A report on strengthening the national and religious rights of peoples and religious communities in Russia was recently presented at the Council of Europe, the Idel.Realii website reported. The report was prepared by a specialized structure of the Council — the Advisory Committee on the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities — based on information collected over several years from key regions of Russia.
The authors of the study claim that there is a deliberate policy of discrimination against indigenous non-Russian peoples and non-Orthodox communities, especially Muslims, in Russia. This is manifested in the interference with national education systems, the consistent Russification of the country’s cultural and informational space, the creation of privileged positions for the dominant culture and church, and the prohibition of groups such as the Pomors, Erzya, and Moksha from maintaining their own ethnic identities, forcing them to become Russian or Mordvin, respectively.
Special attention is paid to the systematic repression of Muslims through the improper application of anti-extremism legislation. In other words, the experts of the Council of Europe have effectively recognized what activists and representatives of national and religious circles of peoples and confessions in Russia, including our website, have been talking about for years.
As Idel.Realii reported today, the Russian authorities called the conclusions of the Council of Europe biased and motivated by a desire to discredit Russia…