Fokus Ost

Independent Experts at the FUEN-Congress in Moscow: Mass Media and Administrations in Russian Federation should not ignore the protests of Kumyk people in Dagestan as well as the ethnic minority issues in generally. FUEN appeals on Russian Government to save the ethnic minorities rights to political participation and mother tongue.

Linguistic diversity and the preservation of languages in Europe are the main topics of the annual congress of the Federal Union of European Nationalities (FUEN). This 57. annual FUEN-Congress first time took place in Russian Federation hosted by the German-Russian House in Moscow and supported by diverse Western European Ministries and NGO´s like the Society for threatened peoples[1]. More than 90 minority organizations from 30 countries in Europe are represented by FUEN, the oldest pan-European NGO, founded in 1949.

Beside speeches and lectures of experts from Russian Federation and the EU the focus of the event laid also on concrete recent issues of the ethnic minorities in Russian Federation. The situation in the Republics of Dagestan, Kabardino-Balkaria, Tatarstan and the problems of the Shor people from Kemerovo region were discussed.

Since a couple of days thousands of Kumyks are demonstrating in Dagestan for solving their land problems and for rehabilitation of these former deported people. Dr. Ramazan Alpautov pointed out, that the mass medias completely ignore those civic actions outside the Russian centre. He is preparing now applications for registration of a Federal Cultural Autonomy together with other Kumyk intellectuals of the Kumyk civil rights movement. “The local municipalities are waiting for directives from the administration in Moscow and do not react on the problems in the region” said Alpautov. But the exigent situation should solve immediately and peacefully[2]. The Kumyks in protest camps near Makhatshkala want to get back their land which they lost 1944. That time they were deported to Chechenya, shortly after the Chechens were deported to Central Asia.

The FUEN adopted a resolution – supported by the Society for Threatened People International[3] – to the administrations and authorities of Europe and especially to the government of the Russian Federation: “FUEN calls upon the government of the Russian Federation to provide for more recognition of the minority language-speaking people in Russian Federation. The Russian Federation should be committed to human rights as a fundamental value of human existence. The ethnic minority rights in generally and especially in the field of mother tongue education (also for ethnic minorities outside national Republics, Counties and Rayons[4] as well as those peoples, who do not have a national administration subject of their own like the Shor people of Southern Siberia) should be respected”. As an main issue of the FUEN accepted the congress the campaign for the “Right to language”. In that context FUEN appealed to the Russian administration for ratification of the European Charta for Regional- or Minority-languages (which was already signed by Russia 1992) and adequate implementation of the aims and provisions enshrined in it.

(erschienen in Folker – Magazin für Folk, Lied und Weltmusik, 02 2009, S. 66-67)