Moscow conference stands with Novorossiya, Palestine and Black America

A conference on the Right of Peoples to Self-Determination and Building a Multipolar World was held in Moscow on Dec. 13, hosted by the Anti-Globalization Movement (AGM) of Russia. The conference brought together activists from Novorossiya (Donetsk and Lugansk), TransDniester, Iran, Syria, the Serb Republic, Italy, the United States and several regions of the Russian Federation. The conference was opened by AGM President Alexander Ionov. Other speakers included Oleg Tsarev, the speaker of the Parliament of Novorossia, and Alexander Kofman, the minister of foreign affairs of the Donetsk People’s Republic.

Among the U.S. delegates were five representatives of the United National Antiwar Coalition, including Margaret Kimberley of Black Agenda Report, Joe Iosbaker of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression, women’s rights activist Maureen Hannah, Bill Dores of the International Action Center and UNAC Co-Coordinator Joe Lombardo, all of whom addressed the conference. Major themes of the discussion were the U.S.-backed war against the people of Donetsk and Lugansk in eastern Ukraine; the expansion of NATO into the former Soviet Union and economic war against Russia, Venezuela and Iran; and the ongoing uprising against racism and police brutality in the United States.

Activists from Donetsk, Lugansk and Odessa eloquently described the atrocities and humanitarian catastrophe Washington’s proxy war is inflicting on the people of Novorossiya and the urgent attempts to bring medicine and food to that besieged region. The U.S. role in Israeli genocide against the Palestinian people was also on the agenda, including the case of U.S. Palestinian political prisoner Rasmea Odeh. Speakers also condemned the U.S.-NATO proxy war against Syria and U.S.-NATO crimes in Libya, Yugoslavia and the TransDniester Republic.

The conference was followed by a Dec. 15 press conference with Russian and foreign media and a Dec. 17 demonstration outside the U.S. Embassy protesting racism, police brutality and political repression in the U.S. Demonstrators carried photos of Mike Brown, Eric Garner and Rasmea Odeh and chanted, “Hands up! Don’t shoot” and “I can’t breathe!” The protesters laid flowers outside the embassy in memory of Mike Brown, Eric Garner and others murdered by the U.S. state apparatus.

Below is the full text of the conference declaration:

International Panel Discussion

National Dialogue: The Right of Peoples to Self-Determination and Building a Multipolar World

Moscow, Dec. 13, 2014

The world is changing. And, unfortunately, it is changing for the worse. The worsening geopolitical situation calls on us to support the nations and peoples who oppose the dictate [of] a unipolar world and seek to propose an alternative agenda. [The] progressive part of mankind stands for the development of international cooperation and solidarity, respectful of other peoples, their sovereignty, values and lifestyles as opposed to the current destructive manifestations of the “new world order”: the barbaric exploitation of the majority of the world population, the destruction of national sovereignty and spiritual foundations of society, [and the] suppression of sovereignty of personality through the illegal collection of information.

Organizations participating in the international panel discussion urge people worldwide to unite and establish a united front against discrimination, violation of human rights, religious and racial intolerance. We condemn the crimes and murders perpetrated against the people of Novorossia. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the innocent victims in Odessa, Lugansk and Donetsk. We strongly condemn political repression, particularly in countries that have positioned themselves as democratic nations.

The interference in the affairs of sovereign states, the sponsorship and support of extremist and terrorist entities are unacceptable in the XXI century. Events in Yugoslavia, Iraq, Libya, Syria and Ukraine demonstrate the predatory foreign policy of the U.S. and its NATO allies. Local conflicts have affected more people than those affected during World War II. The U.N. no longer performs [its] role as peacekeepers, as more than 70 armed conflicts have taken place since the establishment of the organization.

The U.S. government has depressing statistics in the field of human rights. The latest example of political repression is Rasmea Odeh, an activist of the Palestinian community of Chicago, who is a political prisoner now. The U.S. Department of Justice has sent her to the tribunal because her migration card had no information about the fact that in 1969 she was imprisoned in Israel by the Israeli military court based on the information extracted under torture. As part of the support for the Israeli occupation of Palestine, the U.S. government supports the Israeli occupation and military courts. Rasmea’s torture was part of a series of repressions against [the] pro-Palestinian movement in the United States. We demand the release of Rasmea Odeh and an end to the U.S. support for the occupation of Palestine!

African Americans, [Latinos/as] and other minorities are oppressed in the U.S. We condemn the systematic killings by the police in the USA!

We condemn the murder of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., Eric Garner in New York City and many others!

We support the protests in the U.S. cities as part of their struggle for freedom from police brutality, against mass defiance of human rights by the police, and call for the release of political prisoners such as Leonard Peltier and Mumia Abu-Jamal!

We call upon the people of the United States to take activities of the police under their control and demand investigation into the atrocities committed by the police officers!

The time of retreat has passed! It’s time for advancing! This Declaration is the first step toward the consolidation of the progressive part of mankind! We will make every effort to build a multipolar world! We are the alternative!