Statement in support of the May 2 memorial to be held in Odessa, Ukraine, and for a

United Nations investigation into the tragic events of May 2, 2014

On May 2, 2016, a memorial will be held in Odessa, Ukraine, to honor the memory of scores of pro-democracy activists who were brutally murdered on that date in Odessa two years ago.

There is no reason for the City authorities to forbid a peaceful memorial, but right-wing radicals - some of whom are believed to have been involved in the events of 2014 - have declared that they will not allow it to proceed.

The tragedy of Odessa and the continuing danger of right-wing violence in that beautiful city is of growing concern to decent-minded people around the world.

Therefore, we the undersigned representatives of human rights organizations in the United States and other countries hereby call on the governments of Odessa, Ukraine and the United States to ensure that the civic rights of those attending the May 2 memorial in Odessa will be respected, including the delegations of international monitors who will be present on that day.

We further respectfully appeal to the United Nations Human Rights Committee to initiate an international investigation into the events of May 2, 2014, as requested by family members, friends and supporters of those who died on that day.

According to widely published reports, protesters opposed to the February 2014 coup that overthrew Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych had set up a symbolic tent city in Odessa’s Kulikovo Square, in front of the five-story House of Trade Unions. On May 2, right-wing soccer fans, whipped up by pro-coup activists, attacked and burned the tent city, driving the much smaller group of protesters into the union building. The mob then set the building on fire. At least 46 people died from burns, smoke inhalation, gunfire and beatings. Many more were wounded. It was the worst case of violence in Odessa in many decades.

Ever since the massacre, representatives of the families of those who died have held weekly vigils to honor the memory of their loved ones. Many of these memorials have been harassed by pro-coup groups. As recently as April 10, a large gathering of people celebrating the liberation of Odessa from Nazi occupation was attacked by right-wing thugs. These same forces are now are threatening to physically prevent the second May 2 anniversary memorial from taking place.

At a formal meeting of the U.N. Human Rights Committee held on March 21 in Geneva, family members and their supporters asked the committee to initiate a long-overdue impartial investigation into the events of May 2, 2014. For their part, the pro-coup forces are expressing their opposition to such an investigation. This contradiction alone should make clear which side wants the truth to be revealed and which side wants it to remain hidden.

Again, we call on the United Nations to initiate the requested investigation. And we call on the governments of Odessa, Ukraine and the United States to ensure that the civic rights of those attending the May 2 memorial in Odessa are respected.

Sincerely,

[Names of endorsing organizations & individuals here.]

(Please click here to sign this petition)

This statement was initiated by the United National Antiwar Coalition (www.UNACpeace.org), a broad coalition of peace and justice organizations in the United States. UNAC encourages the circulation of this petition among human rights organizations all over the world. Please send all new endorsements to:

UNAC, PO Box 123, Delmar, NY 12054 USA; Email: UNACpeace@gmail.com

Statement of Solidarity Endorsers

as of 4/24/16

Ramsey Clark - Former U.S. Attorney General; Human Rights Activist

Bernadette Ellorin - Chairperson, Bayan USA

Lynne Stewart – People’s Lawyer and former political prisoner

Rep. Jeffrey Evangelos - Maine House of Representatives

Bruce Gagnon - International Coordinator, Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space

Margaret Kimberley - Editor and Senior Columnist, Black Agenda Report

Joel Kovel - author

Citizens Convention – Roanoke, VA

Cynthia McKinney, Ph.D - Former Member, U.S. Congress; 2008 Green Party U.S. Presidential Candidate

Ray McGovern - Former CIA Analyst; Co-Founder, Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity

Joe Lombardo and Marilyn Levin, UNAC Co-coordinators

International Action Center

U.S. Peace Council

United National Antiwar Coalition

Beth Adams - Hancock Drone Resisters, San Francisco, California

Elliott Adams - Veterans For Peace, Sharon Springs, New York

Abayomi Azikiwe - Editor, Pan-African News Wire; Organizer, MECAWI, Detroit, Michigan

Roger Batchelder - OPENER, San Diego, California *

Ajamu Baraka – North-South Project for People-Centered Human Rights

Mike Beilstein - City Councilor, Corvallis, Oregon

Judith Bello - Founding Member, Upstate Coalition to Ground the Drones & End the Wars, New York

Bethlehem Neighbors for Peace - New York

Richard Clement – Veterans For Peace Chapter 001

Judy Collins & Jim Allen - Vine & Fig Tree, Lanett, Alabama

Paul Cunningham - South Portland, Maine

William Crain - Peace and Justice *, Billings, Montana

Monica Dahiby – Women for Peace, Uppsala

Bob Dale - Veterans for Peace, Brunswick, Maine

George Dardess - Rochester Peace Action & Education *

Nicolas J.S. Davies - Author, “Blood On Our Hands: the American Invasion and Destruction of Iraq”

Jacqui Deveneau - Maine Green Independent Party, Portland, Maine

Catherine Donaghy - Western Mass TroopsOutNow! Coalition, Massachusetts *

Chantal Dothey, MD - Cleveland, Ohio

Tim Duda - American Federation of Teachers, San Antonio, Texas

Nancy Eberg - Greater New Haven Peace Council *

Ana Edwards - Chair, Virginia Sacred Ground Historical Reclamation Project, Richmond, Virginia

Anthony Ehrlich - West Volusians for Peace & Justice, Barberville, Florida

Kristna Evans - Vintage Quaker Books, Friends Community of New England, Bath, Maine

Sara Flounders - Co-Director, International Action Center, New York, New York

Christopher and Mary Fogarty – Friends of Irish Freedom

Freedom Road Socialist Organization

Roberta Frye - Faith in Action, Unitarian Universalists of Santa Monica *, Culver City, California
Ronald Fujiyoshi - Ohara Ho'opakele, Hilo, Hawaii

Terry& Tom Fusco - Maine Progressive Party, Brunswick, Maine

Genesee Valley Citizens for Peace - Geneseo, New York

Starr C. Gilmartin - Peace & Justice of Eastern Maine, Trenton, Maine

Ernest Goitein – People for Land and Nature

Marty Goodman – Transport Workers Union Local 100, former member of executive board

Craig Gordon – The Now Age Press

Ellen Grady - Ithaca Catholic Worker, Ithaca, New York

Peter Gunther - Progressive Archivists

Danny Haiphong – Black Agenda Report

Hiroyuki Hamada - artists

Joseph F. Hancock - Los Angeles Peace Council, Los Angeles, California

Sue Harris – Peoples Video Network

David Hartsough - PEACEWORKERS, San Francisco, California

Marilyn Hoff - Peace Action, New Mexico

Rod Hojat, MD – Wouthwest Women’s Healthcare Ctr. *

Herbert J. Hoffman, Ph.D. - Albuquerque Veterans For Peace, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Joe Iosbaker – Anti-War Committee - Chicago

Connie Jenkins - Pax Christi, Maine, Orono, Maine

Mack Johnson - Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action, Silverdale, Washington

Ann Joseph - United Church of Christ, Chicago, Illinois *

Tarak Kauff – Veterans for Peace *

Matt Kelly - Petersburgh, New York

Mick Kelly - Editor, Fight Back!

Ed Kinane - Upstate Drone Action, New York

Bob Kinsey - Colorado Coalition for the Prevention of Nuclear War *

Heather Koponen - Alaska Peace Center, Veterans for Peace, Fairbanks, Alaska

David Laibman - Editor, Science & Society, Brooklyn, New York

Charles Douglas Lain – Zero Books, Portland, OR

Jason Lambert – Face Valyou

Barbara Laxon - Miramar, Florida

Mickie Lynn - Women Against War *, Delmar, New York

Nina Macapinlac – BAYAN USA

Jeff Mackler - Director, Mobilization to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal, Oakland, California

Kevin Martin - Executive Director, Peace Action, Silver Spring, Maryland

Kat McNeal – Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality,

Natasha Mayers - Union of Maine Visual Artists, Whitefield, Maine

Bernard Meyer – U.S. Fellowship of Reconciliation *

Jodda Mitchell – LUV News

Rob Mulford - Veterans For Peace, Fairbanks, Alaska

Immanuel Ness – City University of New York *

Meryl Nass MD - Ellsworth Maine

Doug Noble - Metro Justice *, Rochester

Jon Olsen - Green Party, Jefferson, Maine

Tatyana Olson - Diplomatic School, Washington D.C.

Dr. Lewis E. Patrie - Western N.N. Physicians for Social Responsibility, Asheville, North Carolina

Rosalie Paul - Greater Brunswick PeaceWorks, Maine

Patricia Patterson - Retired International Mission Executive, United Methodist Church, Claremont, California

Tina Phillips - Brunswick, Maine

Charles R. Powell - President, Veterans For Peace, Albuquerque, New Mexico

Brian Noyes Pulling, M.Div. - Minister, Social Worker,Peace& Social Justice Organizer, South Carolina

Megan Rice SHCJ - Transform Now Plowshares, Washington, D.C.

Coleen Rowley - Retired FBI agent, former Legal Counsel, Minneapolis Division, Minnesota

Kathleen Russell - NeedtoKnow

Lisa Savage - Maine Natural Guard, Solon, Maine

Adria Scharf - Richmond Peace Education Center, Richmond, Virginia

Susan Schuurman – Albuquerqui Center for Peace and Justice

Richard D. Seifert - Fairbanks Peace Center, Fairbanks, Alaska

Diane Shammas, Ph.D - Shammas Group, Laguna Beach, California

Ruth Sheridan - Anchorage, Alaska

Alice Slater - Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, New York, New York

Anne Slater – President, U.S. Section of Radical Women

Gar Smith - Co-founder, Environmentalists Against War; Director, Academic Publishing, California

Jean Sommer - Peace Action, Cleveland, Ohio

J. Michael Springmann - "Visas for Al Qaeda: CIA Handouts That Rocked The World *, “Washington, D.C.

Mary Beth Sullivan - Greater Brunswick PeaceWorks, Bath, Maine

David Swanson - Director, WorldBeyondWar.org; Author, "War Is A Lie," Charlottesville, Virginia

George Szamuely – Global Policy Institute, London Metropolitan University

Wil Van Natta - Reality News Radio, Riviera Beach, Florida

Mazeda Akter Uddin – SouthAsian Fund for Education, Scholarship * Training

Virginia People’s Assembly for Jobs, Peace & Justice - Virginia

Steve Wagner - Lake Merritt Neighbors Organized for Peace *, Oakland, California

Karen Wainberg - Great Brunswick PeaceWorks, Maine

William H. Warrick III, MD - Veterans for Peace, Gainesville, Florida

Dave Welsh - Delegate, San Francisco Labor Council, San Francisco, California

Phil Wilayto - Editor, The Virginia Defender, Richmond, Virginia

Julia Williams – Green Party of Michigan

Johnny E. Williams – Trinity College *

Mike Wisniewski - Los Angeles Catholic Worker, California

Rowan Wolf - Uncommon Thought Journal, Portland, Oregon

Kristina Wolff - Veterans for Peace, Maine

Women Against Military Madness (WAMM) - Minneapolis, Minnesota

Russell Wray - Citizens Opposing Active Sonar Threats (COAST), Hancock, Maine

Sandra Yeager - Millersville University *, Lancaster, Pennsylvania

AUSTRIA

Christl Meyer - Amnesty International *, Vienna

Australia

Dr. Ronald F. Price, OAM –La Trobe University, Emeritus Scholar *

Melbourne Radical Women

CANADA

Tamara Lorincz - Canadian Voice of Women for Peace, Saanichton, British Columbia

Hamilton Coalition To Stop The War - Hamilton

Roza Husseini - Student of PACE at University of Winnipeg, Manitoba

Rev. Wm. J. Hutton - Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Amir M. Maasoumi - Palestinians & Jews United for Peace & Against Occupation (PAJU), Montreal, Quebec

Mobilization Against War & Occupation (MAWO) - Vancouver, British Columbia

Nicolas Royer-Artuso - Laval University *, Montreal, Quebec

Marguerite Warner - Peace Alliance Winnipeg, Manitoba

Doug Lang – Vancouver Co-Operative Radio, Vancouver

CZECH REPUBLIC

Vaclav Exner - KSČM, Alterantiva zdola, Praha

FINLAND

Ernst Mecke, Ph.D. - Helsinki, Finland

FRANCE

Csizmazia Alexis - Université Paris Est Creteil, Paris

Arlette Cavillon - Mouvement de la Paix *

Oranus Ravar - Aix-en-Provence

Guenter Schenk - CJACP, Strasbourg

GERMANY

Judith Dellheim - Zukunftskonvent, Berlin

Dr. Henry Stahl - Bund für Soziale Verteidigung, Eschwege, Hessen

INDIA

J. Narayana Rao - All India Peace & Solidarity Organization, Nagpur

IRELAND

John Kelly - Mullingar, County Westmeath

June Kelly - County Westmeath

Paul O’Brien – People Against War Networ

Trevor Joyce – Aosdana Cork

Margaretta D’Arcy - WIMA

ITALY

Arrigo Colombo - Movimento per la società di giustizia, Lecce, Puglia

U.S. Citizens Against War – Florence

Aldo Bernardini – Partito Comunista, Italia, Rome

Anna Farkas – U.S. Citizens for Peace & Justice - Rome

JAPAN

Yasuaki - Matsumoto *, Japan

Akira Asada - Takarzuka, Hyougo, Japan

Kouichi Toyoshima – The Janan Scientists\ Association, Fukuoka branch

Lebanon

Mohamad Safa – Khiam Rehabilitation Center for Victims of Torture

Malaysia

Dr. Chandra Muzaffar – President, International Movement for a Just World

MEXICO

Ethelia Ruiz Medrano - National Institute of Anthropology and History, Mexico *, Mexico

NETHERLANDS

Khalid Ahmed Chaudry - Ambassador & Deputy Chairman, Supreme Council of the International Human Rights Commission *, The Hague

SOUTH AFRICA

Dewald Wilhelm Scholtz - Pretoria, Gauteng Province

SOUTH KOREA

Choi Sung-Hee - Gangjeong Village International Team, Jeju Island

Regina Pyon Yeon-shik - Korean House for International Solidarity, Seoul

SWITZERLAND

Oriane Peschoux - UN, Geneva

Nigeria

Purpose Osamwony – Smiles Africa International

NEW ZEALAND

Julie Webb-Pullman - Independent Journalist and Activist

Kay Weir - Editor, Pacific Ecologist, Pacific Institute of Resource Management, Wellington

Wellington Zapatista Support Group

RUSSIA

Alexander Ionov & Anastasia Promskaya - The Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia

SWEDEN

Agneta Norberg - Swedish Peace Council, Stockholm

Einar Schlereth - Retired Journalist / Translator / Writer, Klavreström, Kronoberg

Aaron Tovish - Executive Adviser, Mayors for Peace, Stockholm

Agneta Norberg – Chair, Swedish Peace Council

Aaron Tovish – “Cities are not targets!” Project of Mayors for Peace

UNITED KINGDOM

Allen L. Jasson - RightOfChoice.com, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire

John Pilger - Two-time winner of Britain's Journalist of the Year Award

Angie Zelter - Reforest the Earth

Giles Shorter – CP (M-L) of Great Britain

Susan Morris – Glasgow, Scotland

● Organization listed for Identification purposes only

And more…