By Anonymous
By Rebecca Kirkpatrick (CS Intern)
Indigenous organizations in Russia, allied organizations, and Cultural Survival have released an Open Letter to the Putin administration sounding an alarm about the growing intimidations and reprisals against Indigenous activists and rights defenders in Russia.
Cultural Survival denounces the recent a Moscow court decision made on November 6, 2019, to close the Center for Support of Indigenous Peoples of the North (CSIPN), an independent organization of Indigenous Peoples, which has been defending the rights of Indigenous Peoples of Russia for almost 20 years by providing informational, educational, expert and legal support to Indigenous representatives at all levels. The decision is another case of rights violations and pressure by the Russian government on Indigenous Peoples.
In June 2019, Dmitry Berezhkov and Pavel Sulyandziga authored a report titled, “Acts of intimidation, criminalization and other types of activities with the aim to prevent human rights work of Indigenous activists in Russia.” Berezhkov is the director at Arctic Consult, a database of documentation that Indigenous Peoples have compiled about their rights on land, resources, and self-determination.