Abdureshit Dzhepparov
Abdureshit Dzhepparov is a human right defender and activist of the Crimean Tatar National Movement working to raise awareness about Crimean Tatars as an indigenous community and standing up for the community's right to return to their homeland after the 1944 Deportation by Joseph Stalin’s regime. Since the illegal occupation of Crimea by the Russian Federation 2014, Abdureshit Dzhepparov has coordinated the Crimean Contact Group on Human Rights, dealing with enforced disappearances on the Russia-occupied peninsula. Abdureshit Dzhepparov is one of co-founders of human rights group Crimean Solidarity and several other initiatives. In 2020 he was nominated to the Nobel Peace Prize.
Before the escalation of the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine and the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula by the Russian Federation, the key concerns regarding the situation of human rights defenders (HRDs) in Ukraine were characterised mainly by systemic impediments to the rights to freedom of assembly, association, and personal liberty. In many cases, HRDs were subjected to intimidation, harassment, and attacks, while violence against journalists was tolerated by the authorities. The situation was exacerbated by pervasive corruption in all branches of government and limitations on workers’ rights to strike.
