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Derechos | Equipo Nizkor
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| Information | | |
Derechos | Equipo Nizkor
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13May14
Duma urges to set up contact group on Ukraine under OSCE Parliamentary Assembly
Russia's State Duma lower parliament house on Tuesday passed an appeal to parliaments of the world and international parliamentary organizations over a threat of a humanitarian catastrophe in Ukraine.
The appeal was initiated by State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin and the leaders of the four Duma factions.
"Members of the Russian State Duma are enraged by the fact that the current Kiev authorities are encouraging escalation of civil war and conniving at atrocious killings of civilians by the outraging nationalistic radicals," the Duma said in the appeal. "The exact number and names of the people, who were burned alive in Odessa, this knew Khatyn [Nazi massacre at the Belarusian village of Khatyn on March 22, 1943], is unknown to date. Figures are varying from several dozens to several hundreds of people, which proves that the authorities are reluctant to tell the truth and to put those responsible to trial."
Dozens of people were killed in Sloviansk, Kramatorsk, Mariupol and in other settlements in Ukraine's Southeast under the guise of the so-called anti-terrorist operation, which is as matter of fact a punitive operation. Hundreds were wounded in this operation. "Millions of people in Ukraine have become hostages of the Kiev junta and potential victims of mass violations of human rights. They cannot count on personal security only because they want to speak and teach their children in their native Russian language and be free citizens in a free country built as a federation and respecting their national and cultural rights," the appeal said.
The Duma warned the international community that "this type of self-assertiveness on the part of the criminal Kiev regime may bring about much greater numbers of new victims shortly." "It is important to raise the problem of an immediate accountability of the officials guilty of deaths of peaceful civilians," the appeal said. "Along with it, activists of nationalistic organizations, such as the Right Sector, Svoboda and a number of others, who are occupying governmental posts should be dismissed and these organizations should be disbanded."
The Duma also said it shared the position expressed in the April 17, 2014 Geneva communiqué· on the importance of an immediate national dialogue reflecting "the interests of the population of all the regions and nationalities, all political and public forces in Ukraine." Such dialogue, according to the State Duma, should underpin the constitutional process, which in its turn should reflect the results May 11 referendums in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions where residents demonstrated their resolution to defend their rights.
"Obviously, such dialogue will be possible only after the termination of combat operations, full disarmament and isolation of neo-Nazi groupings, an end to pressure on political parties and deputies of the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament), and renunciation of connivance at the Kiev junta from the Western political quarters. Any other path will lead to a decay of Ukraine's statehood," the appeal stressed.
The lower house of the Russian parliament urged to organize the soonest possible inter-parliamentary consultations to map out approaches promoting de-escalation of tension and restoration of security of Ukrainian citizens and to support the roadmap offered by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). For these ends, the Russian lawmakers proposed to set up an international contact group on Ukraine within the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly to pool efforts to help put an end to civil confrontation in that country and drive it out of the current political crisis.
"Dozens of people in Ukraine's Southeast gave their lives for the right to be free citizens of a free country, to receive education in the Russian language and be a part of the Russian World, chairman of the State Duma committee for the affairs of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Leonid Slutsky, said, resenting this appeal. "We shall always remember their feat. May the memory of them live forever."
[Source: Itar Tass, Moscow, 13May14]
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