Above photo: April 10: Odessa Solidarity Campaign members Phil Wilayto, left, and Ray McGovern deliver the letter addressed to President Poroshenko at the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Screenshot from Ruptly News video)
Washington, DC – When we rang the doorbell at the Ukrainian Embassy to the United States in Washington, D.C., Ray McGovern and I heard a staff person ask “Who is it?” over the intercom.
“We’re the Odessa Solidarity Campaign and we have a letter for President Petro Poroshenko,” we said.
When the door opened, a bewildered-looking man was confronted by what must have seemed to him like a sea of reporters. Plus Ray and myself, with the letter.
“We’re calling on President Poroshenko to release all political prisoners in Ukraine and end the repression against the relatives of the people who died at the House of Trade Unions on May 2, 2014,” we said.
The staff member slowly took the letter as the TV cameras filmed. (The text of the letter appears below.)
It was April 10 – the 73rd anniversary of the day the Black Sea city of Odessa, Ukraine, was liberated from fascist occupation. On the same day, copies of the same letter were being delivered to Ukrainian embassies, consulates and honorary consulates in a total of 19 cities in 12 countries across Europe and North America. This International Day of Solidarity with the People of Odessa was initiated by the Odessa Solidarity Campaign of the United National Antiwar Coalition in response to the recent wave of repression in Odessa.
BACKGROUND TO THE PRESENT CRISIS
On May 2, 2014, less than three months after the right-wing coup that overthrew Ukraine’s elected president, activists in Odessa promoting a national referendum for the right to elect local governors clashed with supporters of the coup. Greatly outnumbered, the federationists took refuge in the five-story House of Trade Unions in Odessa’s Kulikovo Pole (field, or square). The huge mob, whipped into a frenzy by neo-Nazi organizations, pelted the building with Molotov cocktails. At least 46 people were burned alive, died of smoke inhalation or were beaten to death after jumping from windows. Hundreds were wounded as the police stood by and did nothing.
Despite the fact that dozens of cellphone videos of the massacre were posted on the Internet, many clearly showing the faces of the perpetrators, to date not one person responsible for the massacre has faced trial. Instead, dozens of those who managed to escape the fire were arrested. Some are still in prison today.
Each week since the massacre, relatives of the murdered activists have gathered at Kulikovo square to honor their dead and press their demand for an international investigation into the tragedy, one of the worst civil disturbances in Europe since World War II. Although international organizations including the United Nations and the European Council have tried to investigate, each attempt has been blocked by the federal government.
REPRESSION INCREASING IN ODESSA
While the relatives have faced constant harassment by members of fascist organizations such as the notorious Right Sector, a serious new level of government repression was launched Feb. 23 with the arrest of Alexander Kushnaryov, the 65-year-old father one of the young people who died at the House of Trade Unions. Kushnaryov apparently was the target of a sting operation involving the staged abduction of a member of the country’s parliament who had been photographed at Kulikovo square standing over the dead body of Kushnaryov’s son.
Also arrested in connection with this alleged kidnapping was Anatoly Slobodyanik, 68, a retired military officer and the head of the Odessa Organization of Veterans of Armed Forces.
The arrests sent shock waves through the community of relatives. It had been obvious that their persistent demands for an international investigation had been a growing irritant for the government in Kiev, immersed as it is in multiple crises of corruption, growing poverty, ethnic tensions and a deep international skepticism among its potential Western financial backers that it is capable of resolving these challenges.
After the arrests of Kushnaryov and Slobodyanik, reports began surfacing that more arrests and false charges were coming against the relatives of the victims of the May 2 tragedy.
INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT IS GROWING
In response, and in consultation with our friends in Odessa, the Odessa Solidarity Campaign first called the Ukrainian Embassy in D.C., asking to speak with Ambassador Valeriy Chaly. There was no response. Next we issued a public statement calling for the immediate release of Alexander Kushnaryov and Anatoly Slobodyanik. Still no response.
Then we raised with our friends the proposal for the International Day of Solidarity with the People of Odessa.
On April 10, several cities held protests along with delivering the letter to President Poroshenko to embassies and consulates. In San Francisco, USA; Budapest, Hungary; Berlin, Germany; and Bern, Switzerland, supporters of Odessa carried signs and banners, chanted slogans and made speeches calling for the release of Kushnaryov and Slobodyanik and an end to the repression against the relatives. In Berlin, the anti-fascist protesters were joined by one of the survivors of the Odessa massacre.
In addition, deliveries of the letter took place in Athens, Greece; Munich, Germany; Chicago and New York City, United States; Dublin, Ireland; London, England; Milan, Rome and Venice, Italy; Paris and Strasbourg, France; Stockholm, Sweden; Vancouver, Canada; and Warsaw, Poland. In Vancouver, there also was a social media campaign promoting the Day of Solidarity.
Some of the organizations participating in the Day of Solidarity were Activists for Peace (Sweden), ATTAC (Hungary), BAYAN USA, Freedom Socialist Party (USA), Friends of the Congo (USA), International Action Center (USA), Marin Interfaith Task Force on the Americas (USA), Molotov Club (Germany), Mobilization Against War & Occupation (Canada), National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance (USA), New Communist Party (UK), Socialist Action (USA), Socialist Fight (UK), Solidarity with the Antifascist Resistance in Ukraine (UK); United Public Workers for Action (USA), The Virginia Defender (USA) and WorkWeek Radio (USA).
the office of the Honorary Consulate. (Photo: Screenshot from protest video)
In Washington, D.C., after delivering the letter, Ray McGovern and I held a press conference outside the embassy. Present were media outlets including Tass, Sputnik News, Ruptly News and RTR TV.
Ray is a former analyst with the CIA who used to prepare the daily media reports for two presidents. Turning against U.S war policies, he co-founded the organization Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity and acts as an advisor to the Odessa Solidarity Campaign.
In addition to questions about Odessa, the Tass reporter asked us our position on the April 7 U.S. bombing of the Syrian airbase. We strongly condemned it, and Ray explained that his organization was in touch with several young intelligence officers based in Syria who have said the U.S. version of the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government was untrue. Too bad there weren’t any U.S. news media present to report that.
THE NEXT STEPS
What’s the next step? In consultation with our friends in Odessa, and asking advice from the organizations that participated in the April 10 International Day of Solidarity, we’ll evaluate the situation and look for the next opportunity to intervene. Two goals seems obvious: convincing – or forcing – the U.S. and other Western media to report on the repression in Odessa; and building on the multi-country cooperation shown in the April 10 Day of Solidarity to strengthen international support for Odessa.
REPRESSION CONTINUES IN ODESSA – AS DOES THE RESISTANCE
Meanwhile in Odessa, as we all were delivering the letter addressed to President Poroshenko, two people were summoned by the SBU for questioning: Moris Ibrahim, a representative of the Coordinating Council of Left Forces in Odessa, and Nadezhda Melnichenko, an employee of the TIMER online news publication, which has reported on neo-Nazi attacks on relatives of the victims of May 2, 2014. In addition, the homes of two supporters of the relatives of the victims also were searched, allegedly for evidence of separatist activity, a serious matter. No evidence was found; the goal seems to have been intimidation.
And yet, in spite of the atmosphere of repression, thousands of Odessans turned out for the annual commemoration of the liberation of the city on April 10, 1944, from Nazi and Romanian occupation forces. And, as happens each year during the commemoration, thugs from Right Sector and other fascist organizations tried to disrupt the gathering. Last year the police merely separated the neo-Nazis from those participating in the event. This year, interestingly, police arrested 20 fascists. Now we’ll see if they actually are charged with anything.
In Odessa, the struggle for Justice continues, as will international support for these courageous modern-day heroes of the Hero City on the Black Sea.
Phil Wilayto is the editor of the Virginia Defender newspaper and coordinator of the Odessa Solidarity Campaign. He can be reached at DefendersFJE@hotmail.com
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MEDIA COVERAGE
Washington, D.C.:
Ruptly TV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tv7jclS56J0
Sputnik News: https://sputniknews.com/world/201704101052496676-us-ukraine-odessa-massacre/ (ENGLISH)
Tass: http://tass.ru/mezhdunarodnaya-panorama/4171368 (RUSSIAN)
Fact International: http://fact.international/2017/04/odessa-solidarity-day/ Odessa: From the Timer online news publication – “Day of Liberation of Odessa: on the Walk of Fame they detained aggressive ‘Maidanovites’” – with video http://timer-odessa.net/news/den_osvobojdeniya_odessi_na_alee_slavi_politsiya_zaderjala_shest_maydanovtsev _384.html
ACTIVISTS’ VIDEOS
Berlin:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgVOs32mDU8 —
http://molotovclub.pe.hu/en/european-politics/odessa-solidarity-demonstration-in-berlin-april-10th/
Budapest: Currently being edited; will be posted soon on YouTube.
San Francisco: https://youtu.be/le9FYEN3ZIo Vancouver: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQJPIt6Vz58
PHOTOS From Berlin, Bern, Budapest, London, San Francisco, Vancouver and Washington, D.C. (Above)
LETTER TO PRESIDENT PETRO POROSHENKO
Odessa Solidarity Campaign PO Box 23202, Richmond, VA USA – Ph: 804.644.5834 – Email: DefendersFJE@hotmail.com – Web: www.odessasolidaritycampaign.org
April 10, 2017
President Petro Poroshenko
Presidential Administration of Ukraine
11 Bankova Street, Kyiv, Ukraine 01220
Dear Mr. President,
In recent years, international observers, human rights activists, independent journalists and members of the public have witnessed an unprecedented increase in violence in Ukraine. This country, whose people were traditionally considered friendly, hospitable, tolerant and cultured, has become an arena for bloody battles and civil conflicts.
One of the most revealing examples of this was the events in Odessa on May 2, 2014, when at least 46 people died as a result of clashes. National mourning was declared at the time, which led the world community to believe that Ukraine mourned all the victims of May 2.
However, three years after the Odessa tragedy, we clearly understand that the authorities have applied the country’s law in a one-sided manner. Everyone being prosecuted today is from the Anti-Maidan camp, while those associated with the Maidan camp – against whom there has been ample evidence of having committed crimes – remain at large, with no signs of them being brought to justice.
We especially want to bring attention to the fate of the relatives of those who died on May 2. For three years, they have been subjected to painful emotional suffering because the memory of their deceased is constantly exposed to defamation and desecration, both in the Ukrainian media and on the part of the so-called “patriots” who systematically and with sophisticated cruelty exert pressure on the elderly, vulnerable relatives, exacerbating their difficult psychological condition.
Most recently, Alexander Kushnaryov, the 65-year-old father of the deceased Gennady Kushnaryov, was arrested and imprisoned. The Ukrainian law enforcement agencies do not hide the fact that the retiree Kushnaryov, who had barely survived the death of his son and had lost faith that those responsible would receive their just punishment, was the victim of a sting operation. Taking advantage of his depressed state and decreased critical perception, Alexander Kushnaryov was dragged into a discussion of certain plans, after which the law enforcement agents staged his participation in the false kidnapping of the parliament member Alexei Goncharenko. Also arrested in connection with this alleged kidnapping was Anatoly Slobodyanik, 68, a retired military officer and the head of the Odessa Organization of Veterans of Armed Forces.
These facts, as well as the lack of humanity shown by the court in refusing to consider alternatives to pretrial confinement for these two elderly men, testifies to a biased and unfair attitude towards those around whom the authorities are trying to create a mythical image of “enemies of Ukraine.”
International bodies – the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the European Parliament, official representatives of the governments of the world’s largest states, in particular the U.S. State Department – have repeatedly urged the Ukrainian authorities to apply uniform standards of justice for all Ukrainian citizens. Failure to heed this advice will result in a general opinion in society that there is an absence of justice, which would be extremely dangerous in the conditions of modern Ukraine.
We call on the Ukrainian authorities to fulfill their direct duties to society and to prosecute those who personally and directly killed the Odessites on May 2, representing the side of the Euro-Maidan. We demand they release Alexander Kushnaryov and Anatoly Slobodyanik and stop the provocations against relatives of the victims of 2 May in Odessa.
We appeal to the Ukrainian authorities to create the necessary conditions for the peaceful development of the country. Do not divide society by providing patronage and direct protection to one of the opposing sides that has arbitrarily appropriated the title of “patriots of Ukraine.” These people have no right to violence. We draw the attention of the Ukrainian authorities to the fact that the fulfillment of all these requirements is the duty of any civilized state and is not subject to discussion or hesitation.
Unless these duties are fulfilled, Ukraine risks remaining outside the civilized world.
Sincerely,
The Odessa Solidarity Campaign The Odessa Solidarity Campaign is an initiative of the United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC) – www.unacpeace.