A Declaration on the occasion of the 85th anniversary of the Holodomor was sent to UN
On December 7, 2018, on the initiative of Ukraine, a group of 38 member-states of the United Nations sent a Declaration to the General Secretary of the Organization on the occasion of the 85th anniversary of the Holodomor in 1932-1933 in Ukraine.
The document was supported by delegations from Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Portugal, Slovenia, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the United States of America, Ukraine, Finland, France, Croatia, Montenegro, Czech Republic, Chile, Switzerland, Sweden, and Estonia.
UN members honor the victims of the Holodomor, the genocide of the Ukrainian nation, condemn the policies of the Stalinist regime, and encourage governments to open their archives for free access.
We offer you to familiarize yourself with the full text of the Declaration, published by Ukrinform.
DECLARATION on the occasion of the eighty-fifth anniversary of the Holodomor of 1932-1933 in Ukraine
Delegations of Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Hungary, Germany, Georgia, Denmark, Israel, Ireland, Iceland, Spain, Canada, Latvia, Lithuania, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Moldova, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal Slovenia, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the United States of America, Ukraine, Finland, France, Croatia, Montenegro, Czech Republic, Chile, Switzerland, Sweden and Estonia solemnly declare,
guided by the principles embodied in the Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights as well as in other relevant international human rights documents that claim the right to live, liberty and security of person,
reaffirming the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which, inter alia, proclaims that every person has the right to have the standard of living necessary to maintain the health and well-being of himself and his family, including food,
realizing that the Great Famine of 1932-1933 in Ukraine (the Holodomor) took away the lives of millions of innocent people,
convinced that the tragedy of the Holodomor should serve for present and future generations to remind of the need for unconditional respect for human rights, including the right to live, in order to prevent the repetition of such tragedies,
referring in this connection to the joint statement on the occasion of the seventy anniversary of the Holodomor of 1932-1933 in Ukraine on 7 November 2003 (A / C.3 / 58/9 and Add.1), which recognized the Holodomor as a national tragedy of the Ukrainian people, caused by the brutal actions and policies of the totalitarian regime, the declaration on the occasion of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the 1932-1933 Holodomor in Ukraine on December 16, 2008 (A / 63/613 and Annex) and a joint statement on the occasion of the eightieth anniversary of the Holodomor of 1932-1933 in Ukraine, dated December 9, 2013 (A / 68/655 and Annex), commemorating Holodomor victims,
recalling the resolution on commemorating the victims of the Great Famine (Holodomor) in Ukraine in 1932-1933, accepted on 1 November 2007 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO),
recognizing the importance of raising public awareness of these tragic events in the history of mankind as well as strengthening the rule of law and observance of human rights and fundamental freedoms in order to prevent such humanitarian tragedies in the future:
1. Honor the memory of the victims of the Holodomor of 1932-1933 in Ukraine – an artificially-induced fatal famine that took the lives of millions of Ukrainians, including representatives of other nationalities, who then lived in Ukraine;
2. Condemn the brutal policies of the Stalinist regime, including the forced collectivization and confiscation of food supplies, which led to the death of a large part of the Ukrainian people;
3. Give tribute to the millions of representatives of other nationalities who have died from hunger and political repressions in other parts of the former Soviet Union;
4. Welcomes the efforts of Governments to open up their archival datas on the events of 1932-1933 in order to tell the whole truth about this tragedy and to raise awareness of society at both national and international levels in order to ensure the disclosure of historical truth and understanding of the causes and consequences of the tragedy;
5. Emphasize that the memory of the horrors and atrocities of the past must reinforce the efforts of the international community to ensure unconditional respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms throughout the world;
6. Welcome the initiative of Ukraine to organize commemorative events on the occasion of the eighty-fifth anniversary of the Holodomor of 1932-1933 in Ukraine;
7. Welcomes the efforts of Member States that have recognized the Great Famine of 1932-1933 in Ukraine (the Holodomor) as artificially-induced fatal famine and urges Member States to promote the dissemination of information on the Holodomor of 1932-1933 in Ukraine as one of the tragic pages in the world history.