Congress of the Peoples of the North Caucasus

Declaration

November 7th 2023

Brussels, Kingdom of Belgium

• We the representatives of the many groups and organizations of Circassia, Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingush peoples fighting for the rights and freedom to live in our historic lands present for the dialogue on The Future of the North Caucasus at the European Parliament on November 8th, 2023, affirm the principles of cooperation, security, and mutual support, with the objective of advancing a political platform for the restoration of statehood to the peoples of the North Caucasus inspired by the unifying ideals of the Mountain Republic reinforced by the inalienable right of every people to self-determination enshrined in the UN General Assembly Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples of December 14, 1960, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of December 16, 1966, the Declaration on Principles of International Law of October 24, 1970, the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe of 1975, and the Right to Rebel against Violations of Human Rights.

• Whereas, the nations of Circassia, Chechnya, Dagestan, and Ingushetia recognize our ethnocultural kinship, common geography and historical destiny, which has been documented in the history of our joint struggle for freedom and self-preservation have for centuries lived harmoniously side by side on the lands of their historic ancestors in the North Caucasus peaceably and without prejudice to their neighbors; and

• Whereas these Nations at present share the common tragedy of a forcible occupation by the Russian Government with the resultant loss of independence and freedom; and

• Whereas the peoples of Circassia, Chechnya, Dagestan, and Ingushetia have a shared historic understanding of the dangers of colonial Russian imperialism and machinations recognizing its oppressive force on the rights of all the democratic principles of political freedom to those occupied, and

• Whereas the peoples of Circassia, Chechnya, Dagestan, and Ingushetia recognize the Russian Federation policies to thwart self-determination, forcibly obstructing any attempt by their colonial subjects to freely express their will in the land of their ancestors, Russifies them and interferes in matters of language, culture and religion, maintaining artificial inter-ethnic and inter-religious tensions in order to act as the sole "arbiter" between the warring peoples.

• Whereas the peoples of Circassia, Chechnya, Dagestan, and Ingushetia recognize the infection of imperial colonial Russian ideology and their effects and concerted efforts to disrupt the harmony of the North Caucasus and her people, and  

• Whereas the peoples of Circassia, Chechnya, Dagestan, and Ingushetia recognize the need to heal the cultural rifts resulting from over 150 years of diaspora, fragmentation and violent foreign occupation, therefore:

• We the peoples of Circassia, Chechnya, Dagestan, and Ingushetia are resolved to recognize our shared plight and genocidal suffering at the hands of imperial Russia and the modern-day Russian Federation, and

• We the peoples of Circassia, Chechnya, Dagestan, and Ingushetia resolve to unify our capabilities in the pursuit of our sovereignty, and collaborate as independent peoples to our collective benefit to form free and democratic nations in accordance with the universally recognized principle of self-determination, and

• We the peoples of Circassia, Chechnya, Dagestan, and Ingushetia resolve to build alliances with brotherly nations, and re-establish our nations’ place alongside other European countries as stable democracies, and  

• We the peoples of Circassia, Chechnya, Dagestan, and Ingushetia resolve to support and respect our constituent communities right to live and prosper in our historic land, and

• We the peoples of Circassia, Chechnya, Dagestan, and Ingushetia resolve to support our communal struggle for independent sovereignty through the advocacy of our aims with foreign governments and political bodies, and

• We resolve to collaborate in these efforts without delay to form a committee to be known as the “Committee for the Restoration of the Statehood of the Peoples of the North Caucasus”, also referred to as the “Committee for the Nations of the North Caucasus”, and meet as a group to discuss and develop a consultative framework to establishing our independent nations under these aforementioned principles.