Holodomor motion passed in the Australian Senate

At the instigation of Senator Catryna Bilyk, the following motion was passed in the Australian Senate on 4^th December 2013.

 

 

 

 

That the Senate:

a)     notes that 2013 is the eightieth anniversary of Holodomor, an enforced famine in Ukraine caused by the deliberate actions of Stalin’s Communist Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics [USSR];

b)     recalls that it is estimated up to seven million Ukrainians starved to death as a result of Stalin’s policies in 1932 to 1933 alone;

c)     condemns these acts aimed at destroying the national, cultural, religious and democratic aspirations of the Ukrainian people;

d)     condemns all similar acts during the twentieth century as the ultimate manifestations of racial, ethnic or religious hatred and violence;

e)     honours the memory of those who lost their lives during Holodomor;

f)      resolves to annually mark Holodomor on or about the international ‘Holodomor Remembrance Day’, being 24 November;

g)     joins the Ukrainian Australian community and the international community in commemorating this tragic milestone; and

h)     Recognises the importance of remembering and learning from such dark chapters in human history to ensure that such crimes against humanity are not allowed to be repeated.