Statement on Establishment of Crimean Forum – Annual Meeting of Political Prisoners of Communist Regime and Human Rights Advocates Statement on Establishment of Crimean Forum – Annual Meeting of Political Prisoners of Communist Regime and Human Rights Advocates

20 May 2012

During the last 20 years since the collapse of the world Communist system the political and economical life of the independent states that appeared in the post-Communist territory experienced the cardinal changes.

However, whatever these changes were the civil rights and freedoms of people in a range of post-Communist states require close attention, and sometimes even demand involvement of the international institutions and human rights advocacy organizations. Such states as the republics of the Central Asia, Armenia, Belorussia, Russia, Ukraine experienced or are experiencing a sweeping roll-out of the democratic processes, accompanied by the persecution of the political opposition and civil activists.

We think that the urgent involvement of the international community to the processes, related to the restoration of the rights of peoples that were exiled from their historical lands by the Soviet regime is very important. We support the initiative of Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people as to the restoration of the rights of the Crimean Tatar people in their Homeland, ensuring its security and guaranties of its development in Ukraine.

At the same time, we wish to ensure the succession of the human rights advocacy movement of the former USSR in the activity of the institutes of the civil society in the post-Soviet states, we declare the establishment of CRIMEAN FORUM – the meeting of the political prisoners of the Communist regime and human rights advocates, annually called in Crimea.

We entrust our Working group to develop and agree with all the political prisoners of the Communist regime and human rights advocates, sharing the idea of the establishment of CIRMEAN FORUM the documents, defining its structure, order and time of calling, forming of the agenda and order of decision making.

Simferopol, May 19, 2012