Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations

Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations

Statement by the Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations Ambassador Vitaly Churkin at the conference “Why have we failed in preventing genocides and how to change that?”

Ladies and Gentlemen,

First, I would like to thank Ambassador Winid for gathering us here for this important purpose. The topic of the conference is especially significant this year when we commemorate the 70-th anniversary of victory over Nazism.

Recently we marked the centennial of the start of World War I. Tragically, the shock and horror of that war did not prove enough to prevent another global calamity. A terrible force devoid of humanity, real machine of death emerged in the middle of the 20th century in the heart of Europe and struck with unimaginable ferocity. The continent that centuries earlier had passed through the fires of Inquisition to Enlightenment, rolled back to the theories of racial and ethnic superiority, the ideas of "liberation of living space" at the expense of the territories of the so-called "inferior races". Millions of innocent people of various ethnicities fell victim of heinous war crimes and crimes against humanity which were committed by the Nazis. What is especially striking - that regime came to power through what looked like democratic elections.

Concentration camps were a part of the Nazi official state policy. Approximately a million and a half martyrs were prisoners in Auschwitz alone. On the 27th of January we mark the day when the Red Army of the Soviet Union liberated this largest Nazi death-camp 70 years ago.

It was the First Ukrainian Front of the Red Army whose soldiers opened the gates of Auschwitz. It was called the Ukrainian Front because it liberated Ukraine from Nazis before fighting its way to Poland. As all the other parts of the Red Army it was multiethnic-composed of Russians, Ukrainians, Belorussians, Georgians, Armenians, Azeris, people from Central Asia – you name it. All of the over 100 ethnic groups of the Soviet Union.

Ambassador Winid, please, explain that to your Foreign Minister, who has made a rather bizarre statement on this subject. I'm sure, he didn't want to offend all those people.

We must remember that the Victory over Nazism was gained at the cost of immense sacrifice. We must always honour the memory of the victims of Holocaust and all people who died during this devastating war including those who were brutally murdered by the Nazis in Auschwitz and those who lost their lives liberating them. Preservation of the Auschwitz memorial which we continuously support is an important feature for this cause.

But Auschwitz was far from being unique. We all remember the level of Nazi atrocities in Buchenwald, Dachau, Ravensbruck and other labor and extermination camps.

According to the Encyclopedia of Genocide published in 1999 "a gross estimate of the results of Nazi genocide against the Slavs comes to somewhere between 15,5 and 19,5 million in the USSR, between 19,7 and 23,9 million when the Poles, Slovenes, Serbs and others are added in".

Nazi doctrine planned the creation of a "living space" in the territory of the USSR for Hitler's so called Aryan "master race". Other races living there including Russians, Ukrainians and Jews were to be eliminated or enslaved.

Both civilian population and prisoners of war were subject to extreme brutality by Nazis and their collaborators.

Around 100 thousand Poles were massacred in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia in Nazi occupied Poland. Polish historians calculated that 135 sadistic methods were used to kill innocent people.

Terrible mass execution happened in Khatyn, where entire population of that Byelorussian village was massacred thus becoming a symbol of all the towns and villages in Belarus burned down by the Nazis. Belarus lost a quarter of its population.

Another horrifying example is Babiy Yar - a site in Kiev where the Nazis and their local supporters exterminated close to 150 thousand Jews, Soviet prisoners of war and others.

Overall the Soviet Union sacrificed well over 20 million people to the defeat of Nazism – over a half of them were civilians.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The Great Victory over fascism 70 years ago united the whole world. Political and legal framework established after the Second World War, especially with the creation of the United Nations and the conclusions of the Nuremberg Tribunal, raised hopes that mankind has finally learned its lessons.

After that Victory a new system of relations between States based on the rules and principles of international law was created. Maintenance of international peace and security, prevention and peaceful settlement of conflicts became our utmost priorities.

Nazi crimes including persecution on racial and religious grounds, murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation and other inhumane acts committed against civilian population were condemned by the Nuremberg Tribunal. The outcome of the trials against the Nazis set the tone for the development of the entire international criminal justice. Confronting genocide is one of its elements.

Following Nuremberg further vital instruments were developed, notably the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide of 1948.

It is thus clear that uncompromising rejection and condemnation of Nazi crimes and firm resistance to any signs of their revival is a fundamental precondition for success and stability of the new system we created. Without meeting this precondition it is impossible to ensure that other theories of national superiority and ethnic-based intolerance will never again bring death and sufferings to innocent people elsewhere. A million human lives lost in genocide in Rwanda is a powerful reminder of that.

Unfortunately, as we witness today, the immunity to the virus of fascism, which mankind seemed to have acquired, becomes weaker. Despite the shocking figures of victims of genocide we are encountering marching veterans of the Waffen-SS through European cities which the Nazis were hell-bent to destroy. Nazi past is being glorified, neo-Nazism is on the rise.

The UN General Assembly has repeatedly drawn attention to this situation by adopting a resolution on combating glorification of Nazism, neo-Nazism and other practices that contribute to the escalation of contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. But this call, improbably, has not been unanimous. We therefore urge all states to promote and implement the provisions of that resolution and further strengthen their commitments. We will continue to present this resolution in the future. It is a paramount moral obligation of the international community to rally around it.

It is also extremely important to continue the practice of commemorating the end of the Second World War in the UN General Assembly. In 2010 the General Assembly resolution on the 65thanniversary of this historic event received very wide cosponsorship of the Member States.

We call on delegations to firmly support and cosponsor a similar resolution in 2015.

Our shared duty to the victims of genocide and to the future generations is to protect the truth about the Second World War. Now in the 21st century we need to stay firm to break the vicious circle and to ensure that the tragedies of that war are never repeated.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

New century poses new threats and challenges, including terrorism. In the Middle East ruthless extremists from ISIL and other terrorist groups are trying to eliminate communities of Christians, yazidis and others. Just like the Nazis the terrorists breed ethnic violence, neglect human life, despise humanistic values. And just like in case with the Nazis, there cannot be good or bad terrorists. Double standards are deadly dangerous to our civilization. It is vital for the decision-makers all over the world to remember that attempts to achieve geopolitical goals by whatever means may lead to tragic consequences. No nation can be immune or afford to be indifferent.