UK refuses to recognize events that occurred before 1948 as genocide

The United Kingdom government refused to recognize the Holodomor of 1932-1933 in Ukraine as genocide, the Ukrainian Embassy in London said.

A debate on the Holodomor took place in the British Parliament earlier, initiated by conservative party member Pauline Latham.

"The Government states that the Holodomor pre-dates the 1948 UN Convention on Genocide which established genocide as a concept in international law and international law cannot be applied retrospectively," the embassy said.

British officials emphasize that the Holocaust, although it took place before 1948, has an exclusive status, since it was the basis for the legal determination of the genocide by the convention.

During parliamentary hearings in London on November 7, a representative of the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Alistair Burt, said that the government would use the term "genocide" with regard to Holodomor if any British court applied such a definition.

However, government officials also say that they currently do not see any possibilities or grounds for initiating a similar lawsuit on events in Ukraine in the 1930s.

Holodomor was recognized as genocide of the Ukrainians by the number of European countries and Australian Senate. The European Parliament recognized the Holodomor as a crime against humanity in 2008.

Earlier, the Senate of the US state of Washington adopted a resolution in which the Holodomor is designated an act of genocide of the Ukrainian people.