Valentyna SAMAR (Crimea) - Zerkalo Nedeli, # 13 (692) 5 — 11 April 2008
At the upcoming session, the deputies of the Crimean parliament will have the opportunity to discuss two interesting questions: a question about amending the Criminal Code of Ukraine by increasing amenability for violating the equality of the citizens according to their race and nationality or religious ideas and a question about banning the activities of the political party Hizb ut-Tahrir. I would like to specify that it is not possible to make such decisions in the Crimean parliament – the Crimean Verkhovna Rada is not qualified for this. However, in this case, it is supposed that the Crimean parliament’s decisions will be lobbied for by the MP’s in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.
At the upcoming session, the deputies of the Crimean parliament will have the opportunity to discuss two interesting questions: a question about amending the Criminal Code of Ukraine by increasing amenability for violating the equality of the citizens according to their race and nationality or religious ideas and a question about banning the activities of the political party Hizb ut-Tahrir. I would like to specify that it is not possible to make such decisions in the Crimean parliament – the Crimean Verkhovna Rada is not qualified for this. However, in this case, it is supposed that the Crimean parliament’s decisions will be lobbied for by the MP’s in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.
The author of those drafts – the speaker of the Crimean parliament Anatoliy Hrytsenko – explained his initiative the following way: in Ukraine, one person is killed because of race or national intolerance every day; that’s why “the state authorities’ reaction to such facts should be more severe.” I personally have only one question: where did the chief Crimean parliamentarian get this statistic?
The second initiative of the Crimean speaker – banning the activities of the political party Hizb ut-Tahrir – should be, undoubtedly, discussed by the public and analyzed by experts from the fields of law and religious studies. According to Anatoliy Hrytsenko, grounds for banning the activities of Hizb ut-Tahrir come from the fact that this organization is prohibited in more than 40 countries of the world including Russia.
I would like to explain the situation. According to the Ukrainian legislature, the activities of any political party may be banned only by the court’s ruling. However, the political party Hizb ut-Tahrir doesn’t officially exist in Ukraine. It is not registered in compliance with the current legislature. Thus: how can it be possible to prohibit its activities if it does not officially exist? However, from the other point of view, this organization actually exists in Ukraine – a group of Muslims, the total number of whom is not known (from five to ten thousand), call themselves by this name. Their leader is also not known, and their only public figure, Abduseliam Seliametov, isn’t answering all those questions.
Hizb ut-Tahrir-al Islam is an Islamic liberation party that was founded in 1953; its centre is in London. The stated aim of Hizb ut-Tahrir is to unite all Muslim nations in a unitary state or caliphate. They publicly demonstrate that neither the parliamentary way (the Western model of democracy is rejected outright), nor violent acts – revolts or acts of terrorism – are accepted for reaching their main aim. Their only method, as Abduseliam Seliametov says, is persuasion. In other words – jihad of the word. The creation of a worldwide caliphate should start from creation of a true Islamic state in one country and then spread to other countries in which the Muslim population is prevailing. However, as representatives of Hizb ut-Tahrir contend, Ukraine and even Crimea separately taken do not fall into this category. Russia doesn't either.
Hizb ut-Tahrir is banned in a number of Central Asian countries. In Russia, it is included in a list of 17 terrorist organizations. At the same time, in the USA and the majority of European states, it is not included in the lists of organizations supporting terrorism.
In Crimea, Hizb ut-Tahrir appeared in 2003. Today, the party actually exists half-legally. According to the Republic Committee on religious issues, the number of supporters of Hizb ut-Tahrir has been increasing during the last several years. Additionally, this organization is starting to legalize – not as a political organization but as a religious one: through registering the Muslim religious communities that do not submit to the Religious Directory of Crimean Muslims. According to the committee's representative Volodymyr Maliborskiy, there are now about ten communities of that kind. Their statutes do not contradict with the current legislature, that’s why there are no grounds to refuse them registration. Crimean Majlis and Muftiyat are really worried about that. The Majilis’ leaders several times have called upon the citizens and authorities, including special services, to take measures in order to “neutralize” the baneful influence of “sectarians.” And Refat Chubarov, Majilis’ leader, considers this party to be a project of special services of the state that hampers Ukraine’s integration with Europe and NATO.
Therefore, A. Hrytsenko's idea should have been supported by Majlis and Muftiyat. However, Refat Chubarov’s reaction to this initiative was negative. Why only Hizb ut-Tahrir? The question is a logical one, considering the extremist actions and statements of some other small, half-legal and scandalous organizations.
According to Refat Chubarov, the initiative of the leaders of the Crimean parliament (read – local "Regions”) is a demonstrative attempt to use the Crimean-Tatar factor in their political games yet another time.
I couldn’t discover what was the main reason that forced A. Hrytsenko to introduce his initiative – let’s broaden our outlook – to start forming a Ukrainian list of terrorist organizations. It is known that the extremist matter was discussed at the last meeting of the Crimean leaders with President V. Yushchenko. It is also know that a classified document was presented to the leaders of Crimean Autonomy. However, there is no reason to assert that the abovementioned initiative is coming form Kyiv and is a way to play at give-away with Russia and Uzbekistan, where Hizb ut-Tahrir is banned and considered to be a terrorist organization. This is just guess-work.
On materials of Zerkalo Nedeli, # 13 (692) 5 — 11 April 2008
