Declaration of the 95th Congress of SAT – 2022

The 95th Congress of the World Anational Association (SAT) held via internet from July 29 to August 1, 2022:

1. regrets the growth of nationalism in many countries, a factor for international tension that ultimately leads to wars and hinders the international cooperation that is needed to counteract ecological degradation of the planet;

2. sharply condemns the Russian war of agression, voices solidarity with people in the Ukraine who are suffering, resisting or are forced to flee, likewise voices solidarity with those in Russia who are suffering or positioning themselves against the war and actively opposing it, for which they are persecuted, and voices solidarity with people throughout the world who are positioning themselves against war and supporting refugees;

3. likewise sharply condemns all other wars and aggressive occupations taking place in the world simultaneously, among other places in Syria, Yemen, DR Congo, Palestine and West Sahara;

4. demands in a longer perspective that wars cease to be an instrument of politics and economic interests, and therefore that all military alliances, including NATO, be dissolved and supplanted by collective security systems, in which all involved states take part and whose core purpose should be disarmament;

5. regrets to note that Sweden, neutral for over 200 years and accordingly an example to other countries, as well as Finland, neutral for over 70 years, have ended their military neutrality by joining a military alliance;

6. condemns the persecution of those tasked on both sides with reporting on the war, or who deal with other matters that conflict with state interests, and supports the work of journalists;

7. notes that increasing expenditure by several states for tools of war, along with the fortification of military and economic blocks, is opposed to the interests of workers and threatens the welfare of peoples;

8. supports indigenous peoplesʼ defense of their territories and rights against capitalist extractivism in Canada, the USA, Brazil and other countries, and condemns the intensification of energy extraction caused by the Ukraine war;

9. protests against the use of “lawfare” against workers, pacifists etc. in many countries, sometimes with the complicity of the most reactionary sections of the judicial apparatus;

10. expresses solidarity with the families of victims of the accident in Seoul, in which three workers lost their lives through flooding – now in an ongoing conflict with relevent sections of government and the company to procure appropriate compensation – and demand safer working conditions for all workers worldwide;

11. note that a number of churches are attempting to end separation of church and state, causing problems relating to bioethics, school curricula and the wars, e. g. the current Ukrainian-Russian war;

12. supports self-organisation by LGBT people to defend their rights, and condemns activity on the part of churches, states and other actors that encourages persecution of LGBT people.