Odessa Massacre Memorial Statement Support Growing

Neo-Nazis burning the Trades Hall in Odessa, Ukraine on May 2, 2014.  The massacre killed well over 50 people.

Statement of Solidarity’ with 2nd anniversary May 2 memorial in Odessa delivered to Ukrainian Embassy in Washington, D.C., followed by press conference
 
Report by the United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC)

WASHINGTON, D.C., April 25

Today Ana Edwards, representing the United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC), and Ray McGovern, a former CIA analyst and now prominent peace activist, delivered a Statement of Solidarity with Odessa to the Embassy of Ukraine in Washington, D.C.

The statement calls on the governments of Ukraine, the United States and the city of Odessa to ensure the civic rights of the people of Odessa to hold a memorial program this coming May 2 to mark the second anniversary of the massacre of 46 profederation activists in that city at the hands of rightwing extremists. The memorial is being organized by the Mothers' Committee for May 2, comprised of family members, friends and supporters of the murdered activists.

The Solidarity Statement, signed by 139 human rights organizations and activists from 20 countries in North America, Europe, Africa and Asia, also supports the Mothers' Committee public call for the United Nations Human Rights Committee to arrange an impartial investigation into the events of May 2, 2014. Although the attack was videoed by numerous participants and passersby, to date not one of the perpetrators has been brought to justice.

The Solidarity Statement also announced that UNAC is sending a delegation of U.S. human rights activists to monitor the May 2 memorial program in Odessa. Other delegations will be present from France, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Poland, Bulgaria, Italy, Spain, Israel and Sweden.

The Solidarity Statement was received by an embassy staff member on behalf of the Ukrainian ambassador.

Immediately after, Edwards and McGovern held a press conference outside the embassy at which they read the solidarity statement and answered questions from reporters. Media present included Tass News Agency of Russia, RT (Russia Today) America, Channel One Russian TV and RTRTV, a Russian language television station whose audience includes 50,000 subscribers in the New York City area. The Russian language is spoken by an estimated 171 million people in 17 countries.

While no major Western media were present, it is expected that the broad news coverage by major Russian media will put pressure on other media outlets to cover the story of the May 2 memorial, the international solidarity campaign and the international delegations that will be in Odessa on May 2 to monitor the memorial program.

Ana Edwards is a founding member of UNAC and chairs the Sacred Ground Historical Reclamation Project of the Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality in Richmond, Va.

Ray McGovern is a former analyst with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), a prominent member of Veterans for Peace and Cofounder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity.
 
The United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC) is a broad alliance of U.S. justice and peace organizations founded in 2010. www.UNACpeace.org

For more information, contact UNAC CoCoordinator Joe Lombardo at: UNACpeace@gmail.com or 518-227-6947.

To add your name/organization to the statement please click on https://www.unacpeace.org/ukrainepetition.html

Statement of Solidarity Endorsers

U.S.

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

Bernadette Ellorin - Chairperson, Bayan USA

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

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 *

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

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

Paul Cunningham - South Portland, Maine

William Crain - Peace and Justice *, Billings, Montana

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

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

Ellen Grady - Ithaca Catholic Worker, Ithaca, New York

Peter Gunther - Progressive Archivists

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

David Hartsough - PEACEWORKERS, San Francisco, California

Marilyn Hoff - Peace Action, New Mexico

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

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 *

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

Barbara Laxon - Miramar, Florida

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

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

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

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

Rob Mulford - Veterans For Peace, Fairbanks, Alaska

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.C. 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 

Lisa Savage - Maine Natural Guard, Solon, Maine

Adria Scharf - Richmond Peace Education Center, Richmond, Virginia

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

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

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

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

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


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


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


ITALY

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

U.S. Citizens Against War - Florence


JAPAN

Yasuaki - Matsumoto *, Japan

Akira Asada - Takarzuka, Hyougo, Japan


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


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


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


●  Organization listed for Identification purposes only