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…