Turning the pages back... September 21, 2003 (09/19/04)

Turning the pages back...

September 21, 2003

Last year at this time of we reported that the Embassy of Russia in the United States had voiced its opposition to a Senate resolution that recognizes the Great Famine of 1932-1933 in Ukraine as genocide. Radio Liberty reported in mid-September 2003 that Russian officials had contacted officials at the Department of State and in Congress in an effort to block the passage of Senate Resolution 202, which was introduced by Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, co-chairman of the U.S. Helsinki Commission.

Contacted by Radio Liberty's Myroslava Gongadze, the press secretary of the Russian Embassy, Yevhen Khoryshko, stated: "We categorically disagree with this assessment of the famine in Ukraine of the 1930s." He continued: "Many aspects of the realization of the policies of the Soviet leadership of that time headed by Stalin were tragic for many peoples on the territory of the USSR, not only for Ukrainians, but also for Russians, Estonians, Chechens, Kazaks, Crimean Tatars and many others. In this case, American lawmakers are quite readily giving political assessments that have far-reaching consequences. This testifies to the lack of understanding on the part of American lawmakers of the juridical essence of the term 'genocide.' Again, I would like to underscore that the Russian side categorically disagrees with the evaluations contained in the American legislators' resolution."

Senate Resolution 202 - which carries the descriptive title "A resolution expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the genocidal Ukraine Famine of 1932-1933" - was introduced on July 28, 2003; as of September 21, 2003, it had eight co-sponsors. The resolution states that "the man-made Ukraine Famine of 1932-1933 was an act of genocide as defined by the United Nations Genocide Convention" and notes that "the United States Government's Commission on the Ukraine Famine concluded that former Soviet leader Joseph Stalin and his associates committed genocide against Ukrainians in 1932-1933, using food as a political weapon to achieve the aim of suppressing any Ukrainian expression of political and cultural identity and self-determination."

According to Helsinki Commission Staff Adviser Orest Deychakiwsky, "This resolution is important because it very directly and unambiguously characterizes the 1932-1933 Famine as a genocide. No previous resolution has done that."

The list of co-sponsors of S. Res. 202 has grown considerably since last year. Today it has the support of 33 senators from both sides of the political aisle.

The Famine-Genocide resolution was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations, chaired by Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), where it has been stalled since July 2003 - this despite the fact that 10 of the committee's 19 members are co-sponsors of the resolution.

Source: "Embassy of Russia works against Senate resolution on Famine-Genocide," The Ukrainian Weekly, September 21, 2003, Vol. LXXI, No. 38.

| Home Page |