UNGA Third Committee

Statement on agenda item 71 (а, b): Elimination of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related intolerance

delivered by Deputy Permanent Representative of Ukraine 

Khrystyna Hayovyshyn

 

5 November 2024

Mr. Chair,

Ukraine aligns with the Statement delivered by the Delegation of the European Union and would like to make some remarks in national capacity.

We resolutely condemn all forms of racism and intolerance. Ukraine remains firmly committed to combating racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related forms of intolerance. As a party to the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, we believe that the standards provided by the Convention, as well as other human rights instruments, offer a robust and enduring international framework for our joint fight against racism, xenophobia, and related intolerance.

Legislation of Ukraine guarantees full respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms and ensures equality in political, economic, social, cultural, and other spheres of public life for all citizens without distinction of race, color, national, or ethnic origin. The National Human Rights Strategy has been in place since 2021 to strengthen collaboration between the government and civil society in advancing human rights and freedoms based on equality and non-discrimination.

Mr. Chair,

Despite the progress made in the global fight against racism and racial discrimination in recent decades, their manifestations still occur widely across the world. Crimes against humanity and the persecution of people persist, with intolerance and discrimination leading to violence and devastating conflicts.

The Russian Federation's manipulative justification of its war of aggression against Ukraine under the pretext of fighting neo-Nazism is an alarming example.

In its recent report, the International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine revealed Russia’s so-called denazification policy towards Ukraine. This policy is chillingly conveyed in brochures distributed to Russian soldiers before or during their deployment to Ukraine, with the message, and I quote: “Someday, after denazification, they will become Russians again, but for now they are enemies.” End quote. In essence, this rhetoric boils down to the slogan: “our goal is to make Ukrainians Russians again.” With this in mind, they are re-educating and indoctrinating Ukrainian children—those deported or trapped in the occupied territories—to make them “real Russians.” If this is not a clear manifestation of colonial and imperialistic chauvinism, reflecting the very ideology of Nazism, then what is? It is therefore so alarming not only for Ukraine but for the entire international community and we urge an expert assessment of this.

For almost 1000 days, and in fact for almost 11 years, under the pretext of combating neo-Nazism in Ukraine, the Russian Federation has continued to violate international humanitarian law and international human rights law through deliberate and indiscriminate attacks on civilians and critical civilian infrastructure, summary executions and torture of Ukrainian POWs and forcible deportation of Ukrainians, including children. Russian propaganda has actively promoted hatred and violence against Ukrainians, with the Kremlin regime consistently conditioning Russians to view genocide as normal and acceptable. This is evidenced by the Russian President's repeated assertions that Ukraine doesn't exist, as well as the widespread dissemination of such views through Russian state media.

The Delegation of Ukraine therefore calls on the entire UN community to condemn these actions and urges to pay a very particular attention to the most dangerous manifestation of contemporary neo-Nazism, which is “Russism” meaning Russian fascism.

Early this year, the UN International Court of Justice ruled that the Russian Federation violated the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination due to the discriminatory management of the education system in Crimea since 2014, which resulted in the near-total elimination of school education in the Ukrainian language, as well as the continued ban on the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people.

This highlights the pressing need for a thorough evaluation of the effectiveness of existing mechanisms and instruments for the elimination of racism, with the primary goal of preventing further manipulation and abuse in this area. A better solution would be to direct existing resources to support concrete measures to fight racism and all forms of discrimination on the ground.

 Thank you.