IRYNA VYRTOSU CRIMEAN ALBUM: Stories Of Human Rights Defenders IRYNA VYRTOSU CRIMEAN ALBUM: STORIES OF HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS УДК 342.72/.73(477.75-074)(092) К82 Author of text: Iryna Vyrtosu. Editor and author of idea: Tetiana Pechonchyk. Production photographer: Valeriya Mezentseva. Photographers: Mykola Myrnyi, Iryna Kriklya, Olexiy Plisko, as well as photos from the personal archives of the heroes. Transcription of the interviews: Yana Khmelyuk. Translator: Olga Lobastova. Proofreader: Arthur Rogers. Design composition and layout: Pavlo Reznikov. I. Vyrtosu К82 Crimean Album: Stories of Human Rights Defenders / I. Vyrtosu; edit. Т. Pechonchyk; Human Rights Information Centre. – Kyiv: KBC, 2019. – 232 p. ISBN 978-966-2403-16-9 This book contains evidence and memories of Crimean human rights defenders including their work experience before and after the occupation. There are twenty personal stories about the past, present and future of people, who continue to fight for the protection of human rights in Crimea even after losing their home, as well as those, who oppose reprisals living under the occupation. These are stories of Olga Anoshkina, Eskender Bariyev, Mykhailo Batrak, Oleksandra Dvoretska, Abdureshyt Dzhepparov, Lilia Hemedzhy, Sergiy Zayets, Synaver Kadyrov, Emil Kurbedinov, Alyona Luniova, Roman Martynovsky, Ruslan Nechyporuk, Valentyna Potapova, Anna Rassamakhina, Daria Svyrydova, Olga Skrypnyk and Vissarion Aseyev, Iryna Sedova and Oleksandr Sedov, Tamila Tasheva, Maria Sulialina, Volodymyr Chekryhin. The book is intended for a wide audience. УДК 342.72/.73(477.75-074)(092) ISBN 978-966-2403-16-9 © Iryna Vyrtosu, 2019 © Human Rights Information Centre, 2019 Human Rights KUĆA LJUDSKIH Information PRAVA Center ZAGREB The book was published with the support of the Human Rights House Foundation (Oslo, Norway) within the framework of the joint project of the Human Rights Information Centre (member of the Human Rights House Crimea) and the Human Rights House Zagreb (Croatia) “Human Rights Defenders: Standards, Memoirs, Evidence”, which is implemented thanks to financial support from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The views and opinions expressed in this book are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of the Government of Norway. 3 Content Foreword .........................................................................................5 My gallery. Iryna Vyrtosu .................................................................7 Drinking Tea on Autumn Beach. Alyona Luniova ..................9 Nautical Rope. Olga Skrypnyk and Vissarion Aseyev ...........22 Father. Abdureshyt Dzhepparov ..........................................36 Sharp Cobblestone. Mykhailo Batrak .................................50 Prometheus. Emil Kurbedinov .............................................60 Dawn. Lilia Hemedzhy .........................................................69 Erytheia. Oleksandra Dvoretska ..........................................81 Followers of Don Quixote. Iryna Sedova and Oleksandr Sedov ..................................................................92 Man of Steel. Eskender Bariyev .........................................102 Dissident. Maria Sulialina .................................................114 Tutoress. Valentyna Potapova ...........................................125 Thorn. Ruslan Nechyporuk ................................................136 Not a Man in the Shadows. Sergiy Zayets .........................147 Script Writer. Daria Svyrydova ..........................................158 Uncle Roman. Roman Martynovsky ..................................170 Cobweb. Olga Anoshkina ..................................................183 Equilibrist. Anna Rassamakhina ........................................192 Crimean Banksy. Volodymyr Chekryhin .............................200 Patriot. Synaver Kadyrov ...................................................212 Voice. Tamila Tasheva .......................................................221 4 I. VYRTOSU • CRIMEAN ALBUM: STORIES OF HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS Foreword This book tells the stories of Crimean human rights defenders who were forced to leave their homes after the Crimean peninsula had been seized by the armed forces of the Russian Federation. For many of them, a break that they had planned for no longer than three days or a week has now lasted five years. However, despite being outside of Crimea, they help protect the rights of people, who stayed on the peninsula and provide as- sistance to the internally displaced persons. This book also tells the stories of people who had not been active mem- bers of civil society prior to the occupation but could not remain indifferent to the arrival of armored infantry vehicles and “little green men”[masked soldiers in unmarked green army uniforms and carrying modern Russian military weapons and equipment that appeared in Crimea in early 2014 – Translator’s Note] in their native Crimea. This led a former sales repre- sentative, a PR consultant and a diving company employee to become human rights defenders and get involved in collecting and documenting human rights violations, informing the authorities and international or- ganizations of those violations so that the crimes of the occupying au- thorities do not go unpunished. The book also tells the stories of people who have stayed in Crimea and, despite the threats and pressure, are still engaged in human rights activi- ties. Their struggle for human rights, or rather, for people whom the occu- pation authorities are persecuting for their views or religion, is an example of courage that inspires a lot of people to join the human rights movement. “Everyone has the right, individually and in association with others, to promote and to strive for the protection and realization of human rights and fundamental freedoms,” says the UN Declaration on Human Rights 5 FOREwORD Defenders1. In pursuit of this principle, many protagonists of the book have lost their homes, an opportunity to see their relatives and friends, or daily risk their freedom and safety while staying in Crimea. The stories of 22 human rights defenders are based on their evidence, recollections of the past, conversations about the present and thoughts about the future. However, it is only a part of the mosaic of resistance to the occupation and the struggle for the protection of human rights in Crimea. The stories of other people, who continue their human rights ac- tivities under the occupation or have relatives living in Crimea, cannot yet be made public because of the risks of persecution. We hope the time will come when they will be revealed as well. We are also waiting for the release of human rights defenders, who have been imprisoned on trumped-up charges of “terrorism”, who took part in the activities of the Crimean Contact Group on Human Rights and the Crimean Solidarity initiative, namely Emir-Usein Kuku, Server Musta- fayev, Seyran Saliyev, and citizen journalist Nariman Memedeminov, as well as other Ukrainians, who have been jailed in the Russian Federation and occupied Crimea on politically motivated charges. Meanwhile, the 21st-century world is failing to resist new armed aggres- sion and the attempt to change borders by force. It is also failing to pro- tect people living under the occupation, each of protagonists in the book leaves no stone unturned in seeking to make the broken mechanisms work and find new answers to new challenges. Despite the fact that the civil society in Crimea was suppressed, and in many cases expelled from the peninsula after the occupation, dozens of new initiatives, which appear in Crimea despite the pressure, and unani- mous efforts of human rights defenders in mainland Ukraine and abroad will help obtain justice and resist the occupation. So that the dream of many protagonists of this book comes true and they to return to their native Crimea and work there without fear of reprisals against them and their relatives and friends. Team of the Human Rights Information Centre 1 The United Nations Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. It was adopted by the General Assembly resolution 53/144 of 9 December 1998. 6 I. VYRTOSU • CRIMEAN ALBUM: STORIES OF HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS My gallery Iryna Vyrtosu My 8-year-old nephew came to see me one day. He’s a smart guy but, like many kids nowadays, prefers a tablet to books. He saw me writing a book and, whilst he tried not to disturb me, he couldn’t help putting his tablet aside time and again and asking me a thousand questions. — Aunty Iryna, what’s your book about? — It’s about Crimea, about Ukraine. I wish you read it someday. — But it will be about politics, it’s difficult stuff. I wouldn’t understand it, I guess. — No, it’s not about politics. It’s about people. Indeed, when I was preparing for the first interview with Crimean activ- ists and did not have a full picture of the book-to-be, I knew for sure that I would write about people. About real people, people of worth, who de- spite sometimes being tired and disappointed were undoubtedly strong and capable of performing remarkable deeds. I am sure that these are the people who will return Crimea. This book is based on these interviews – memoirs of 22 Crimean human rights defenders, the experience of their struggle before and after the il- legal annexation of Crimea. Many of them were forced to