MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on 90 years after the Holodomor: recognising the mass killing through starvation as genocide

12.12.2022 - (2022/3001(RSP))

to wind up the debate on the statement by the Commission
pursuant to Rule 132(2) of the Rules of Procedure

Petras Auštrevičius, Nicola Beer, Dita Charanzová, Katalin Cseh, Vlad Gheorghe, Nathalie Loiseau, Javier Nart, Urmas Paet, Michal Šimečka, Ramona Victoria Strugariu, Ioan Dragoş Tudorache
on behalf of the Renew Group

See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B9-0559/2022

B9‑0559/2022

European Parliament resolution on 90 years after the Holodomor: recognising the mass killing through starvation as genocide

(2022/3001(RSP))

The European Parliament,

– having regard to its previous resolution on Ukraine and Russia, in particular its resolution of 23 October 2008 on the commemoration of the Holodomor, the Ukraine artificial famine (1932-1933)[1],

– having regard to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms,

– having regard to the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other UN human rights treaties and instruments,

– having regard to the joint statements on anniversaries of the Holodomor adopted at the plenary sessions of the UN General Assembly,

– having regard to Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe resolution 1723 (2010) commemorating the victims of the Great Famine (Holodomor) in the former USSR,

– having regard to the Ukrainian Law of 28 November 2006 on the Holodomor in Ukraine of 1932-1933 and to the appeal by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on 16 November 2022 to international organisations and parliaments in countries around the world regarding the recognition of the Holodomor in Ukraine of 1932-1933 as genocide of the Ukrainian people,

– having regard to Rule 132(2) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas 2022 and 2023 mark the 90th anniversary of the Holodomor, the artificial famine of 1932-1933 in Ukraine;

B. whereas the UN Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide criminalises a number of acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group: killing members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; and forcibly transferring children of the group to another group;

 

C. whereas the Holodomor famine of 1932-1933, which caused the deaths of millions of Ukrainians, was cynically planned and cruelly implemented by Stalin’s regime in order to force through the Soviet Union’s policy of collectivisation of agriculture and to suppress the Ukrainian people;

D. whereas evidence shows that the Soviet Government deliberately confiscated grain harvests and sealed the borders to prevent Ukrainians from escaping from starvation; whereas in 1932 and1933 the Soviet Union exported grain from the territory of Ukraine while people there were starving;

E. whereas by December 2022 the parliaments or other representative state-level institutions of over 20 countries had recognised the Holodomor as genocide or as a crime against the Ukrainian people and against humanity;

1. Recognises the Holodomor, the artificial famine of 1932-1933 in Ukraine caused by a deliberate policy of the Soviet regime, as genocide against the Ukrainian people;

2. Strongly condemns these acts of the totalitarian Soviet regime, which resulted in the death of millions of Ukrainians and significantly harmed the foundations of Ukrainian society;

3. Expresses its solidarity with the Ukrainian people and pays its respects to those who died as a consequence of the artificial famine orchestrated by Stalin’s regime and to their survivors;

4. Calls on all countries, especially the Russian Federation and the other countries which emerged following the break-up of the Soviet Union, to open up their archives on the artificial famine of 1932-1933 in Ukraine;

5. Calls on the EU Member States and third countries to promote awareness about these events and other crimes committed by the Soviet regime by incorporating historical knowledge about them into educational and research programmes in order to try to prevent similar tragedies in the future;

6. Deplores the fact that the 90th anniversary of the Holodomor is taking place while Russia continues its war of aggression against Ukraine, violates the sovereignty and territorial integrity of that country and seeks to liquidate Ukraine as a nation state and destroy the identity and culture of its people; condemns, moreover, the fact that Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has created a global food crisis, with Russia destroying and looting Ukraine’s grain stores and continuing to make it difficult for Ukraine to export grain to the most deprived countries;

7. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Verkhovna Rada, the President and Government of Ukraine, the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the Council, the Commission, the governments and parliaments of the Member States, the President, Government and Parliament of the Russian Federation, the Secretary-General of the UN, the Secretary-General of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe.

• [1] OJ C 15E, 21.1.2010, p. 78.