Dear Ukrainian patriots and Finnish friends of Ukraine,
Yesterday my country, Estonia, celebrated 100 years of its independence. 2.5 months ago, Finland did the same. These are moments when we take pride in our freedoms, and rightly so.
Dr. Martin Luther King, the leader of the U.S. civil rights movement, said, “None of us is free until all of us are free”. This thought captures the moral responsibility of those of us who enjoy the fruits of freedom, over those who don’t.
As a result of this moral – and not just political – duty, the civilised world must turn its attention to Crimea, and especially to the hundreds of thousands of people of Crimea who are oppressed and whose human rights are constantly violated as a result of the Russian occupation. People whose freedoms – like freedom of expression, freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of religion, to mention a few – have been taken away.
Among these people are the vast majority of Crimean Tatars who have resisted the Russian occupation from the start – since February 26, 2014. They have shown themselves as true patriots of Ukraine, and who are role models for the whole world on how to conduct non-violent resistance and maintain their dignity. This is why Crimean Tatars have also paid the heaviest human price of this occupation – deaths, forced disappearances, politically motivated detentions and prison sentences. It is completely unacceptable for Crimean Tatars, an indigenous people of Crimea who have undergone genocide by the predecessor of this Russian state, to find themselves in this situation.
People whose freedoms have been taken away as a result of the occupation also include Crimeans of other ethnicities. They include ethnic Ukrainians and no doubt many decent ethnic Russians – who, in their hearts, have remained loyal to Ukraine and who respect international law according to which Crimea is, without a question, Ukraine.
Current media coverage about Crimea often focuses on individual cases of human rights violations in Crimea, e.g., demanding Russia to release political prisoners. While this is very important work, it is also not enough. We must demand not only the removal of the symptoms of this disease, but also removal of its root cause – the illegal and immoral occupation of Crimea itself. Hence, the international community must increasingly speak the language of liberation – about the importance and urgency of liberating Crimea, and seriously discussing scenarios how this can actually happen.
Stimulating this discussion is one of the aims of #LIBERATECRIMEA campaign that I represent here. As a civil society led initiative by Crimean Tatar and EU-based activists, it will push decision-makers across the world to move from a simple non-recognition of Crimea’s annexation by Russia to active demands and pressure for Crimea’s de-occupation, i.e. liberation. By that we want to bring the date of Crimea’s liberation closer and to make sure that this happens as peacefully and humanely as possible, for all sides.
Today’s rally in Helsinki is one of the first #LIBERATECRIMEA public events. I thank the Ukrainian community in Finland for making it happen. This is just the beginning – together we can achieve a lot more in the coming years.
Finally, I’d like to say just two things.
To Putin: Get Out Of Crimea!
And to all of you: Crimea Shall Be Free!
Oliver Loode
Helsinki, 25.2.2018
Oliver Loode 