We are former graduates of three universities of Sumy-city in Ukraine (the Sumy State University, the Sumy State Pedagogical University and the Sumy State Agrarian University) who call upon any legal power or institution of International Community in order to save health and lives of our younger brouthers and sisters - students of the city of Sumy.

During the last week students of three Sumian universities have been engaged in a peaceful action of protest against highly-corrupted and partly-illegal process of "uniting" of these universities into so called "Sumy National University".

At nights from July, 2-nd to July, 3-rd and from July, 4-th to July, 5-th protesting students staying in their tents in the city center were poisoned by unidentified chemical compound. Several students were injured during the chemical attacks and immediately hospitalized but much more of them began to suffer from weid pains in lungs and skin eruptions after a couple of days. The vast majority of Sumy inhabitants (the city population is over a quarter million people) believes that chemical attacks against peaceful student tent camp in the Sumy center have got unofficial sanction from higher state administrators of Sumy region. In spite of the fact that examples of poisonous liquid were delivered to the local police the same night still no analyses results are available.

Regional representatives of Ukrainian state power do their best to keep informational blockade around student protests in Sumy. State-possessed mass-media prefer "not to notice" these events or discredit them nearly to the level of small disturbances in the streets done by local hooligans.

Protesting students, their parents and university teaching staff have sent several open letters to the Ukrainian President, the Prime-Minister of Ukraine and to the Speaker of Ukrainian Parliament with requests to stop the pressure and the process of university "uniting". But just few formal responds have been sent back. (The texts of these open letters in Ukrainian language can be found on http://www.sumy-bespredel.narod.ru)

In the situation when Ukrainian Government stays deaf to all entreaties we pin our last hopes upon International Community and entreat its representatives:

- to STOP THE MASSACRE of protesting students in the city of Sumy (Ukraine) done by means of unidentified chemical weapon;

- to require back-calling of the Ukrainian President Act #453/2004 about organizing three separate universities of Sumy-city into one National University in order to eliminate background of the conflict;

- to send independant reporters from international news agencies to Sumy for unprejudiced reflecting of students protests;

- to supervise further events in Sumy to avoid possible repressions against protesting students themselves and also against members of their families and university teaching staff as such actions were promised by different officials many times.

We thank beforehand every organization and person that will help in solving of this serious conflict.

Sincerely,
former graduates of
the Sumy State University
the Sumy State Pedagogical University
the Sumy State Agrarian University