On 22 April, a meeting was held between UN Special Rapporteur on Russia Mariana Katsarova and representatives of indigenous nations of Russia living in the United States.
The meeting was held within the UN Permanent Forum of Indigenous Peoples framework. The organisers were the only organization independent of Russia represented in the UN — the Batani Foundation, which defends the interests of indigenous people of the Far North, and the Tusgaar Buryaad Mongolia Independence Movement.
The meeting was attended by representatives of the Bashkir, Buryat, Ingush, Itelmen, Tatar, Chechen, Yakut and other nations, who prepared speeches and reports. Aigul Lion, a member of the Committee of the Bashkir National Movement Abroad and concurrently the head of the League of Free Nations human rights group, spoke on behalf of the Bashkir people.
In her speech, Aigul drew attention to the pressure from the Russian authorities on the relatives of decolonization activists living in Russia, using the example of the leader of the Bashkir movement, Ruslan Gabbasov. His brother was accused and sentenced to 5.5 years in prison. A search was conducted in the house of Mrs. Lion’s mother, who has not lived there for more than 30 years, and a criminal case is being fabricated against her. Similar situations are observed among relatives of activists of the Buryat and Yakut nations.
Aigul Khanum also spoke about more than 80 people detained and convicted after the Baymak protest in support of Fail Alsynov. Ms. Katsarova is aware of the situation in Baymak and the Alsynov case, she mentioned this in her report last year on human rights violations in Russia.
“I have carefully studied Katsarova’s report, so I was glad to be invited and took part in the meeting with pleasure. I hope our voices will be heard, and the violations that we recorded and passed on to the special rapporteur will be included in this year’s report,” says Aigul Lion. “I would also like to note that such meetings and acquaintances with like-minded people raise the spirit in the fight for independence, and contact with a UN representative allows addressing and recording violations in Bashkortostan.”
Bashkirs National Movement Committee Abroad
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