Crimean Days held in Czech Republic

The goal of the Crimean Days event, held in the Czech Republic on September 17–20, was to remind politicians and the public of the problems faced by people in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.

Tetiana Zhukova, Senior Manager of International Advocacy at the ZMINA Human Rights Center, spoke to Ukrinform about this.

“The Czech Republic strongly supports human rights advocacy around the world, particularly in Ukraine,” Zhukova said. She added that the Czech Republic is one of several EU countries that support human rights initiatives for residents of the temporarily occupied territories and internally displaced persons.

Crimean Days took place in the two largest cities in the Czech Republic—Prague and Brno. It is there that Ukrainian human rights institutions have partners in civil society. Among those who helped organize the event were the Czech organizations People in Need, the Prague Civil Society Center, and Nesehnuti.

According to Zhukova, the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs worked very closely with Ukrainian organizations, assisting with projects related to sanctions against criminals, support for political prisoners, and so on. Now that support has diminished somewhat, “the focus is beginning to blur,” and the issue of Ukraine has started to take a back seat, the ZMINA representative acknowledged. Therefore, she emphasized, it is necessary to maintain this attention.

“Narratives are emerging along the lines of ‘it’s just territory—give back the territory and there won’t be a war’… So it’s very important to draw attention to the issue, to show that it’s not just about territory, but about people. For 12 years now, they’ve been living through all this horror we’re talking about—the persecution, the indoctrination. But also other things—who the Crimean Tatars are, what their art is like, what their culture and history are, and what they went through during the Soviet Union. Europeans and even Ukrainians don’t know all of this,” Zhukova noted.

The representative of a human rights organization, which since 2014 (and as long as it was possible) documented human rights violations on the peninsula firsthand, also pointed out that in Crimea, the Russians began implementing a policy of pressure on the population; the peninsula has become a “testing ground” where methods of oppression and torture tactics were tested, which were later implemented in other occupied territories.

As part of the Days in the Czech Parliament, a conference titled “Crimea in the Spotlight: Human Rights, International Law, and European Security” was held, co-organized by a friend of Ukraine, MP Karel Dvořák (the opposition STAN party). Lawmakers, representatives of the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Office of the President, human rights defenders, Czech students, and experts discussed the impact of the occupation on human rights, international law, and European security, focusing on accountability and support for victims. Ukrainian participants also submitted a recommendation regarding a resolution on the temporarily occupied territories, but it is currently unknown whether the opposition will be able to pass it through parliament.

At Charles University in Prague, human rights activists Maria Sulialina (“Almenda”), Tetiana Zhukova (ZMINA), and Kateryna Rashevska (Regional Center for Human Rights) gave a lecture and led a discussion on the legal and humanitarian challenges during the war. Meanwhile, at Masaryk University in Brno, Crimean historian and journalist Gulnara Abdulayeva gave a lecture on the Crimean Tatar national movement as one of the largest nonviolent resistance movements in the Soviet Union and on the new challenges facing the Crimean Tatar community following the occupation.

There were also screenings of the film “2026”, featuring journalist and former political prisoner Vladyslav Yesipenko, and *Chronicle of the Occupation*, featuring director Muslim Umerov.

The Days concluded with a cultural event, the Crimea Qave Session – A Journey Through the Cities of Crimea, where guests had the opportunity to experience the music and art of the peninsula.

The Days were organized by the Crimean House of Human Rights and its member organizations, including “Crimean Process,” the ZMINA Human Rights Center, the Crimean Human Rights Group, “Crimea SOS,” the Regional Center for Human Rights, and the “Almenda” Center for Civic Education, in collaboration with partners including the Crimean Project Fund Q-hub, Media CrimeaVox, People in Need, Nesehnuti, the Prague Civil Society Center, Generation for Ukraine, and the Embassy of Ukraine in the Czech Republic.

The event in the Czech Republic was the second of its kind. Last year, Crimean Week was organized in Brussels, featuring cultural events, film screenings, concerts, exhibitions, discussions, and expert meetings dedicated to the history and culture of Crimea, its current realities, and the consequences of the Russian occupation, as well as briefings for diplomats and the general public—including both the Ukrainian community and foreign citizens.

As previously reported, Ukraine plans to advance its agenda during the high-level segment of the UN General Assembly next week, including by hosting the sixth Crimean Platform summit.

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