Following a proposal by Russian President Putin, the State Duma decided to denounce the Council of Europe Framework Convention for the Protection of Indigenous and Minority Peoples.

“Taking into account the fact that termination of participation in this international treaty will avoid discriminatory attitudes towards the Russian Federation and will not harm the observance of the rights of national minorities, it is proposed to denounce the Framework Convention,” the document notes.

Russia acceded to this treaty after joining the Council of Europe in February 1996 and ratified it two years later. The document enshrines the protection of the right of representatives of small peoples to study their languages, practice religion and observe traditions. Participating countries undertake not to interfere with the creation of educational programs and the publication of media in the languages of ethnic groups.

As Anvar Kurmanakayev, a representative of the Nogai national movement, noted, “the Kremlin’s imperial task is to preserve the territorial integrity of Russia, since if the situation in the country worsens, indigenous peoples may demand separation from Moscow. To do this, the government uses actual restrictions on the study of local languages and observance of traditions, repression of national activists and a ban on discussing autonomy.”

“Over the past 20 years, there has been a systematic infringement of the rights of small nations. The situation worsened after amendments were made to the Constitution, in particular the amendment stating that Russian is the language of the state-forming people. Does this mean that all other peoples are not classified as state-forming peoples? This is open segregation,” shared the chairman of the “Coordination Council of Adyghe Public Associations” Aslan Beshto.