Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Ukraine: The Junta has declared War on its own People

Statement issued by Union Borotba (Struggle) on April 15:

The Kiev junta has begun an “anti-terrorist operation” against those in Southeast Ukraine who rebelled against the oligarchs and nationalists. There is an absolutely false campaign in the oligarchic media to discredit the rebels. Supposedly we are all agents of the Russian secret services.
This is a blatant lie. Ukrainian citizens rebelled against the junta. Among the 64 political prisoners arrested in the Kharkov Regional State Administration, all are citizens of Ukraine, and Kharkov area residents.

On the other hand, there is increasing evidence that the junta intends to use mercenaries from private military companies — including foreign ones — against the rebels. Ukrainian police and military personnel have refused to fight against their own people.

Kharkovites have seen police on Freedom Square with St. George’s ribbons tied to their shields, showing that they are with the people.

In this situation, the junta will rely on mercenaries and neo-Nazi groups such as the Right Sector, which they have hurriedly dressed in the uniform of the “National Guard.”

Union Borotba declares that the People’s Republic is the creation of the protesters in the Southeast, not the machination of Russian special forces. This is the will of the people in the Southeastern provinces.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the UN speaks of the right “to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression.” The people of the Southeast have exercised that right.

The junta wants to suppress the rebellious people by military force, organizing an “anti-terrorist operation.” We declare that it is impossible to win this war with its own people. In trying to suppress the people’s movement, the junta digs its own grave.

Dirty smear campaign 

A smear campaign has been unleashed against the forces leading the protests, including Borotba. All these lies aim to split our movement and sow distrust between activists.

Do not listen to the slander, do not be fooled by the fairytales. Here are the facts:

Borotba began its struggle against neo-Nazism in the form of Svoboda [fascist party in the coup government] and against so-called European integration back in 2012, when the majority of those who are now taking aim at the “leaders” were still quietly sitting at home.

When we had the opportunity, we fought in Kiev. In revenge, our Kiev office was ransacked by the Right Sector and our activists beaten by fascists led by Svoboda MP Igor Miroshnichenko.

In Kharkov, Borotba participates in all protest rallies and demonstrations. We printed tens of thousands of leaflets informing the people of Kharkov about the movement in the Southeast and urging them to participate.

We even brought to our meetings Mayor Kernes, who we later discovered wanted to gamble with the movement in Kharkov.

Borotba advocates unity of the protest forces. We oppose the junta, which stands for the country’s richest oligarchs, supported by Western imperialism.

In this confrontation, unity and cooperation of all organizations and leaders of the protest movement is crucial.

To do this, we have created a voluntary association of organizations, advocates and citizens of Kharkov – Popular Unity.

Popular Unity is open to all.

In unity – there is power.

No elections without a referendum 

In order to give its power some semblance of democracy, the junta set a presidential election for May 25. These elections must by boycotted. In this election, we are invited to choose between the two candidates of the oligarchs — Poroshenko and Tymoshenko. Other candidates give this farce the veneer of a real political struggle. But the counting of votes will be controlled by the junta, and voting will take place in conditions of fascist terror imposed by the Right Sector and other neo-Nazi gangs.

The Kiev junta is trying to deceive the protesters. [Acting President] Turchinov already announced that he is allegedly not against a referendum. On the other hand, representatives of the junta in the Southeast are trying to replace the demand for a referendum with a “survey,” which has no legal force. Do not succumb to these entreaties. People need clear guarantees, not empty promises from politicians in Kiev.

Opponents of the junta will boycott and disrupt the elections. Voting for anyone, even the opposition or “Southeast” candidates, will legitimize a farce arranged by the junta of oligarchs and Nazis. If we do not recognize the authority of the Kiev impostors, we do not need to participate in their designated “elections.”

Our slogan remains the same: No election without a referendum!

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