Mari People - Present Day

Present Day

Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the situation in Mari El first improved, then declined to the point where the ethnic Mari people are undergoing forced Russification and cultural supression. The ethnically Russian former Communist Head of State Leonid Markelov has lead or allowed a widespread attack on Mari culture and identity Under his leadership, the government ordered many Mari language newspapers to close. Many ethnic Mari activists live under fear of violence. The Mari activist and chief editor Vladimir Kozlov was badly beaten after he published criticism toward Leonid Markelov's politics. Other Mari leaders have been the subjects of violence, legal persecution and intimidation In addition, a proposal to raise water levels in the would flood even larger areas of land inhabited by Mari in the western part of Mari El.

The Marla faith of the Mari people has encountered hostility as well. Vitaly Tanakov was charged with inciting religious, national, social and linguistic hatred after publishing the book The Priest Speaks.

Mari people have responded to this pressure by organizing methods of cultural preservation and celebration: starting, for instance, a summer school to teach youth Mari language and culture. As well, a renewed sense of common identity among peoples has led to small but increasing support for Mari rights by intellectuals in Finland, Estonia and Hungary, though in practice this support has not yet had much effect.

International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF) and Moscow Helsinki Group (MHG) in an exhaustive 2006 report "Russian Federation: The Human Rights Situation of the Mari Minority of the Republic of Mari El," found widespread evidence of political and cultural persecution of Mari people, and of "a broader trend of repression of dissidents in the republic." They note that because of the relative obscurity of the Mari people and culture in the global context, no major NGOs have yet taken up the cause of protecting their rights.