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Belated Triumph Of Holodomor Victims

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  • Belated Triumph Of Holodomor Victims

    BELATED TRIUMPH OF HOLODOMOR VICTIMS
    By Charles Tannock

    http://day.kiev.ua/255928/
    Tuesday, 28 October 2008

    Ukraine confronting its terrible past with Europe's help

    The European Union is founded on reconciliation, the belief that we can
    create a better future by acknowledging our past in all its brutality.

    Germany has justly acknowledged and is trying to atone for the
    indescribable atrocities of the Nazi era and the Holocaust. Greece,
    Spain, and Portugal peacefully turned their back on their right-wing
    dictatorial regimes and met their future as democratic countries within
    the EU. The newer EU member states are seeking their own paths to truth
    and reconciliation through a sincere and uncompromising analysis of
    their totalitarian pasts.

    However, some countries are still trying to hide from their own
    histories.

    Despite its status as an EU candidate state, Turkey still denies
    the Armenian genocide that was committed under cover of the First
    World War.

    Russia has also failed to come to terms with the brutality of Stalin's
    communist dictatorial regime.

    Since gaining its independence in 1991, Ukraine has constantly
    striven to inform the world community about the famine of 1932-1933,
    which was intentionally planned by Stalin and is known to us by the
    Ukrainian word Holodomor. The European Parliament has now recognized
    the Holodomor as an immense tragedy in the history of humankind. As an
    old friend of Ukraine and the co-author of the European Parliament's
    resolution, I sincerely rejoice over this important and deeply
    symbolic event.

    The goal of our resolution is to express our indignation concerning
    the Holodomor. The resolution reflects our determination to honor
    the memory of the millions of victims of the Holodomor, some of
    whom are still alive and can share their stories. Their testimonies
    are extremely important because these people will soon pass into
    history. It is only by reminding ourselves about such heinous crimes
    against humanity that we can ensure they will never happen again.

    This resolution does not contain the word 'genocide' because other
    political groups -- mostly communists -- think that the strict
    definition of this term should not be applied to the Holodomor. They
    claim that genocide as a term was defined in international legislation
    only after the Second World War. However, I suspect that their real
    reason is a desire to pacify modern-day Russia, which fears that
    compensation claims may be lodged against it.

    After all, the argument over genocide is not worth risking the
    resolution in general. It is much more important to have serious
    support from all political groups. But no one should attempt
    to belittle the unimaginable sufferings that were inflicted upon
    Ukraine. No word or words can properly describe the atrocity of the
    Holodomor. What is important is not so much the text we use but
    the sentiments we express -- solidarity with Ukraine on the 75th
    anniversary of the cruelties that were perpetrated against its people.

    The lesson that we should learn from history is the importance of
    having solid international legislation and judicial structures if we
    want the perpetrators of such crimes to be punished. This process
    was launched in Nuremberg. The tribunal on the former Yugoslavia,
    which will soon consider Radovan Karadzic's case, shows that these
    principles are more important than ever.

    This week the European Parliament declared its resolute support
    for trying Joseph Kony, the leader of the Lord's Resistance Army of
    Uganda, in the International Criminal Court. Tyrants who resort to
    mass killings and destruction should have no place to hide.

    The Orange Revolution led by President Viktor Yushchenko embodied
    Ukraine's struggle for liberation from Russia's influence, and it
    propelled Ukraine on its independent way of development based on
    shared European values. This resolution is the belated triumph of
    the Holodomor victims whose voices were lost on the paths of history.

    This is also a victory for President Yushchenko. In my opinion,
    many of the political misunderstandings in Ukraine can be explained
    by the scale of suffering that this nation has gone through. This
    bloody event had an impact on Ukraine's confidence in itself and
    on stability in this country, which has been making its way in the
    post-Soviet world. President Yush­chenko is absolutely right in saying
    that Ukraine must acknowledge its past in order to build a better,
    stabler, and more prosperous future. By acknowledging the Holodomor,
    the European Parliament supports the position advocated by President
    Yush­chenko.

    Ukraine has borne much grief throughout its history. I hope that
    the next stage in that history involves a sovereign and independent
    Ukraine rightly taking its place in the not-too-distant future as a
    full member of the EU.

    After the Georgia crisis there can be no doubts that many Russian
    nationalists would like to redraw the borderlines that were established
    after the breakup of the Soviet Union. However, EU membership
    will help Ukraine protect itself against any interference with its
    domestic affairs on the part of its big neighbor. Russia simply needs
    to get accustomed to a sovereign and independent Ukraine that can
    independently decide on its future in the European family of nations.

    Dr. Charles Tannock (b. 1957) is a British psychiatrist. He has
    been a member of the European Parliament since 1999 and is the
    vice-president of the EU-Ukraine PCC delegation and a member of
    the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee. Tannock is the
    co-author of the resolution commemorating the Holodomor, the 1932-1933
    man-made famine in Ukraine, and a member of the European People's
    Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats. He is the author
    of numerous publications on psychiatry. Tannock was a Councilor in
    his local Earls Court ward in 1999-2000.

    --Boundary_(ID_swsODygO+S1ZL2qLOmhD1g) --
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