolences to the Yelena Bonner’s relatives, close people, friends and comrade-in-arms over bereavement that befell all of us.

Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people
June 20, 2011, Aqmescit (Simferopol)