Andrii Sybiha honours the memory of Raphael Lemkin at his grave in New York

During his visit to the United States, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha commemorated Raphael Lemkin by visiting his grave in New York.

‘While in New York, along with Permanent Representative Andrii Melnyk, I honoured the memory of Raphael Lemkin, an outstanding lawyer, one of the founding fathers of the modern system of international criminal law and the author of the term “genocide”,’ Sybiha wrote on his Facebook page.

In his post, he recalled Lemkin’s connection to Ukraine, his role in creating the UN Convention on the Prevention of Genocide, citing opinions on the significance of continuing the fight to bring those guilty of international crimes to justice:

“Lemkin’s fate is closely connected with Ukraine. In the 1920s, he studied in Lviv and received a second degree in law, which became the basis for his future work.

After the end of World War II, Raphael Lemkin initiated the adoption of the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948).

Remarkably, Lemkin was one of the first in the world to recognise the crimes of Stalin’s communist regime against Ukrainians as an act of genocide in his works. In his 1953 address, ‘Soviet Genocide in Ukraine,’ he directly called the Holodomor of 1932–1933 a crime of genocide aimed at destroying the Ukrainian nation.

We are grateful to Lemkin for his foresight and moral courage. His voice in defence of Ukraine in the 20th century remains a guiding light for all of us in the fight for justice.

It is especially significant now, as we work to hold the aggressor state and Russian criminals accountable for international crimes, including genocide.

Lemkin’s name was mentioned this week at the UN Headquarters during the high-level segment. At one of the events dedicated to achieving justice for Russian crimes, I mentioned in my speech that when Lemkin began working on introducing the term ‘genocide’ and preparing the relevant convention, he also had to overcome much scepticism. It was complicated work. But he worked persistently and tirelessly, and ultimately achieved his goal.

We must be just as tireless to bring justice to the end, step by step, and punish Russia and the Russians for everything they have done. And we will definitely achieve this, with our partners and friends in this cause.”