We, the people of Europe, cannot remain indifferent: #StopKillingDonbass
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Petition against arms supply to Ukraine
Dear leaders of European states and leading international organizations, including the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe!
We, the people of Europe, based on our civil and political rights guaranteed by international law and national legislation, appeal to you to stop supporting the incitement of hatred and enmity carried out by Ukraine and the spread of senseless bloodshed in the center of our continent, as well as its possible escalation into the world war.
Unfortunately, today, contrary to the fundamental principles set forth in Article 2 of the UN Charter, in particular, the principles of sovereign equality and the peaceful settlement of international disputes, our countries supply Ukraine with weapons that cause massive deaths and injuries of civilians in Donbass, including children. This process multiplies human suffering and sacrifice in the very heart of Europe, which does not allow us to remain indifferent observers. We share the pain of Donbass people, we deeply sympathize with their grief and categorically condemn the supply of weapons and ammunition, which is ultimately directed against the civilian population. Moreover, we believe that this practice increases the possibility of hostilities spreading to the entire continent and even the risk of third world war outbreak.
Obvious consequences of such a short-sighted militaristic policy are also the instability in the European security sphere, the incitement of hatred and enmity between peoples, severing cultural and mutually beneficial economic ties. All this has a direct correlation with a sharp decline in living standards in our countries today, in contradiction to Article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and tomorrow it can lead to catastrophic consequences for an already very fragile peace.
We urge you to remember the lessons of the most terrible in the history of mankind World War II and not to repeat these mistakes today. In this regard, we strongly urge the governments of European states and the heads of leading international organizations, including the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, to make a feasible contribution to stopping the targeted extermination of civilians in Donbass, including the killing of children, destruction of houses, schools and hospitals. We demand an end to (i) the financing of state terrorism and genocide against the people of Donbass, (ii) as well as the ongoing violations of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and other acts of international humanitarian law since 2014.
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(A.I. Solzhenitsyn, 1918 – 2008 ; The Gulag Archipelago, 1958-68)
The simple act of an ordinary brave man is not to participate in lies, not to support false actions! His rule: let that come into the world, let it even reign supreme -- only not through me. But it is within the power of writers and artists to do much more: to defeat the lie! For in the struggle with lies art has always triumphed and shall always triumph! Visibly, irrefutably for all! Lies can prevail against much in this world, but never against art.
(A.I. Solzhenitsyn, 1918 – 2008 ; Nobel Prize acceptance speech, 1970)
