Human Rights Violations towards the Crimean Tatars After the Russian Annexation: A Comprehensive Analysis on the Rights to Assembly and Association

Abstract

The lives of the Crimean Tatars on the multicultural Crimean Peninsula have been a politically and socially problematic process due to Russian domination since the second half of the 18th century. The Crimean Tatars were deprived of many rights during the Soviet period and subjected to deportation during World War II. Following the collapse of the former Soviet Union, the Crimean Tatars enjoyed several self-government rights, recognised by the Constitution of 1996, within the post-Soviet Ukraine. When the Russian Federation annexed Crimea in March 2014, the tide again turned against the Tatars, leading to numerous human rights violations following the annexation. Some of such violations concerning the right to property, freedom of expression, freedom of religion and various collective rights have been examined by some studies. However, those violations committed by the Russian authorities after the annexation concerning the rights to assembly and association have not been analysed completely, resulting in a research gap in the literature. This article seeks to fill the aforementioned gap. Such violations are identified through a comprehensive analysis of many human rights reports prepared by various non-governmental organisations and state organs. This study is ultimately expected to expand the regional and international awareness of Tatars’ problems.

Keywords

• Tatars
• Crimea
• human rights violations
• the right to assembly
• the right to association

Rus İlhakı Sonrasında Kırım Tatarlarına Yönelik İnsan Hakları İhlalleri: Toplanma ve Örgütlenme Hakları Üzerine Kapsamlı Bir Analiz

Abstract

Kırım Tatarlarının çokkültürlü Kırım Yarımadası’ndaki yaşamları, 18. yüzyılın ikinci yarısından itibaren Rus hâkimiyeti dolayısıyla siyasi ve sosyal açılardan sorunlu bir süreç olarak ilerlemiştir. İkinci Dünya Savaşı sırasında yaşadıkları büyük sürgün nedeniyle ağır hak ihlallerine maruz kalan Kırım Tatarlarının talihi, Sovyet dönemi boyunca da birçok hak yönünden mahrumiyetler içerisinde geçmiştir. Sovyetler Birliği’nin dağılmasının ardından Ukrayna bünyesinde bazı hakları teslim edilen Tatarlar, 1996 Anayasası’nda tanınan ve düzenlenen özerklik haklarından istifade etmiştir. İnsan hakları açısından bazı sınırlılıklar içeriyor olsa da görece olumlu bu anayasal düzen, Rusya Federasyonu’nun 2014 yılının mart ayında Kırım’ı ilhak etmesi akabinde tekrardan sekteye uğramış ve Kırım Tatarları birtakım insan hakları ihlalleri ile karşı karşıya kalmıştır. Bahse konu ihlalleri; mülkiyet hakkı, ifade hürriyeti, din hürriyeti ve çeşitli kolektif haklar yönünden irdeleyen çalışmalar yayımlanmıştır. Rus ilhakı sonrasında toplanma ve örgütlenme hakları bakımından kayıtlara geçen ihlallerin analizine yönelik olarak ise öğretide genel bir ihmalin varlığı söz konusudur. Çalışmamız, bu ihmalin ortadan kaldırılmasını hedeflemektedir. Bu bağlamda, Rus ilhakı sonrasında gerek sivil toplum kuruluşları gerek devlet kurumları tarafından düzenli bir şekilde yayımlanan insan hakları temalı raporlar irdelenmekte; toplanma ve örgütlenme haklarına yönelik Kırım’daki Rus yönetiminin ihlallere sebebiyet veren uygulamaları tespit edilmektedir. Söz konusu ihlallerin tespiti ile Tatar Türklerinin mevcut sorunlarına ilişkin bölgesel ve uluslararası farkındalığın artırılabileceği de çalışmamızda ayrıca ileri sürülmektedir.

Keywords

• Tatarlar
• Kırım
• İnsan hakları ihlalleri
• toplanma hakkı
• örgütlenme hakkı

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