UN Mission Criticizes Ukraine over Odessa

Odessa Solidarity Campaign

In a major breakthrough for Odessans and their supporters, a United Nations human rights monitoring mission in Ukraine has criticized the Ukrainian government for its failure to investigate and prosecute those responsible for the fascist massacre of May 2, 2014, at that city’s House of Trade Unions.

This doesn’t mean there will be an impartial investigation, but it does help to shine a light on the massacre and the government’s failure to act.

An Associated Press story on the the U.N. report was carried by news media across the United States and beyond, including in The Washington Post, (Minneapolis) Star-Tribune, the (UK) Telegraph and ABC News. This is a major departure from the near-total media whiteout of the issue in U.S. media.

The news story came out on May 2, the fifth anniversary of the massacre, which was also International Day of Solidarity with the People of Odessa, coordinated by the Odessa Solidarity Campaign of the United States and Prague Spring II of Sweden. Solidarity vigils were held in New York City, Vancouver, Stockholm, London, Prague, Wroclaw, Vienna, Budapest and Moscow, among other cities.

Meanwhile, police in Odessa reported that 4,500 people came out for that city’s fifth annual memorial. Among those attending was Joe Lombardo, co-coordinator of the United National Antiwar Coalition and a member of the Advisory Board of the Odessa Solidarity Campaign.

The AP report can be found here.

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