More than 100 Crimean Tatars came on the streets of annexed Crimea peninsula on Oct. 14 to protest illegal searches, arrests and kidnapping by Russian authorities.
Instead of gathering for a rally in one place, the activists held one-person protests in different parts of the peninsula.
They carried posters reading “Crimean Tatars are not terrorists”, “Stop the violence of law enforcers”, “Freedom to political prisoners.”
At least 34 of them were detained, despite the fact that the Russian law doesn’t prohibit one-person protests.
The latest report by United Nations published in September said that Russia was committing grave human rights violations in Crimea, including the arbitrary arrests, kidnappings, tortures and extra-judicial executions in the region.
Crimean Tatars, many of whom are opposed to the annexation, are often among the victims of the Russian authorities in Crimea, getting arrested, assaulted, and kidnapped.
There are some 246,000 Crimean Tatars living in Crimea. Once the ethnic majority there, today they constitute 12 percent of the peninsula’s population.
The Russian law bans to hold rallies without notifying authorities in advance and getting an approval. That, however, doesn’t include one-person rallies, which can take place without the permission.
Nevertheless, at least 34 protesters were arrested by the police, according to the Crimean Solidarity civic organization. Human rights activist Halya Coynash from the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group said that Russian authorities arrested 49 activists.
Most of the arrested were later released, but the activist reported numerous procedure violations during their arrest.
Crimean Tatar lawyer Emil Kurbedinov said in a video shared by Crimean Solidarity on Oct. 14 that there had been many cases of protesters being taken away by ununiformed men in private cars.
On Oct. 11 Russian law enforcement illegally searched homes of more than 10 Crimean Tatar activists. Six of them were arrested for six months by court on Oct. 12. Kurbedinov said that arrested Crimean Tatars were civic activists who helped political prisoners and organized protests against human rights violations.
Refat Chubarov, leader of the Mejlis, an unofficial representative body of Crimean Tatars, said to the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty on Oct. 15 that “the number of children whose fathers were arrested reaches hundreds.”
“Every day we need more and more lawyers to reach the places where Crimean Tatars are being tried, not only in Crimea but also in Russia,” Chubarov said, adding that he is grateful to all Crimean Tatars who help the lawyers and families of those arrested.
