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Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association (UCCLA)
Calgary/Toronto, Canada, 14 October 2003
An international campaign, "Do The Right Thing," directed to the publisher
of The New York Times, Arthur Sulzberger Jr, began today. Organized by the
Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association, in collaboration with
Ukrainian organizations from around the world, it hopes to persuade Mr
Sulzberger to return the 1932 Pulitzer Prize awarded to the late Walter
Duranty.
Duranty is now widely recognized as having been a Soviet apologist who filed
many misleading reports about conditions in the USSR while writing for The
New Times during the early 1930s. In particular, he has been condemned for
covering up the genocidal Great Famine of 1932-1933 in Soviet Ukraine. Many
millions of people perished during this politically engineered famine.
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Dr Lubomyr Luciuk
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That Duranty knew the truth is evident from the fact that he privately
informed the British government, in September 1933, that as many as 10
million people had died as a result of famine conditions during the past
year. In public, however, Duranty dismissed all such reports, going even
further by vilifying those journalists who courageously reported the truth
about this man-made famine.
The fourth Saturday of every November has been set aside as an official
day of national mourning in Ukraine to recall this Soviet crime against
humanity.
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Commenting on this new campaign, UCCLA's direction of research, Dr
Lubomyr Luciuk, said:
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" In May of this year we requested that the Pulitzer Prize Committee revoke
Walter Duranty's prize, given his indisputable role as Stalin's apologist,
before, during and after the genocidal Great Famine. We understand that the
Committee is considering doing so and will announce its decision in
November. Tens of thousands of people from around the world supported our
first campaign and millions of Ukrainians and friends of Ukraine now await
the Committee's decision, trusting they will do what is right.
"Certainly revoking Duranty's distinction would ensure that the Pulitzer
Prize is not denigrated by being associated with the name of a self-serving
apologist for mass murder. We are now also turning to Mr Sulzberger and
asking him to return the Duranty award to the Pulitzer Prize Committee,
regardless of what the latter might decide, ensuring that The New York
Times, a newspaper with an international reputation for the highest
standards of reporting, is not befouled by any continuing association with
Walter Duranty or a prize that he did not merit, given his betrayal of the
most fundamental principles of journalism."
For more information on UCCLA and international efforts to have Walter
Duranty's Pulitzer Prize revoked or returned go to www.uccla.ca or contact
Dr Lubomyr Luciuk at info@uccla.ca
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