EDITORIAL: Famine resolutions in Congress (08/10/03)

EDITORIAL

Famine resolutions in Congress

On the front page of this issue, readers will note a news story about two separate resolutions introduced in late July in the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Famine in Ukraine in which a quarter of the country's rural population was intentionally killed. Both measures call for remembrance of the victims, condemnation of brutal Soviet policies, and dissemination of information and knowledge about the Famine of 1932-1933.

It must be underscored that both resolutions refer to the Famine as a genocide, as both cite the 1988 report of the U.S. Commission on the Ukraine Famine which concluded that Stalin and his cohorts had "committed genocide against Ukrainians in 1932-1933."

It is most significant, however, that the Senate resolution states that "the man-made Ukraine famine of 1932-33 was an act of genocide as defined by the United Nations Genocide Convention." Adopted in 1948 by the U.N. General Assembly, the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide defines genocide as "any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, such as: a) killing members of the group; b) causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; c) deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; d) imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; e) forcibly transferring children of the group to another group."

Both the House and Senate resolutions also refer to Stalin's and subsequent Soviet leaders' massive cover-up of the forced Famine. As well, they cite the role of Western correspondents of the time. The House resolution cites the courage of Gareth Jones, William Henry Chamberlin and Malcolm Muggeridge in reporting the Famine - and that fact they "were disparaged and criticized" for doing so. The Senate resolution points out that "some foreign correspondents cooperated with the campaign of denial and deception" - a reference to, among others, the infamous Walter Duranty.

In introducing the Senate Resolution, Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell delivered an eloquent statement in which he said: "The Ukraine Famine was not the result of drought or some other natural calamity, but of Soviet dictator Stalin's utterly inhumane, coldly calculated policy to suppress the Ukrainian people and destroy their human, cultural and political rights. It was the result of purposeful starvation." He described the purpose of his resolution as not only commemorating "millions of innocent victims," but also focusing "international attention to one of the 20th century's most appalling atrocities."

But why two resolutions? Each stands on its own as an expression of the sense of the U.S. Congress that the Famine must be remembered and that knowledge of this crime against humanity is key to assuring that such genocidal acts never recur.

So, in the end, dear readers, we and you should strongly support both resolutions and urge our senators and representatives to do so. For, as Sen. Campbell noted, " It is vital that the world not forget the Ukraine Famine, honor its victims, and reiterate our support for Ukraine's independence and democratic development as the best assurance that atrocities such as the famine become truly unimaginable."

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