International Statement of Solidarity with the U.S. Rebellions

This spring, the entire world was shocked and outraged over the cruel and deliberate murder on May 25, 2020, of George Floyd, an African-American man in the city of Minneapolis, Minn. For nearly nine minutes, as recorded in a widely viewed video, a white police officer knelt with his knee on Mr. Floyd’s neck as the unarmed man, accused of a minor, nonviolent crime, pleaded for his life, saying “I can’t breathe!”

This latest example of what has seemed like an unending series of police murders of Black people has shocked the conscience of the American people, leading to protests in more than 2,000 cities and towns and in more than 60 countries. The carefully cultivated image of a United States as a beacon of human rights has been shattered by the outraged cries of an angry people.

The protests have themselves been met with numerous instances of police brutality, including the use of chemical agents and “non-lethal” projectiles. By June 30, some 14,000 people had been arrested, while more than 30 states and Washington, D.C. had activated more than 62,000 National Guard members.

We recognize that these protests are a genuine and justified rebellion against police killings in particular and systemic racism in general, led primarily by the African-American community and joined by hundreds of thousands of people of other races.

We hereby declare that the Peace and Justice-loving people of the world stand in solidarity with this just struggle and add our voices to those of the courageous protesters standing up today on the streets of America.

We demand:

The immediate end to police killings of Black and other people of color.
The immediate end to the violent police repression of the U.S. protests: No more tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets, “flash-bang” grenades and other instruments of war.
Complete amnesty for the thousands of people who have been arrested during the rebellions.
A complete reordering of the system of policing in the United States that reflects the protesters’ demand to “Defund the Police” and divert funds to meeting human needs.

As we condemn the police brutality being unleashed against protesters against racism in the United States, we also recognize the brutality being carried out by the U.S. military against innocent people around the world, including but not limited to the U.S. wars in the Middle East and North Africa; the expansion of the U.S. military throughout the continent of Africa; the increasing aggression against the people of Russia and China; the attempts to overthrow the legitimate government of Venezuela; the continuing brutal blockade against Cuba; the severe and escalating sanctions against Iran; and the unquestioning and escalating military, diplomatic and financial support given by Washington to the state of Israel in its brutal and racist suppression of the legitimate struggle of the Palestinian people for self-determination.

As we express our solidarity with the anti-racist protests in the United States, we also demand that the U.S. get its military knee off the necks of the struggling peoples of the world.

In addition to this statement, we pledge to organize solidarity protests in our own countries and to raise the above demands in our actions for Freedom, Justice, Equality and Peace.

In Solidarity,

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