Yushchenko appeals to Rada to pass bill on Famine-Genocide (11/19/06)

Yushchenko appeals to Rada to pass bill on Famine-Genocide

KYIV - President Viktor Yushchenko on Thursday, November 16, called on the Verkhovna Rada to vote for his bill on the Famine-Genocide of 1932-1933, which would recognize the Holodomor as a genocide via Ukrainian law.

"To restore historical justice, and morally and spiritually heal the Ukrainian nation, I urge Ukraine's national deputies to approve this bill," he wrote in a letter to the Parliament.

According to the Official Website of the President of Ukraine, the president argued that Ukrainian political leaders, including the country's three presidents, as well as the majority of its people believe the Holodomor was genocide. "Now our society expects Parliament to legalize the will of the people," Mr. Yushchenko wrote.

The president noted that Ukrainians should find the courage to recognize and persuade others to recognize that the Ukrainian nation was a victim of an atrocious crime that must never again be committed.

"We must realize that most Ukrainians are the descendants of those who lived in those dreadful years," Mr. Yushchenko said, adding that if not for this genocide "there would be many more of us today."

The Terror-Famine, Mr. Yushchenko said, was "a crime of Stalinism that demoralized entire generations of Ukrainians" and "its consequences are felt even today."

"By adopting this law we will repay a partial debt to our ancestors and we will bring justice to the millions of our innocent countrymen, our citizens, who lived through this horrible tragedy," he wrote in his appeal to national deputies.

The president noted that the Ukrainian government on several occasions had characterized the Famine as a genocide - in public appearances by its presidents as well as in resolutions of the Verkhovna Rada.

He also pointed out that 10 states around the globe have recognized the Holodomor as genocide and that more than 50 member-states of the United Nations signed a statement that condemned the murderous acts of the Stalin regime that resulted in the deaths of 7 million to 10 million in the Famine.

The president introduced his bill "On the Holodomor of 1932-1933 in Ukraine" on November 2.

In accordance with a presidential decree, Ukraine will observe a nationwide Day of Memory for Victims of Famines and Political Repressions on November 25.

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