January 20, 2011
PRESS RELEASE
THE UKRAINIAN WORLD CONGRESS CALLS UPON THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY
TO DEFEND THE HUMAN AND NATIONAL MINORITY RIGHTS OF UKRAINIANS IN RUSSIA
On January 20, 2011 the Ukrainian World Congress (UWC) sent three Memorandums regarding the pressure exerted on the Ukrainian national minority in Russia to the: (a) UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanethem Pillay; (b)OSCE Director of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights Janez Lenarcic; (c) OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities Knut Vollebaek; (d) Chair of the European Parliament Subcommittee on Human Rights Heidi Hautala; (e) Chair of the European Parliament Delegation to the EU-Russia Parliamentary Cooperation Committee Knut Fleckenstein; (f) Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Thomas Hammarberg; (g) President of the Council of Europe Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities Rainer Hofmann, (h) Amnesty International Secretary General Salil Shetty; and (i) Human Rights Watch, Europe and Central Asia Division Associate Erica Lally.
The Memorandums focus on the persistent attempts by Russian authorities to liquidate the two most prominent Ukrainian NGOs in the Russian Federation, the Federal National Cultural Autonomy of Ukrainians in Russia and the Union of Ukrainians in Russia, and to halt the operations of the Library of Ukrainian Literature in Moscow, including the use of physical force against the library director. The three Memorandums are available in full on the UWC web site:
“The Ukrainian World Congress calls upon the international community to react to Russia’s unacceptable actions and to take prompt and decisive action to protect the human and national minority rights of the Ukrainian minority in the Russian Federation. Most urgently, the Ukrainian World Congress requests that the international community send observers to the January 27, 2011 hearing regarding the Federal National Cultural Autonomy of Ukrainians of Russia before the Cassation Panel of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, the final court of appeal available in the Russian Federation,” stated UWC President Eugene Czolij.
This hearing regarding the Federal National Cultural Autonomy of Ukrainians of Russia will begin at 11:20 a.m. on January 27, 2011 at the Russian Supreme Court situated at 15 Povarskaya Street, Entrance 5, Moscow, 121260, Russia.
Ukrainian World Congress
145 Evans Ave., Suite 207
Toronto, ON
M8Z 5X8 Canada
website: www.ukrainianworldcongress.org
