Paul
Goble
Staunton, May 30 – Today, the Verkhovna
Rada called on the international community to impose new sanctions against the
Russian Federation for its violation of the rights of the indigenous peoples in
the Russian Federation. It had earlier urged sanctions for Moscow’s violation
of the rights of the Crimean Tatars and others in Russian-occupied portions of
Ukraine.
Hanna Hopko, the chairman of the parliament’s
foreign relations committee who has pushed for such a resolution since last
year (windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2018/12/kyiv-to-focus-attention-on-moscows.html
and windowoneurasia2.blogspot.com/2019/04/non-russians-inside-russia-more.html), announced its
approval (facebook.com/hanna.hopko/posts/10157408376287244).
The resolution, which enjoyed the
support of all factions except the Opposition Bloc, specifies that Moscow
deserves condemnation and sanctions because of its persecution a list of
activists, its moves against non-Russian languages, and its ban on non-Russian
political parties thus making it far harder for those nations to promote their
interests.
The measure urges the governments of
the world to “use all possible types of sanctions against Russian Federation
government officials who have been involved in the persecution of
representatives of indigenous peoples for their convictions and activities to
defend the rights of indigenous peoples.”
Further, it calls on these
governments “to use all possible international political-diplomatic and
sanctions mechanisms on the Russian Federation with the goal of restoring
freedom of speech, conscience, and peaceful assembly.”
Ukraine has been a leader in giving
asylum to non-Russian activists and bloggers who have suffered repression in
the Russian Federation. This resolution is thus a logical next step and a
reflection of the growing understanding in Kyiv that the non-Russians are
potentially its most important allies within the Russian population.
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