On International Holocaust Remembrance Day, OSCE Chair urges renewed efforts to fight intolerance, stressing importance of youth human rights education

KYIV, 27 January 2013 – The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Leonid Kozhara, marked International Holocaust Remembrance Day today with a call to honour the victims with renewed efforts to fight intolerance, discrimination and hate crimes.

“This day is a sad reminder of a horrific crime inflicted on innocent people. In Ukraine alone more than one hundred thousand people were killed in the ravine of Babyn Yar, including nearly 34,000 Jews in a single massacre,” Kozhara said. “Today we are paying tribute to the victims and to those brave who risked their lives to save Jews and members of other minorities at risk.”

“The universal lessons from these terrible events must not be forgotten. We must redouble our efforts to prevent and counter intolerance, hate and discrimination in all its forms, and promote respect for all ethnic and religious groups.”

“Educating young people in human rights is an important way of ensuring this,” Kozhara said, adding that youth human rights education focusing on tolerance and non-discrimination is one of the priorities of Ukraine’s 2013 OSCE Chairmanship.

Twenty-six OSCE participating States have established 27 January as their official day for remembrance of the Holocaust, according to the overview recently released by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights.