ACFC/SR/II(2005)003 SECOND REPORT SUBMITTED BY THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION PURSUANT TO ARTICLE 25, PARAGRAPH 1 OF THE FRAMEWORK CONVENTION FOR THE PROTECTION OF NATIONAL MINORITIES (Received on 26 April 2005) MINISTRY OF REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION REPORT OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF PROVISIONS OF THE FRAMEWORK CONVENTION FOR THE PROTECTION OF NATIONAL MINORITIES Report of the Russian Federation on the progress of the second cycle of monitoring in accordance with Article 25 of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities MOSCOW, 2005 2 Table of contents PREAMBLE ......................................................................................................................... 4 1. Introduction................................................................................................................... 4 2. The legislation of the Russian Federation for the protection of national minorities rights5 3. Major lines of implementation of the law of the Russian Federation and the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities .......................................................... 15 3.1. National territorial subdivisions ............................................................................... 15 3.2 Public associations – national cultural autonomies and national public organizations17 3.3 National minorities in the system of federal government.......................................... 18 3.4 Development of Ethnic Communities’ National Culture .......................................... 20 3.5 Ethnically Oriented Education ................................................................................. 25 3.6 National Minorities and Mass Media ....................................................................... 31 3.7 Situation of refugees and migrants and problems related to the citizenship of national minorities............................................................................................................................ 36 3.8 Financial support for national minorities.................................................................. 40 4. Replies to the questions of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe ........ 48 4.1 Possible review by the State Duma of the law on the protection of national minorities and improvement of the State National Policy Concept ....................................................... 48 4.2 Results of the 2002 census and major trends related to ethnic minorities, their languages and religions revealed by the census ................................................................... 50 4.3 Information on Amendments to the Federal Law on National and Cultural Autonomy and on its implementation ................................................................................................... 52 4.4 Information on the past and forthcoming elections to representative authorities in terms of participation of national minorities (including information on xenophobia and racism during election campaigns and on measures taken by the Government in this regard).......... 53 4.5 Information on the Work of the Russian Federation Minister for Nationalities and Supposed Development Patterns of this Institution ............................................................. 55 4.6 Information on the Recent Amendments to the Law On Citizenship of the Russian Federation and on the Implementation of this Law .............................................................. 55 4.7 Information on adherence to the principle of freedom of association with regard to organizations dealing with minority issues in the Krasnodar krai......................................... 58 4.8 Information on the situation of the Roma minority in Russia.................................... 61 4.9 Consequences of integration of Perm oblast and Komi-Permyak autonomous okrug for ethnic minorities ............................................................................................................ 65 4.10 Information on creating a post of minister on nationalities affairs of the Chechen Republic and the development of situation in the region with regard to the implementation of the provisions of the Convention ......................................................................................... 67 5. Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 69 Annex 1 .............................................................................................................................. 71 Annex 2 .............................................................................................................................. 76 Annex 3 .............................................................................................................................. 78 Annex 4 .............................................................................................................................. 79 Annex 5 .............................................................................................................................. 92 Annex 6 .............................................................................................................................. 98 Annex 7 ............................................................................................................................ 103 Annex 8 ............................................................................................................................ 105 3 PREAMBLE The Russian Federation joined to the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities on February 28, 1996. Russia ratified the Framework Convention on June 18, 1998. On October 21, 1998 its instruments of ratification were deposited with the Secretariat of the Council of Europe. In respect of the Russian Federation, the Convention entered into force on December 1, 1998. The present report is the second national report on the implementation by Russia of the provisions of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities within the framework of the second cycle of monitoring in accordance with Article 25 of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and covers the period of 2001-2004, which has passed since the submission of the first and interim national reports. The Russian Federation reaffirms its commitment to comply with the international standards in the field of human rights and freedoms, takes into account the obligations, arising from the international agreements signed by it, including the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities and the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. 1. Introduction The Russian Federation is a unique State, which occupies a large part of the Eurasian continent. The territory of the country totals 17,075,400 sq. meters, although the density of population is relatively low, which is due to its natural and climatic conditions and, in particular, to the fact that it has vast northern territories, which are hard to develop. The geographical location of Russia and peculiarities of the historical processes of development of the Russian State have determined an ethnical and cultural diversity of its population. Historically, Russia has been developing as a poly-ethnic state uniting numerous peoples. Most of them are historically connected with the territories of the Russian Federation. Meanwhile, Russia has never seen neither ethnic, nor religious genocide, showing tolerance for the representatives of all nations it comprises. According to the 2002 All-Russia census, the population of the Russian Federation amounts to 145,166,000 people (73.3 per cent - urban population, 26.7 per cent - rural population), practicing Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and other religions and faiths. According to the census, there are 160 peoples living in Russia. The majority of population are Russians (79.8 per cent), although their share has fallen by 1.7 per cent compared to 1989. The second largest population group of 5,560,000 people is that of Tatars (nearly 3.8 per cent of the country's population), followed (in decreasing order): the Ukrainians - 2 per cent, the Bashkirs - 1.2 per cent, the Chuvashes - 1.1 per cent, the Chechens - 0.9 per cent, the Armenians - 0.8 per cent, the Avars, Belarusians, Mordovians, Azerbaijani - 0.6 per cent each, the Kazakhs and Udmurts - 0.5 per cent each, the Dargins, Kabardians, Maris, Germans, the Ossetians - 0.4 per cent each, the Buryats, Ingushes, Kumyks, Lakts, Lezgins, Yakuts - 0.3 per cent each, Jews, Komis, Tuvins - 0.2 per cent each, the Adygeis, Altaians, Balkarians, Greeks, Gerorgians, Kalmyks, Karachais, Karelians, Komi-Permyaks, Koreans, Moldavians, Nogais, Poles, Cossacks, Tabasarany, Tadjiks, Turks, Uzbeks, Hakasy, Romany, Circassians - 0.1 per cent each. The total percentage of other peoples does not exceed 3.6. 4 The 2002 census identified 23 largest ethnic groups, each of which exceed 400 thousand people, with 17 such ethnic groups in 1989. Due to the increased population this group was joined by the Azerbaijani, Kabardians, Dargins, Kumyks, Ingushs, Lezgins and Yakuts. As in 1989, seven peoples exceeded one million persons, but the structure of that group has changed - the Chechens and Armenians joined it and Belarusians and Mordovians left it. Moreover, according to 2002 census, the group of Romany increased by almost 20 per cent: 183,000 of them