The Ukraine 30. Humanitarian Policy Forum on July 13 saw the President’s Permanent Representative for the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Anton Korynevych, publicly explain the difference between the terms “national communities” and “indigenous peoples,” as well as the importance of the law on national communities.
That’s according to a Spiritual Front of Ukraine’s reporter citing the relevant broadcast.
“All of us, regardless of our national origin, are definitely forming a single Ukrainian political nation. In international law, there is a separate category called ‘indigenous people.’ And the equivalent of the Ukrainian phrase “indigenous people” exists in English, French, and other languages used in the international arena. Indigenous people are a separate legal category that says that there is a certain people who historically for centuries, perhaps millennia, have been living in a certain area, having a special connection with that land, with that territory, who constitute a minority in the country and have no own state entity outside their parent state. Thus, this is the main difference between the indigenous people and the national minority, as national minorities, (like – ed.) Hungarians and Russians, have their own nation-states outside Ukraine. Accordingly, any argument voiced by the Russian Federation that the Russians are an indigenous people simply shouldn’t be commented on, either from a legal perspective or from that of state bodies, because this is simply a trivial thesis. Accordingly, Russians are definitely a national community that lives on the territory of Ukraine and should enjoy all their rights, but they are definitely not an indigenous people (Russians in Ukraine, ed.),” Anton Korynevych said.
He reminded that the Constitution of Ukraine in 1996 clearly enshrined in a number of articles, in particular in Art. 11, that there are both indigenous peoples and national minorities in Ukraine, and, accordingly, drew a distinction between these categories.
Any argument voiced by the Russian Federation that the Russians are an indigenous people simply shouldn’t be commented on
“At the same time, we haven’t yet had a law on indigenous peoples. International law recognizes this category and the best international standards that speak of the regulation of the rights and interests of indigenous peoples are enshrined in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. And accordingly, of course, we needed to develop provisions of the Constitution, which is already aware of the concept of indigenous peoples, and to develop relevant legislation, the relevant law that would regulate the rights of indigenous peoples. This is especially important for the representatives of the Crimean indigenous peoples, especially for the Crimean Tatar indigenous people. Given all the hardships and tragedies they endured in connection with Russia’s actions, whatever that country may be called – the Russian Federation, Russian Empire, or USSR. The essence remains the same. Also, it’s those other Crimean indigenous peoples, who found themselves in a very difficult situation in the temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, “Korynevych said.
He also drew attention to the terrible crime of Stalin’s totalitarian era, when within several nights, mostly on the night of May 18, the entire Crimean Tatar people were illegally displaced to the then Central Asian republics of the Soviet Union. Crimean Tatars were deprived of their right to live in their historical homeland.
“And here the Crimean Tatars, in particular, of course constantly have been asking that Ukraine have a separate law that will regulate the rights of indigenous peoples. And, of course, for all of us working with Crimea, it was very important that this law emerged and that this law met the best international standards, enshrined in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples,” the Ukrainian president’s envoy concluded.
On July 14, a separate panel discussion will be devoted to the topic of national communities. Key stakeholders are set to participate.
