Resolution of Crimean Mourning Meeting, Commemorating Victims of Genocide of Crimean Tatar People – Deportation of May 18, 1944 and Decades of Their Forcible Detention in Places of Exile

RESOLUTION

of Crimean Mourning Meeting, Commemorating Victims of Genocide of Crimean Tatar People – Deportation of May 18, 1944 and Decades of Their Forcible Detention in Places of Exile

On May 18, 1944, 70 years ago, the communist regime of the former Soviet Union committed a crime against humanity in order to destroy the Crimean Tatars – indigenous people of Crimea.

As a result of the total deportation from their Homeland and life in inhuman conditions in exile 46,2 per cent of the Crimean Tatars, mainly children, elderly people and women died of hunger and deprivations during the first years of life in exile.

The forcible detention of the Crimean Tatar people in the places of exile along with the repressing and discriminatory policy of the state against the Crimean Tatars that lasted 45 years, did an irreparable harm to the development of the Crimean Tatar people, being one of the distinctive peoples of the world.

The crimes, committed by the communist regime of the Soviet Union against the Crimean Tatar people were falling within a definition of genocide and must receive due legal evaluation from the International community.

Only due to the unity and an outstanding devotion to their native land the Crimean Tatar people withstood and returned to their Homeland. The names of hundreds and thousands of brave and dedicated activists of the Crimean Tatar national movement who sacrificed their lives fighting the good fight for the return of the people to their Homeland will stay in the grateful memory of the present and future generations of the Crimean Tatars forever.

We bow low in respect to our living veterans of the Crimean Tatar national movement that are present today with us close together.

Our hearts preserve the appreciation to the participants of the human rights movement in the Soviet Union who made their contribution to the Crimean Tatars’ fight for the return to their Homeland.

The names of such Ukrainians as Petro Grigorenko, Vyacheslav Chornovol, Russians – Andrei Sakharov, Alexei Kosterin, Lyudmila Alekseeva, Jews – Ilya Gabay, Joseph Zissels, Armenian – Genrih Altunyan and many other human right activists became a personalization of a true fellowship of man who fought against the totalitarian regime of the Soviet Union, for the restoration of the rights of their people and restoration of the rights of the Crimean Tatar people.

70 years have passed, however the catastrophic consequences of the deportation of the Crimean Tatar people from their land and decades of their forcible detention in the places of exile have not being overcame yet.

In addition, the events of the recent months around Crimea made us worry for the present and future of the Crimean Tatars. Again, as tens years ago, this time in our own land, the Crimean Tatars suffer violence and illegalities, their families are being searched, they are banned from conducting peaceful meetings and gatherings.

The ban from entering Crimea and living in his own Homeland for Mustafa Jemilev, the international figure, the leader of the Crimean Tatar people, the legendary human rights activist and the veteran of the combat against the totalitarian regime of the Soviet Union was an outrage upon justice, an act of cynicism and inhumanity.

We, the participants of the Crimean mourning meeting, commemorating the victims of the genocide of the Crimean Tatar people – deportation of May 18, 1944 and decades of their forcible detention in the places of exile:

– expressing our sorrow with regards to the hundreds of thousands of the Crimean Tatars who died in exile;

– preserving the memory of the thousands of the activists of the Crimean Tatar national movement who fought selflessly for their people’s right to return to their Homeland and restoration of their rights;

– being aware of our responsibility for the destiny of our people and future of Crimea;

– remaining committed to the principles of non-violence of the Crimean Tatar national movement;

– being supported by the democratic forces and assistance of the international community;

– based on the generally recognized rules of the international law, guaranteeing the rights to self-determination – the UN Charter, the UN General Assembly Resolution #1514 (XV) of Dec 14, 1960, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) of Dec 16, 1966, the Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Cooperation among States in accordance with the UN Charter, adopted on October 24, 1970 and etc;

– based on the UN Declaration “On the Rights of Indigenous Peoples”, September 13, 2007;

– based on the Declaration on the National Sovereignty of the Crimean Tatar People adopted by the 2^nd Qurultay of the Crimean Tatar People on June 28, 1991;

– reaffirming the rigorous aspirations towards strengthening and further development of the relations between the Crimean Tatars and all ethnic communities living in Crimea on the basis of mutual respect, recognition of the human and civil rights and interests, observance of equal political, economic, cultural, religious and other rights,

STATE:

– about an unalienable right of the Crimean Tatar people to self-determination in their historical territory – Crimea – by means of providing Crimea the status of the national-territorial autonomy.

As high priority measures, aimed at the restoration of the rights of the Crimean Tatar people, we

DEMAND:

– restoration of the historical names that were changed after the deportation of the Crimean Tatar people,

– adoption of the laws, guaranteeing an effective representation of the Crimean Tatars, elected by the Crimean Tatars themselves to the legislative and executive branches of powers of the Republic of Crimea,

– recognition of the national convention of the Crimean Tatar people – the Qurultay of the Crimean Tatar People and the bodies of the national self-governance it forms – the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, the regional and local mejlises, as the representative bodies of the indigenous people of Crimea,

– immediate cancelation of the discrimination and repressions against the Crimean Tatars on the political, national and religious grounds,

We, the participants of the Crimean mourning meeting commemorating the victims of the genocide of the Crimean Tatar people – deportation of May 18, 1944 and decades of their forcible detention in the places of exile, address all democratic forces, Governments and Parliaments of the states, International organizations to guarantee the restoration of the rights of the Crimean Tatar people and their free development in their Homeland.

Adopted by the participants of the Crimean mourning meeting, commemorating the victims of the genocide of the Crimean Tatar people – deportation of May 18, 1944 and decades of their forcible detention in the places of exile.

Number of participants of the meeting: 30,000 people.

May 18, 2014,

Aqmescit, Simferopol