VZCZCXRO7682
PP RUEHLN RUEHPOD RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHMO #2689 2521407
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 081407Z SEP 08
FM AMEMBASSY MOSCOW
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9891
INFO RUEHXD/MOSCOW POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0443

UNCLAS MOSCOW 002689 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV PREL UN UK RS
SUBJECT: RUSSIA WILL ATTEMPT TO BLOCK UKRAINIAN RESOLUTION 
ON HOLODOMOR AT UNGA THIRD COMMITTEE 
 
REF: A. STATE 93981 
     ¶B. 07 MOSCOW 5146 
 
¶1. (SBU) We delivered demarche on the U.S.'s human rights 
priorities at the UNGA Third Committee on September 5 to MFA 
Department for Humanitarian Cooperation and Human Rights 
First Secretary Aleksey Goltyayev, who told us that Russia 
would continue to oppose country specific human rights 
resolutions (ref A).  He reiterated that the GOR was against 
the "politicization" of UN resolutions intended not to 
rectify human rights problems so much as to punish certain 
governments for other purposes (ref B).  Goltyayev asked why 
the U.S. continued to support the use of the Third Committee 
to advance its human rights agenda while criticizing the UN 
Human Rights Council, which was the appropriate forum for 
discussing human rights issues. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Goltyayev told us that Russia's priority at the UNGA 
Third Committee would be to block what it suspected would be 
an attempt by Ukraine to introduce a resolution condemning 
the Holodomor, the 1930s famine that killed millions in the 
former Soviet Union, as a crime against humanity.  Ukraine 
attempted to do so in 2003, the 70th anniversary of the 
tragedy, and was likely to do so again to mark the 75th 
anniversary.  Goltyayev criticized Ukraine for seeking to 
politicize an issue that he claimed should be dealt with by 
historians, not politicians and diplomats.  He lamented the 
fact that as Kyiv "peddled" the Holodomor as a means to build 
Ukrainian nationalism, it fostered the country's "xenophobic 
tendencies." 
 
¶3. (SBU) Goltyayev warned that should a Ukrainian-sponsored 
resolution pass, this would "open a Pandora's box," and the 
UN could see other resolutions on similar issues, including 
calls for countries to pay reparations for supposed crimes 
committed by earlier governments.  He cautioned that the U.S. 
would not be immune from such a situation, as certain 
elements of its history could be distorted to appear as 
crimes against humanity or genocide. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Goltyayev said the GOR would again introduce its 
resolution on the Inadmissibility of Certain Practices that 
Contribute to Fueling Contemporary Forms of Racism, which is 
intended to curb neo-Nazi activity.  Russia considered the 
defamation of religion resolution "unbalanced" because it 
singled out only Islam and would like to see the language 
changed, but would still vote for the resolution out of 
support for the larger cause of protecting religion.  Russia 
would support the freedom of expression resolution and urged 
the U.S. to reconsider its position. 
BEYRLE