President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky signed the law on indigenous peoples, the presidential press service has said.
“President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky signed law No. 1616-IX on the indigenous peoples of Ukraine, initiated by him, which the Verkhovna Rada adopted on July 1, 2021,” the office said.
The document is aimed at full protection of cultural, informational and other rights of indigenous peoples, providing them with mechanisms and tools for working with the Ukrainian state. In particular, the representative agencies of indigenous peoples are recognized.
According to the law, the indigenous peoples of Ukraine, which formed on the territory of the Crimean peninsula, are Crimean Tatars, Karaites, Krymchaks.
“The indigenous people of Ukraine are an autochthonous ethnic community that formed on the territory of Ukraine and is a bearer of a distinctive language and culture, which has traditional, social, cultural or representative agencies, self-awareness of itself as an indigenous people of Ukraine, constitutes an ethnic minority within its population and does not have its own state formation outside of Ukraine,” the president said in the document.
It is noted that indigenous peoples have the right to self-determination within Ukraine and political status within the Constitution and laws of Ukraine. They have the collective and individual right to full ownership of all human rights and fundamental freedoms.
The law prohibits denial of ethnicity or ethnic identity of the indigenous peoples of Ukraine.
According to this document, indigenous peoples have the right to observe the revival and development of their spiritual, religious and cultural traditions and customs, to preserve tangible and intangible cultural heritage; determination of the list of their own places and objects of religious and cultural significance; restoration of its historical place names; cooperation with educational institutions to ensure the study of their language, history, culture of the indigenous people.
Moreover, indigenous peoples have the right through representative agencies to create their own media and receive government support.
In addition, indigenous peoples can direct part of the income from the use of natural resources located in the territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol for their own needs; for reservation for representatives of indigenous peoples, return to the territory of Crimea, agricultural and other land.
Representative agencies of indigenous peoples can participate in their international representation.
The law comes into force from the date of its publication (except for Part 3 of Article 7, which defines the right of indigenous peoples to channel part of the proceeds from the use of natural resources for the needs of the indigenous peoples of Ukraine, which comes into force after the return of the temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and Sevastopol to a common jurisdiction of Ukraine).
