The right to life is the foremost and indispensable human right as defined by the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (ETS N°5, 1950).
During the Stalinist regime in the former Soviet Union, numerous human rights violations took place, depriving millions of people of their right to life. The most tragic example of these violations was the artificially created famine in Ukraine in 1932-33, known as the Holodomor.
This famine was the result of a deliberate attempt to physically eliminate those who opposed the repressive regime, and famine became a tool of oppression. According to estimates, in just one year, from 1932-33, Ukraine lost a quarter of its population, which equated to or exceeded the population of some modern European countries.
The Parliamentary Assembly in its Resolution 1723 (2010) has strongly condemned “the cruel policies pursued by the Stalinist regime” which triggered the Great Famine in 1929 in the grain-growing areas of the former Soviet Union, culminating in 1932-33.
United Nations, UNESCO, and the OSCE have expressed their position on the Holodomor. Moreover, the Holodomor in Ukraine in 1932-1933 was officially recognised as genocide of the Ukrainian people by 24 States and the European Parliament.
Given that the 90th anniversary of the Holodomor of 1932-1933 Ukraine commemorates in 2022-2023, it is time for the Assembly to establish the historical truth and to recognise this crime of the totalitarian communist regime as an act of genocide against the Ukrainian people.