Zuzak GRC Report; Wed., June 04, 2008

(1) Holodomor Flame:  
The tour of the Holodomor Flame across Canada and the United States is now history. Media reports and a photo gallery may be viewed at
http://www.ucc.ca/holodomor/flame/index.htm  for events in Canada and at
http://ucca.org/home/  for events in the United States.
The Flame is scheduled to pass through some 33 countries before touring Ukraine in October-November and culminating with ceremonies in Kyiv on 22Nov2008.

The tour culminated in Ottawa during the official state visit to Canada of the President of Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko, on 26May2008. As described in the UCC media release at
http://www.ucc.ca/media_releases/2008-05-28d/index.htm ,
the Parliament and Senate of Canada passed Bill C-459 to designate the Holodomor of 1932/33 as a genocide against the Ukrainian people and the fourth Saturday in November as Holodomor Memorial Day.

President Yushchenko subsequently visited Winnipeg on May 27 and Toronto on May 28, 2008. Excellent commentary on the visit is archived on the blog of Paulette MacQuarrie at
http://nashholos.blogspot.com/

(2) Holodomor Files:
Four articles have been archived this past month in the Holodomor files at
http://www.willzuzak.ca/tp/holodomor/holodomor.html
“World forgets, Canada remembers”, Toronto Sun, 01Jun2008; E. Margolis
“Solzhenitsyn's article in 31May2008 G&M”, [email protected], 31May2008; R. Serbyn
“The Ukrainian Holodomor - Was it a Genocide?”,  e-Poshta, 28May2008; A. Semotiuk
“British Ukrainophobia”, To David Miliband, 08May2008; S. Komarnyckyj

Eric Margolis commends the federal government for recognizing the Holodomor as a genocide and continues to criticize academics and governments for failure to recognize that the Communist crimes of Stalin surpass those of Hitler by at least a factor of four. The Holodomor files contain 3 more such articles by Mr. Margolis.

Roman Serbyn dissects Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s article denying the Holodomor and speculates as to the reasons the G&M published it. The 31May2008 issue of e-Poshta lists it as an “action item” and reproduces a series of letters and articles on this issue.

Legal expert Andriy Semotiuk dissects the Holodomor from a legal perspective. He demonstrates that all four constituent elements of the definition of genocide were present: the criminal act (Actus Reus), the intent to destroy (Mens Rea), a national, ethnic or religious group (Ukrainians), were (indeed) targeted for destruction. Conclusion: the Holodomor was an act of genocide against the Ukrainian people.

In his 08May2008 letter to David Miliband, Steve Komarnyckyj continues to lobby the British government to recognize the Holodomor as genocide:
http://www.holodomor.org.uk/

(3) Holodomor not in Toronto school curriculum:
Despite interventions by the Ukrainian community, on 02Jun2008 the Toronto School Board refused to include the Holodomor as a case study of genocide in the school curriculum. Their choice was the Armenian genocide of 1915, the Jewish Holocaust during WWII and the Rwandan genocide of 1994. Not a single genocide perpetrated by Communist regimes is included. 

(4) CHRC:
In his 19May2008 letter, Wallace Klinck commends Mark Milke for his article "Misreading John Stuart Mill" in the 16Apr2008 issue of the National Post, which criticizes former CHRC Commissioner, Maxwell Yalden, for supporting the suppression of free speech. Also, the article by David Warren in the 03May2008 issue of the Ottawa Citizen is reproduced:
http://www.willzuzak.ca/tp/chrc/chrc.html

(5) John Demjanjuk: 
“Court rejects case involving Nazi guard”, Washington Post, 19May2008; P. Yost
http://www.willzuzak.ca/fc/2001/2001.html
Efforts to deport John Demjanjuk from the United States continue.

Respectfully submitted
Will Zuzak,  2008-06-04