Participants of the 8^th Unified Caucasus Forum adopted a resolution

Press Release, 12.11.2019

On November 9-10, the United Caucasian Forum was held in Nalchik, capital of Kabardino-Balkaria. The Forum aims to unite the leading human rights organisations of the North Caucasus and propel civic initiative to solve socially significant problems. One of the organisers of the event was Anatoly Sidakov (North Ossetia), member of Yabloko Bureau and Editor-in-Chief of the newspaper Mir Kavkazu. The forum was attended by leaders of the regional branches of Yabloko – Ruslan Mutsolgov (Ingushetia), Khakim Kuchmezov (Kabardino-Balkaria) and Edilbek Khasmagomadov (Chechnya). Nikolai Rybakov, Deputy Chairman of the Yabloko party, and Valery Borschyov, human rights defender and member of the Party’s Federal Political Committee, made reports and commentaries.

In his speech, politician Nikolai Rybakov noted that the Caucasus region faces many problems in the field of human rights protection: the case of Oyub Titiev, head of the Memorial branch in Chechnya, reprisals against participants in a rally in Magas (Ingushetia), and numerous persecutions of the dissenting. “Many of our party members and like-minded people gave their lives fighting for the observance of human rights, freedom of speech and implementation of the Constitution in the Caucasus. They are Natalya Estemirova, party members Farid Babayev and Timur Kuashev. Their portraits are hanging in the Moscow office of the party and, unfortunately, this sad gallery has been replenished,” Rybakov said. In addition, he added that now there is a request for a fundamentally different policy in Russian society. Nikolai Rybakov expressed confidence that a new policy based on respect for people, the ability to conduct peaceful discussions and listen to people of different views can arise precisely in the Caucasus, since this is a region with vast experience in overcoming conflicts.

Photo: Khakim Kuchmezov, Valery Borschyov and Nikolai Rybakov

“A strong state cannot be built on lawlessness and humiliation of human dignity. This is well-known in the Caucasus,” Rybakov said.

Ruslan Mutsolgov, head of the Ingush branch of Yabloko, spoke about the need to respect the rights in the Republic of Ingushetia regarding leaders, activists, and participants of the protests in Magas. “Peace in the Caucasus is possible only with a strong civil society. Only an increase in self-awareness can force people to act actively, seeking to respect their rights,” Mutsolgov noted.

Photo: Ruslan Mutsolgov

Khakim Kuchmezov spoke about the fact that there were no ethnic contradictions among the peoples, they existed only among the ruling elites.

Photo: Khakim Kuchmezov and Valery Borschyov

Following the results of the Unified Caucasus Forum, a resolution was adopted. The resolution reflected the most acute problems in the field of human rights in the North Caucasus as follows:

1. The Forum participants expressed their concern about the growth of nationalist manifestations in social networks and condemned attempts to use national feelings to achieve political goals. The only possible alternative to nationalism is civil consolidation, the participants stressed.
2. According to the participants of the Forum, the adoption in 2018 of amendments to the Federal Law “On Education”, which made the study of native languages ​​by representatives of indigenous peoples in national autonomous entities not obligatory, dealt a blow to interethnic relations in Russia.
3. The Forum also noted that the federal authorities continue the practice of adopting ill-conceived normative legal acts that contribute to the destabilisation of interethnic relations (e.g., speeding up the issue of determining the administrative boundaries between the national republics in the North Caucasus, the unresolved Ossetian-Ingush conflict around the Prigorodny district).
4. The Forum participants called on the authorities and civil society not to weaken efforts to resolve existing ethnic conflicts. The first step to this should be finding out the fates of all persons missing during ethnic conflicts.
5. The participants of the 8th Forum noted the continuing need for effective protection of civil rights and freedoms of the population of the North Caucasus.
6. The Forum participants consider it necessary to restore the institution of direct elections of heads of constituent entities of the Russian Federation and heads of municipalities of all levels in the North Caucasus, as well as members of the Federation Council, as this ensures the exercise of citizens’ electoral rights. In addition, it is necessary to increase the transparency of elections and abolish the “municipal filter” in registration of candidates.
7. The Forum participants demand an objective and open investigation of information about the systematic use of torture, abduction and other crimes against the person by representatives of state and law enforcement agencies.
8. They demand to stop persecution of representatives of the human rights movement on trumped-up charges and formal occasions, as well as cease open pressure on human rights organisations, such as Memorial.
9. The Forum participants condemn unjustified harsh prosecution of participants in mass rallies in Ingushetia held in spring 2019 and believe that the true purpose of these actions is to suppress civil activists who are not controlled by the authorities.
10. The Forum participants urge federal and regional authorities to do everything possible to return to their homeland women and children who are Russian citizens and who are victims of military operations in Iraq and Syria. Since this problem concerns not only the North Caucasus region, the indifference of the authorities to their fate may become another factor that undermines socio-political stability in the Russian Federation, the resolution runs.
11. The Forum participants believe that the law on introduction of a simplified procedure for granting Russian citizenship to compatriots abroad should apply to all foreign Caucasian diasporas.

The Forum was attended by representatives of ten federation subjects of the North Caucasus District. Politicians, journalists, human rights activists, and civic activists were among them. The forum is held annually in order to draw public attention to violations and problems in the field of protection of human rights.