Trial against Crimean Tatars in Dzhankoy is over.*

Dzhankoy – on December 8 they held the final sitting of the trial against participants of protest action Kurtseitov Ruslan, Abduveliyev Enver, Bekirov Eskender and Kurtnezirov Midat. The verdict was as follows: to confirm the guilt of alleged and sentence them to two years in prison and to give a written undertaking not to live the town and paying a fee of 170 grivnas by each.

The deputy of the Crimean Tatar people’s Mejlis chairman, R.Ablayev stated that further moves would be adequate. People will organize actions of disobedience around Crimea. On December 10 they are going to hold â rally aimed at illustrating how the power and justice organs didn’t observe human rights.

Press-service of Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people.

Our information: *See “Crimean news 83,86” on this case.

Meeting of protest is held in Simferopol.

Simferopol – on December 10 they held a meeting on the central square of Simferopol, devoted to the World day of human rights, which was conducted by Mejlis of Crimean Tatar people together with movement “Narodnaya volya” (“National will”). During the 90-minute meeting people shared their evaluations on violations of Crimean native people’s rights and Dzhankoy trial against four Crimean Tatars. According to preliminary data there were some 1500 people at the meeting. At the end they adopted resolution, which, in particular contains the followings: “…Representatives of Crimean native peoples: Crimean Tatars, Karaits, Krymchaks, and also all those who considers human rights to be the highest value of modern civilization, have gathered today to clearly express their attitude towards those systematical, rude and mass violations of human rights, which are observed in Crimea towards its native population.

<…> Separate measures on providing social and cultural rights of our peoples fulfilled under the pressure of world community and in result of our hard daily fight can never be compared with those high-scale and rude violations of human rights which Ukraine must provide not only as a UN EC member, but also in comparison with its Constitution.

The reason for Ukraine government’s turn from the policy of creeping assimilation and a quiet ethnic hatred to open repression <…> was the first political case against Crimean Tatar national movement in Dzhankoy, held in the independent Ukraine. <…> The next similar process is planned to be held in Nizhnegorsk and Bakhchisaray soon. Despite a distinct fabrication of evidence, violation of Constitutional rights and legal guarantees, which was demonstrated by the protection, the court cynically not only did ignore the facts but also the norms of the direct action of the Ukrainian Constitution. Thus, it was clearly demonstrated that there is no justice for the Crimean Tatars in Ukraine. It demonstrated that for the Crimean Tatars there is an inquisition where the ruling majority will conduct a rapid punishment to representatives of a native people<…>”

The meeting participants addressed to the international community calling “not to ignore it in order not to repeat miserable Kosovo or Chechnya” and also to the president of Ukraine “to interfere and use his power to stop the anti-constitutional activity of instigators, having high posts in the state structure <…> who push Ukraine into the medieval times <…>”.

Press-service of Mejlis of Crimean Tatar people.

Nothing to do for hooligans?

Yevpatoriya – they held a sitting of inter-confessional council consisting of 28 religious confessions and organizations, which can be called an emergency one. Act of vandalism was committed in the town: unknown criminals painted memorial sign for the victims of deportation, erected in the square near Dzhuma-Dzhami. They also broke a stone board with Crimean Tatar texts.

A case has been brought against this fact. And a group responsible for investigating the case has been formed as well.

Vitaliy Shevchenko, “Krymskaya pravda” (“The Crimean truth”), #224(22637), December 7, 2000, p.1.

New act of vandalism.

An unknown person called on Friday and stated that he represented a group of people, who profaned the monument, erected in the memoirs of the deportees in Yevpatoriya. He explained that their group he presented as “Slavic brotherhood” had committed this act against cross dismantling and against “government’s flirtations with the Crimean Tatars”. Besides he promised to make new moves if` people didn’t listen to them.

Alexey Nezhyvoy, “Krymskoye vremya” (“The Crimean time”), #227(1094), December 5, 2000, p.3.

Our commentaries: Crimean radical and chauvinist powers, including some of their leaders rate the attempts of representatives of local authorities and Crimean Tatar people to jointly solve issues of interethnic peace as “government’s flirtations with the Crimean Tatars”.

Land reform.

Land reform is the all-Crimean question.

On November 27, they set up tents near the state district administration in Chernomorskoye* village. 5 people occupied the tents (group of village residents of CAE** “Dalniy”). They declared a term-less hunger strike protesting against violations of law during land division.

Their letter to the administration contains the followings: ”In the CAE “Dalniy” unchangeable remained the principal of collective ownership for land and property in the reforming. District commissions on CAE reorganizations and control of observing legal acts during land reform work in the extremely unsatisfactory and ineffective way. Our demands that law should be observed are steadily ignored”.

The hunger strike participants are ready to go further in case their demands are ignored.

All the action participants are the Russians. It proves that Law concerning land has not been modified and doesn’t satisfy not only the Crimean Tatars and Mejlis, as some politicians want to demonstrate.

Veli Ibraimov, “Golos Kryma” (“The Voice of Crimea”), #50(369), December 8, 2000, p.1.

Our information: *Chernomorskoye village is the administrative center of Chernomorskoye district, located in western part of Crimea.

***CAE stands for Collective Agriculture Enterprise.

Our commentaries: incompleteness of Ukrainian Land Code and all the legislation on agrarian sector has lead to the fact that there arose many confrontations during land division, which were the result of ignoring human rights. This and the fact that it was necessary to temporarily stop land division until adopting new Land Code of Ukraine, foreseeing right for getting a land plot by all rural zone dwellers was continuously mentioned by the Crimean Tatars and Mejlis particularly. However some politicians and their supporters accused Mejlis of the fact that the Crimean Tatars take solution of land problem into political plane.

Housing the deportees.

3^rd donor conference is held in Kyiv.

3^rd International donor conference on issues of giving aid for housing the deportees was opened in Kyiv.

Returning of more than 270 thousand Crimean Tatars has become a rather serious test for economy and social sphere of Crimea. Under conditions of limited state facilities for needs of the deportees the government of Ukraine has been asking for help from the donor-countries and international organizations and funds since 1992. On April 2, 1996 they held the first international donor conference in Geneva on issues of the deportees. And on April 26, 1998 the second conference was held in Kyiv.

Addressing the issue of housing deportees, which mostly consists of the Crimean Tatars has become â focus of attention and joint efforts of Ukraine’s government, UN, OSCE and several countries, in particular Greece, Italy, Canada, the Netherlands, Norway, Turkey, Switzerland and Sweden.

Interfax-Ukraine, “Krymskiye izvestiya” (The Crimean news”), #229(2233), December 8, 2000, p.3.

Canadian constructors will construct buildings of social infrastructure in the repatriates’ settlings.

Canadian construction company “IGLOO BUILDING SUPPLIES GROUP” will build a series of houses within the frameworks of program of housing, who return from the places of deportation.

According to the agreement between governments of Ukraine and Canada a new goods credit line has been opened. This line is aimed at constructing buildings in Crimean repatriates’ settlings. One of the biggest construction companies will implement this project. Currently there is no infrastructure in the repatriates’ settlings. There are no medical centers, post offices, culture centers and other public buildings. Canadian constructors will build them from special construction parts. A part of houses will be allocated for dwelling. Average area of every building won’t exceed 100 meters square.

“Krymskaya gazeta” (“The Crimean newspaper”), #229(16085), December 8, 2000, p.1.

Culture, education.

Metaphors of existence.

Exhibition called “Plus 2000”, which was held in the hall of the Crimean Artists’ Union united seven authors.

This exposition continues the last-year tendency of group exhibition of artists having the same ideas. It wasn’t accidentally that in the last autumn of the 20^th century Ayder Aliyev, Tatyana Zinkova, Yana Mikhalyants, Sergey Nikitin, Arsen Rustamov, Vasiliy Trusov and Ramazan Useinov united their art attempts to create this interesting group exhibition.

We can speak separately about each of the artists, but we would like to note something common that unites them and creates not an unordinary group of authors but a collective of artists sharing the same ideas, and capable to leave a considerable memory in art mastership of the 20^th century and put the first bricks to the wall of Crimean art, graphics, sculpture of the 20^th century.

E.Borodina, “Krymskiye izvestiya” (“The Crimean news”), #227(2231), December 6, 2000, p.8.

National school is built in Sary-Su*.

There are some 600 Crimean Tatars living in the village Sary-Su. Construction of school for 510 pupils was began yet in 1993 in this settlement. However, construction was stopped without even being started.

Village representatives repeatedly asked to continue building of the school. Finally, it was started again in the end of this summer. They are planning to finish construction by the beginning of the new 2001 academic year.

Pevat Adzhiredinov, “Kyrym” (“The Crimea”), #55-56(603-604), December 9, 2000, p.13.

Our information: *Sary-Su is a settlement of Crimean Tatars’ compact dwelling in Belogorsk.