WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd May, 2023) The Biden administration is not interested in investigating the mass killing of people in Odessa in 2014 because it will shine a light on the existence of Nazism in Ukraine, US human rights activist and coordinator of the Odessa Solidarity Campaign project Phil Wilayto told Sputnik.
On May 2, 2014, Ukrainian nationalists locked pro-federalism protesters in Odessa's Trade Unions House and set the building on fire. Almost 50 people died and some 250 protesters were injured in clashes with the radicals, according to the United Nations.
"Washington has no interest in exposing the truth about the Odessa Massacre because it would draw attention to the existence of the fascist movement in Ukraine, organizations such as Right Sector, the Azov Battalion, C-14, the Brotherhood (banned in Russia as terrorist organizations) and many more," Wilayto said.
Kiev's tolerance of these groups contradicts US and NATO claims that Ukraine is a freedom-loving democracy that must be supported at any cost, he added.
Wilayto reminded that nine years after the massacre none of the perpetrators have been brought to justice.
"To this date, the Ukrainian government has never allowed an independent international investigation into the massacre," he said.
The Odessa Solidarity Campaign is an independent project organized by such human rights groups as the Virginia Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality. US activists have visited Odessa in 2016 to stand with the massacre survivors and families of victims. However now they have no sources to receive information from the ground.
"Since the escalation of the war that really began shortly after the 2014 coup, virtually all of our friends in Ukraine have either left the country or have been arrested, so we are not able to monitor the situation as we were before," Wilayto said.
Asked on whether US human rights defenders are facing problems inside the United States, the activist said their movements are pretty popular among the ordinary people, and that makes it more difficult for the government to attack them.
"But the US Department of Justice recently handed down criminal indictments against members of the African People's Socialist Party, which also has been very outspoken against US and NATO support for Ukraine," Wilayto said.
He also said human rights activists in other Western countries, including Germany, are also facing charges for expressing views on the situation in Ukraine.
To prevent possible similar mass killings in the future, Wilayto urged the international community to investigate the tragic event that happened in Odessa nine years ago.
"This must be an objective investigation, not one that just serves to cover up the atrocity. If there are no consequences for these actions, they will continue, in Ukraine and elsewhere," he said.
The clashes in Odessa became one of the deadliest events during the Maidan and anti-Maidan demonstrations in Ukraine that started in late 2013. Moscow has repeatedly criticized Kiev's steps in the investigation of the deadly tragedy and urged the international community and human rights groups to probe the causes of the massacre.
