The Choice to Set Free

Representatives of Indigenous Peoples of Russia and the Russian opposition spoke OUT against the election results and FOR the release of Daria Egereva and Natalia Leongardt in a joint statement

Today, in Russia’s latest illegitimate elections, United Russia won amid numerous documented violations, with no party openly opposing the war remaining on the ballot after the Yabloko party was removed from the election.

Meanwhile, according to various estimates, between 5,000 and 11,000 political prisoners remain behind bars in Russia. Among them are Daria Egereva and Natalia Leongardt. They have been held in pre-trial detention for 278 days, accused of terrorism because of their work defending the rights of some of Russia’s smallest Indigenous peoples.

At the Washington Office of the Navajo Nation, representatives of Indigenous Peoples and the Russian opposition met for a discussion entitled “The Place of the Indigenous Peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East in Present-Day and Future Russia”.

The participants adopted two resolutions:

1. condemning repression against the Indigenous small-numbered peoples of Russia;

2. rejecting recognition of the elections to the Russian State Duma.

Participants included:

• Di Crane, Deputy Executive Director of the Navajo Nation Washington Office;

• Pavel Sulyandziga, representative of the Udege people, President of the Batani Foundation;

• Petra Bayr, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE);

• Mariana Katzarova, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Russian Federation;

• Vladislav Inozemtsev, member of the Free Russia Forum, Doctor of Economics;

• Vladimir Kara-Murza, Vice President of the Free Russia Foundation, Russian politician;

• Refat Chubarov, Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People;

• Olga Prokopyeva, Deputy Chair of the Peaceful Russia Party;

• Leslie Esparza, representative of Microsoft;

• Elena Lukyanova, member of the Anti-War Committee, Doctor of Law, head of the Free University;

• Irina Busygina, scholar and leading expert on federalism, Harvard University;

• and many others.

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QUOTATIONS

Di Crane, Deputy Executive Director of the Navajo Nation Washington Office:

“I would like to express my appreciation to the peoples historically connected to the territory of what is now the District of Columbia and the surrounding areas, including the Nacotchtank and Piscataway. There are two important concepts in Navajo culture — K’é, meaning kinship and interconnectedness, and Hózhó, associated with harmony, beauty and well-being. I wish for you to place these principles at the foundation of your dialogue, and I wish the participants wisdom in their words, mutual respect and progress toward a common goal.”

Petra Bayr, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE):

“I urge you not to speak about Indigenous Peoples only through the concepts of discrimination, exclusion and marginalization, because these describe what has happened to people, but not who Indigenous Peoples themselves are. I remember my trip to Kamchatka about 20 years ago: traditional clothing, music, dances and crafts are not simply cultural attributes, but forms of preserving and transmitting knowledge. A river, a forest, a section of tundra can simultaneously be identity, ancestors, spirituality, community and an obligation to those who have not yet been born. Language is especially important. When a language disappears, we lose more than a vocabulary. We lose one of humanity’s ways of understanding itself.”

Pavel Sulyandziga, representative of the Udege people, President of the Batani Foundation:

“This meeting is taking place at a difficult time for the independent Indigenous movement in Russia. It is an especially difficult time for the Indigenous small-numbered peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East — a time of repression against independent leaders and activists. Right now, Daria Egereva and Natalia Leongardt are being held in detention, accused by the Russian authorities of participation in a terrorist organization. The charges against them are fabricated and unlawful!”

Vladislav Inozemtsev, member of the Free Russia Forum, Doctor of Economics:

“We cannot ignore such outrageous injustice toward the Indigenous peoples of Russia, which took place both in past centuries and in recent years. As a result of industrial expansion, these people have lost their history, their identity and the lands on which they made their living — lands that gave them the strength to be who they are. These are the devastating consequences of Russian and Soviet policies of assimilation. Therefore, the Russian democratic movement cannot disregard the views of these people!”

Vladimir Kara-Murza, Vice President of the Free Russia Foundation, Russian politician:

“The issue of free peoples is very close to me personally; I myself have five different ethnic backgrounds. There are more than 190 peoples, nationalities and ethnic groups in our country — this is our enormous wealth. Today, this wealth is not only left unused, but is ignored at best and undermined by the current regime at worst. This is something we must completely change in the future of Russia!”

IR