Above Photo: Above Photo: From CreativeResistance.org.
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 or518-227-6947.
Statement of Solidarity Endorsers
as of 4/24/16
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.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
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
