Violation of The Human Rights In Ukraine

As some of you know, Ukraine is suppose to sign the Accosiation Agreement with the Europian Union in Nowember. I do hope that the President will do the whole set of assignments (the main is to set his main opponent !ulia "imoshenko free#. $uch cooperation will open for the Ukrainians the new perspecti%e. &et me apply a parallel' the man is what the European policy is aimed at. In Ukraine high ranking people are rather to get the power and try to keep it. "he delegates do not mind to impro%e the li%ing standards, but to ha%e e(cess to the national incomes what enable them to steal the money. )f course, you will not find ob%ious e%idence of such cases. $uch a policy is immanent to some post $o%iet countries, which do not ha%e a chance to futher de%elopment. "hroughout the history *ussia was always tending to gain the control o%er Ukraine. E%en now being independent, we are still under the pressure and control of *ussia. +oreo%er, we used to learn the history in a wrong way, the way, which is comfortable for *ussia and which do not co%er the true facts. All the branches of our state system are spoilt. (!ust to let you know' we pay a huge sum of ta(es what should enable us do not pay for the health care treatment, kindergartens, schools, partially uni%ersities and benefit from the social protection. -ut in the real life we must pay twice' the ta( and the bribe#. &ets start from the %ery beginning' "here is no fair .uridical system. "he only rule is' who has the money that always wins. "here is no chance to fight for your own rights in the court of .ustice. "here is selecti%e .ustice (a bright e(ample is /ulia "ymochenko case#. 0orruption takes place in all the branches. -ecause of the huge sum of ta(es, medicine should be free of charge. -ut in a real life we need to pay a lot to be treated. "here are no inno%ations in our medical system, new technologies are used only in the pri%ate clinics. "hat is why the death rate is so high. "here is corruption in the police system. "he police do not protect but terrori1e the people. "he innocent could be blamed. "here is no social protection for disabled people, pensioners and the unemployed. 2inancial aid hardly co%ers the rent and the food e(penses. $uch people e(ist but do not li%e. "here is a significant lack of places in the kindergardens. Parents must pay a lot of money e%ery month so that their children could ha%e a place there. -ut why should we pay if it is free of charge3

 "he methods of teaching and materials at schools and uni%ersities are outdated. "here is a huge lack of tutorials and te(tbooks, what badly effects the education system. "he salary rate in the Ukraine is e(tremely low. In Europe a person with the same 4ualification at the workplace is paid ten times more. +arket economy, that is typical for europinian countries, is only arising in the Ukraine. "here is no middle class in the hierarchy but a huge gap between poor and rich people. I dare to say there is power usurpation. /anuko%ych, who lost an election after the )range *e%olution in 5667, gain the power in 5686 using falsification. In order to win elections in 5687, he eliminates his opponents (/ulia "ymochenko case#. I dare to say that the President is afraid to lost his power and answer for his all illegal deeds. "here is so much to be said and e%en more to be done. "he people belie%e that the Accosiation Agreement with the Europian Union is the first step to the progress, democracy, transparent politics, market economy and cooperation with the Europe. "his process will last a few years or e%er decades, but our aspiration and patriotism are huge9

The Holodomor as Genocide: The Tragedy of Ukrainian Peasants

American lawyer $amuel "otten and Australian historian Paul *. -artrop write in their recently published book :enocide $tudies *eader that up to ; million peasants, mostly ethnic Ukrainians, were star%ed to death in 8<=5>== in Ukraine. "he man made so%iet famine happened because $talin?s go%ernment e(propriated the region@s entire crop and e%en means of producing foods. "he huge number of deaths was the result of ideologically moti%ated destruction of Ukrainian society. "he authors come to the conclusion that the mass murder of people by the so%iet regime fits e%en the strictest definition of genocide and place the 8<=5>== Aolodomor in Ukraine among the three most significant such acts against humanity in the first half of the 56th century > together with the Armenian genocide and the Aolocaust. )f the points included in the UN 0on%ention on the Pre%ention and Punishment of the 0rime of :enocide (8<BC# and the *ome $tatute of the International 0riminal 0ourt (8<<C# on genocidal acts, the one that is most fre4uently applied to the Aolodomor is Ddeliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.E In the Elements of 0rime, also used by the I00 as a source of law, the following components are singled out in this criminal act' 8. "he perpetrator inflicted certain conditions of life upon one or more persons. 5. $uch person or persons belonged to a particular national, ethnical, racial or religious group. =. "he perpetrator intended to destroy, in whole or in part, that national, ethnic, racial or religious group, as such. B. "he conditions of life were calculated to bring about the physical destruction of that group, in whole or in part. 7. "he conduct took place in the conte(t of a manifest pattern of similar conduct directed against that group or was conduct that could itself bring about such destruction. Each of the abo%e elements of genocide can be identified in the 8<=5 == Aolodomor in Ukraine. "his action was first aimed against peasants, most of whom were Ukrainians, and this leads to the second element of the crime of genocide F that such persons belonged to a particular national, ethnical, racial or religious group. An essential part of the nation was targeted, and because the Ukraini1ation of the early 8<=6s reached a le%el, which the -olshe%ik leaders considered dangerous, they decided to destroy or at least undermine the spirit of this segment of the Ukrainian people. "he regulation of 8<=5 clearly shows

that the go%ernment was frightened by the possible results of ukraini1ation, which had surpassed the DallowedE boundaries, and this shows a direct link between its results and the grain e(propriation policy. $uch policy became a method for crushing social and national resistance. "he third element of genocide F the criminal intention to destroy, in whole or in part, that national, ethnic, racial or religious group, as such F can also be clearly seen in the 8<=5 == Aolodomor. )f course, such an antihuman go%ernment as the so%iet one did not emphasi1e in any document its plans to star%e millions of Ukrainian peasants to death. Aowe%er, the International 0riminal 0ourt notes that a conclusion about the genocidal intent and knowing participation may be seen from facts and circumstances. In other words, genocidal intent does not necessarily ha%e to be fi(ed in documents or e(pressed in public speeches. +oreo%er there is a number of documents that confirm the go%ernment@s awareness of the horrible condition of Ukrainian peasants. Gispatches of foreign consuls and reports of the :PU?s secret agents in the Ukrainian $$* describing the famine in %arious regions of Ukraine were published. "here is an abundance of e%idence that the go%ernment knew about the murderous famine. "he fourth element of the crime of genocide is that the conditions of life were calculated to bring about the physical destruction of the group, in whole or in part. $tanisla% Hosior and Ilas 0hubar, among others, were granted the right to suspend product deli%eries to Ukrainian %illages. "his regulation dealt only with the Ukrainian %illages. Among actions aimed at the physical destruction of their residents were the so called Dblack boardsE introduced also specifically in regions populated by Ukrainians. All in all, collecti%e farms in C5 districts of Ukraine were put on the black boards, this accounted for nearly one fourth of Ukraine?s territory, which held a population of fi%e million people. "he -olshe%iks put military units around such %illages and remo%ed all food and seed reser%es from them, while at the same time banning trade and blocking any products from being brought in. In other words, being on the black board spelled death by famine. "he fifth element' the Aolodomor was organi1ed as one of a series of crimes aimed at the destruction, in whole or in part, of the Ukrainian nation. *afael &emkin, who in%ented the term genocide, wrote in his article $o%iet :enocide in Ukraine that the -olshe%iks in the Ukrainian $$* took four steps to destroy the Ukrainian nation' destroying 8# the intelligentsia (well educated people#, 5# the national churches, =# a significant part of the Ukrainian peasantry, and B# Dthe fragmentation of the Ukrainian people at once by the addition to the Ukraine of foreign peoples and by the dispersion of Ukrainians throughout Eastern Europe.E All four stages of this destruction were nationally moti%ated, &emkin wrote, because the main %ictims of the genocide, Ukrainian peasants who were star%ed to death, were Dthe centre of the tradition, folklore and music, the national language and literature, the national spirit, of Ukraine.E

2rom the abo%e we can see that the 8<=5 == Aolodomor in Ukraine contains all fi%e elements of the crime of genocide. $talin destroyed a whole people not for the industriali1ation of the $o%iet Ukraine but rather to destroy the %ery soul of the Ukrainian people. "he present time' the greatest triumph of Iiktor /ushchenko?s presidency was the proclamation that the Aolodomor was genocide. "his not only allowed the spread of Aolodomor education but also the legacy of the Aolodomor to become part of Ukraine?s national memory. )ur great gratitude to the $tanford Uni%ersity Professor Norman +. Naimark, who made a %ast research work and published the books $talin?s :enocide (Princeton Uni%ersity Press, 5686#. 2or today such countries as U$A, 0anada, Australia, Poland, $pain, Italy, 01ech *epublic and some others accept the Aolodomor 8<=5 == to be a :enocide . "he *ussian 2ederation accepts historic information about the Aolodomor but re.ects the argument that it was ethnic genocide by pointing out the fact that millions of non Ukrainian $o%iet citi1ens also died because of the famine.