Vijesti

ACTIVITIES 02 – 09

 

 

CONTENT ACTIVITIES 02 – 09

 

CANADIAN BOSNIAN COMMUNITY NEED YOUR VOICE AND SIGN TO PARLIAMENT IN CANADA HEAR ABOUT GENOCIDE IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

 

OPEN LETTER TO THE CENTRAL ELECTION COMMISSION

 

STOP THE CHETNIKS IN BOSNIA

 

LETTER TO SWEDEN PRIME MINISTER AND THE SPEAKER OF THE RIKSDAG

 

DODIK MUST BE DISMISSED

 

LETTER TO THE EDITOR THE OTTAWA CITIZINE – CANADA

 

DISINFORMATION CANADA'S FORMER AMBASSADOR TO YUGOSLAVIA

 

REQUEST FOR TRANSFER OF ICTY ARCHIVE TO SARAJEVO

 

LEGALLY FORBIDDING THE ACTIVITS OF THE FASCIST TERRORIST OF "SERB CHETNIK’S MOVEMENT RAVNA GORA"

 

OPEN LETTER TO LEWIS MACKENZIE

 

SERBIA DOES NOT RECOGNIZE THE SOVEREIGNITY, TERITORIAL INTEGRITY AND INDEPENDENCE OF BOSNIA

 

THE PLACE FOR A MEMBER OF SERBOCIDE PEOPLE, “EXPERT” IN “EURO-TERRORISM”, IS BEHIND BARS

 

LETTER TO MR. JACK QOUIN

 

MISTER HOLBROOKE, "REPUBLIKA SRPSKA" WAS BORN BY MURDER, RAPE, EXPLOSION, GENOCIDE

 

LETTER TO EUROPEAN POLICE CONGRESS

 

LETTER FROM HILLARY CLINTON

 

REASON AND JUSTICE FOR SREBRENICA AND B&H

 

OPEN LETTER TO MS DIANA JOHNSTONE

 

SREBRENICA TOWN, SISTER/BROTHER TOWN OF NEW YORK CITY

 

WHY IT IS IMPORTANT FOR BOSNIAKS TO VOTE IN THE AMERICAN ELECTIONS

 

CHOOSING TO DEFEND MILOSEVIC IS CHOOSING TO DEFEND A WAR CRIMENAL

 

LEWIS MACKENZIE SEXUALLY MOLESTED BOSNIAK WOMEN HELD BY SERBIAN FORCES

 

FROM DARKNES OF THE BASEMENT TO THE LIGHT OF THE MOSQUE

 

LETTER FROM THE PRIME MINISTER OF CANADA

 

ON THE INDEPENDENCE DAY OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

 

ELEVEN GENOCIDES AGAINST BOSNIAKS

 

DEAR RESPECTED DOCTOR CINA

 

I DO NOT KNOW ANY NATION THAT WOULD FORGIVE, JUST LIKE  THAT 250.000 PEOPLE KILLED

 

THE DONATION WAS GIVEN TO CHETNIK MOVEMENT WHICH DID GENICIDE IN BOSNIA

 

A TLAE FROM THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH

 

TO THE FAMILY OF FRANK MCCLOSKEY

 

WE DEMAND A WRITTEN APOLOGY FOR INFLICTED DEEP SCARS IN OUR BEGINS

 

LETTER TO ONTARIO GOVERNMENT

 

POSTHUMOUS AWARD OF THE LEGION OF MERIT TO DRAZA MIHAJLOVIC HONORS CHETNIK GENOCIDE

 

CANADA – BOSNIA FRIEND PARLIAAMENTARY GROUP

 

THE NAME BOSNIAK IS A HISTORICAL AND ETHNIC TERM WHICH SYMBOLIZES HISTORY, CULTURE, TRADITION AND LANGUAGE OF BOSNIAKS

 

BOSNIAKS ARE PROUD ON YOUR BOSNIAN LANGUAGE

 

BOSNIAKS ARE NOT TERRORISTS

 

ANTI – WAR PEACE RESOLUTION

 

DISINFORMATION CANADA'S FORMER AMBASSADOR TO YUGOSLAVIA

 

 

CANADIAN BOSNIAN COMMUNITY NEED YOUR VOICE AND SIGN TO PARLIAMENT IN CANADA HEAR ABOUT GENOCIDE IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

SUPPORT MOTION M – 416

Let your contribution to genocide becomes a matter over which the Canadian Parliament called policy of aggression in Bosnia and Herzegovina.  Send a clear message that crimes must be punished and that Canada will continue to support the independence and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The national interest of Canada is that all those responsible for war crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina are responsible for their actions and are brought to justice. Let to recognize the genocide and to encourage reunification of Bosnia and Herzegovina and justice for the victims.

What is CNAB done on the issue of Resolution M - 416

Brian Masse Motion M – 416

M-416 — September 10, 2009 — Mr. Masse (Windsor West) — That, in the opinion of the House, the government should declare the day of July 11 as Srebrenica Remembrance Day and the week of July 11 as Bosnia and Herzegovina Tribute Week in memorial of the Srebrenica Massacre of July 1995, in which more than 8,000 Bosniak civilians were executed under the policy of ethnic cleansing, the worst act of genocide in Europe since the Second World War, and 30,000 others were expelled from their homes by Serbian forces.

 

 

M – 416 Seconded 

M 416 Mr. Masse (Windsor West) — Srebrenica massacre — Notice — September 10, 2009

Pursuant to Standing Order 86(3), jointly seconded by: Mr. Siksay (Burnaby—Douglas) and Ms. Charlton (Hamilton Mountain) — October 6, 2009

 

M – 416 Supporters from Government of Canada {Ministry of Foreign Affairs}, Office of Prime minster, General Governor   and Conservative  party of Canada

 

The Honourable Lawrence Cannon, P.C., M.P. Minister of Foreign Affairs

-----Original Message-----

From: min.dfaitmaeci@international.gc.ca [mailto:min.dfaitmaeci@international.gc.ca] 

Sent: December 4, 2009 10:26 AM

To: remir@mountaincable.net

Subject: A16983-2009 IN REPLY TO YOUR EMAIL OF SEPTEMBER 16, 2009

Professor Emir Ramic

President

Congress of North American Bosniaks, Canada

remir@mountaincable.net

Dear Professor Ramic:

Thank you for your email of September 16, 2009, in which you inform me

of the campaign for a Srebrenica Remembrance Day in Canada and request

support for the motion put forward by Mr. Brian Masse, Member of

Parliament, declaring July 11 as Srebrenica Remembrance Day.

The Government of Canada would support a motion designating a Srebrenica

Remembrance Day. Any motion which the government would support should be

based on a factual description of the events that is supported by

reliable sources such as the International Criminal Tribunal for the

former Yugoslavia.

As indicated in my letter of July 23, 2009, Canada mourns the terrible

loss of life and condemns the atrocities committed at Srebrenica.

Thank you again for writing to me on this matter.

Sincerely,

The Honourable Lawrence Cannon, P.C., M.P.

Minister of Foreign Affairs

 

-----Original Message-----

From: min.dfaitmaeci@international.gc.ca [mailto:min.dfaitmaeci@international.gc.ca] 

Sent: July 23, 2009 12:34 PM

To: remir@mountaincable.net

Cc: pm@pm.gc.ca

Subject: A10517-2009 IN REPLY TO YOUR EMAIL OF MAY 29, 2009

Mr. Emir Ramic

remir@mountaincable.net

c.c.  pm@pm.gc.ca

Dear Mr. Ramic:

Thank you for your email of May 29, 2009, concerning the Srebrenica

massacre in 1995. The Office of the Right Honourable Stephen Harper,

Prime Minister, and the Office of the Honourable Beverley J. Oda,

Minister of International Cooperation, as well as the Honourable Peter

Milliken, Speaker of the House of Commons, have also forwarded to me

your emails on this matter.

I have taken note of your suggestion that Canada consider adopting a

measure to recognize a Srebrenica Remembrance Day.

The House of Commons has now adjourned for the summer recess. Please be

assured, however, that when Parliament resumes in the fall there will be

an opportunity to give consideration to this important issue.

Canada mourns the terrible loss of life and condemns the atrocities

committed at Srebrenica.

I appreciate you bringing your views on this matter to my attention.

Sincerely,

The Honourable Lawrence Cannon, P.C., M.P.

Minister of Foreign Affairs

 

Office of the Minister of Public Works and Government Services

Dear Members of Bosniak Community in Canada

On behalf of the Honorable Christian Paradis, Minister of Public Works and Government Services

I would like to acknowledge receipt of your correspondence of October 28, 2009, regarding Srebrenica Remembrance Day

Motin. Please be assured that your correspondence will be given every consideration.

Yours sincerely,

Marc Vallieres, Chief of Staff

 

Office of the Prime Minister

 

-----Original Message-----

From: Prime Minister/Premier ministre [mailto:pm@pm.gc.ca] 

Sent: July 29, 2009 2:10 PM

To: remir

Cc: Lawrence Cannon

Subject: Office of the Prime Minister / Cabinet du Premier ministre

July 29, 2009

Emir Ramic

President

Congress of North American Bosniaks, Branch of Canada

remir@mountaincable.net

Dear Mr. Ramic:

On behalf of the Prime Minister, thank you for your e-mail of June 20.

We have taken the liberty of forwarding your correspondence to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Honourable Lawrence Cannon.  We would encourage you to dialogue with his office, as he is best equipped to address your concerns regarding a motion for a day of remembrance for Srebrenica.

Once again, thank you for taking the time to write. 

Sincerely,

Salpie Stepanian

Assistant to the Prime Minister

cc The Hon. Lawrence Cannon, P.C., M.P., Minister of Foreign Affairs

From: Prime Minister/Premier ministre [pm@pm.gc.ca]

Sent: June 5, 2009 9:04 AM

To: Emir Ramic <remir@mountaincable.net>

Cc: Lawrence Cannon, P.C., M.P.

Subject: Office of the Prime Minister / Cabinet du Premier ministre

 

Dear Mr. Ramic:

On behalf of the Right Honourable Stephen Harper, I would like to acknowledge receipt of your e-mail, with which you attached a resolution of the Congress of North American Bosniaks Canadian Division.

You may be assured that the views expressed in the resolution have been carefully considered. I have taken the liberty of forwarding your correspondence to the Honourable Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Foreign Affairs, who, I am certain, will also appreciate receiving this information.

Thank you for writing to the Prime Minister.

M. Bredeson

Executive Correspondence Office for the Prime Minister's Office

Agent de correspondance de la haute direction pour le Cabinet du Premier ministre

 

Terence Young, MP Oakville

-----Original Message-----

From: YoungT1A@parl.gc.ca [mailto:YoungT1A@parl.gc.ca] 

Sent: September 24, 2009 11:28 AM

To: CNAB@bosniak.org

Subject: RE: Please sponsor motion Srebrenica Remebrance Day in Canada

Dear Professor Emir Ramic,

Thank you for your e-mail. All correspondence directed to Terence Young is read and reviewed. I will bring your request to support the motion regarding Srebrenica Remebrance Day in Canada to Mr. Young's attention for action, following which we will attempt to provide a more detailed response in the coming days.

Kim Blain

Constituency Assistant

Office of Terence Young, MP Oakville

From: Oda, Bev - M.P. [OdaB@parl.gc.ca]

Sent: June 9, 2009 12:53 PM

To: Emir Ramic <remir@mountaincable.net>

Cc: 'lawrence.cannon@international.gc.ca'

Subject: RE: Resolution commemorating the victims and declaring July 11 as Srebrenica Remembrance Day in Canada

 

Bev Oda, M.P. Durham

 

Dear  Emir

This serves to acknowledge receipt of your correspondence of 30 May 2009 with regard to a request for recognition of Srebrenica Remembrance Day.

I am taking the liberty with this message of referring your request to the Honourable Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Foreign Affairs. I am confident that your request will be

considered and that you will be provided with a response.

Please accept my best wishes on behalf of the Honourable Bev Oda, P.C., M.P.

Sincerely,

Tara Nabi

Parliamentary Assistant for

Bev Oda, M.P. Durham

Minister of International Cooperation

Tel: 613-992-2792

Fax:613-992-2794

Email: odab@parl.gc.ca

 

Wallace, Mike - M.P

 

From: Wallace, Mike - M.P. [WallaM@parl.gc.ca] 

Sent: June 5, 2009 3:09 PM

To: 'remir@mountaincable.net'

Subject: Re: Resolution commemorating the victims and declaring July 11 as Srebrenica Remembrance Day in Canada

Dear Emir,

Thank you for your email and I will pass this information on to the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Mike Wallace, MP

 

Sweet, David - M.P

 

From: Sweet, David - M.P. [SweetD@parl.gc.ca]

Sent: June 2, 2009 12:30 PM

To: 'remir'

Subject: RE: Resolution commemorating the victims and declaring July 11 as Srebrenica Remembrance Day in Canad

Dear Emir, Thank you for contacting us and bringing this to our attention.  I will raise your request with Mr. Sweet and will be in touch shortly as per future action.

Kind Regards,

Alicia Wiersma 

Executive Assistant to David Sweet, M.P. 

Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale 

www.davidsweet.ca

 

the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean

 

From: Info [mailto:Info@GG.CA] 

Sent: November 3, 2009 9:54 AM

To: Emir Ramic

Subject: RE: HELP MAKE JULY 11TH SREBRENICA REMEMBRANCE DAY IN CANADA

Dear Mr. Ramic,

On behalf of Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaëlle Jean, I am responding to your e-mail below.

While the Governor General appreciates your request, she feels that this issue would be best addressed by members of Parliament. I understand from your letter that you have already contacted various government representatives, which was the appropriate step to take. 

I wish you the very best. Thank you for writing.

Yours sincerely,

Yonatan Lew, INFO

Rideau Hall

1 Sussex Drive / 1, promenade Sussex

Ottawa ON K1A 0A1

www.gg.ca

e-mail / courriel: info@gg.ca

 

M – 416 Supporters from Liberal Party Canada

 

Rae, Bob - M.P

 

From: Rae, Bob - M.P. [mailto:RaeB@parl.gc.ca] 

Sent: June 23, 2009 2:11 PM

To: 'remir'

Subject: RE: Srebrenica Remembrance Day

Dear Emir,

Thank you very much for your email. As you may be aware, our office put forward a unanimous consent motion in the House of Commons last week to commemorate the events of Srebrenica, and honour July 11th as Srebrenica Remembrance Day.  Unfortunately, not all other parties agreed to the statement and so blocked its passage in the House.

The Liberal Party stands firmly with Canadian Bosniaks and others who were affected by the events and will continue to try and push this initiative forward when we return in the fall.

Thank you once again and please do not hesitate to contact our office again in the future for any reason.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Ehrlich

Legislative Assistant

Office of the Hon. Bob Rae

Confederation Building, Ottawa

613-992-5234

raeb@parl.gc.ca

 

From: RaeB@parl.gc.ca [mailto:RaeB@parl.gc.ca] 

Sent: October 9, 2009 12:05 PM

To: remir@mountaincable.net

Subject: RE: HELP MAKE 11 JULYTH SREBRENICA REMEBRANCE DAY IN CANADA

Dear Professor Ramic

I am writing in response to your recent correspondence to Mr. Rae, regarding the introduction of a Srebrenica Remembrance Day.

As you point out, it is never too late to start officially remembering the awful atrocities that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. Understanding the importance of such a remembrance day to Canada, and especially its Bosniak community, Mr. Rae will be happy to support the motion in Parliament.

I would like to thank you for bringing this to our attention, and hope you will not hesitate to contact us again on this, or any other issue.

Yours Sincerely

Christopher Leslie

Parliamentary Assistant

Office of the Hon. Bob Rae

613-992-5234

raeb@parl.gc.ca

 

From: Rae, Bob - M.P. [RaeB@parl.gc.ca]

Sent: June 3, 2009 4:22 PM

To: 'remir'

Subject: RE: Resolution commemorating the victims and declaring July 11 as Srebrenica Remembrance Day in Canada

Dear Mr. Ramic,

Thank you very much for your email and request for a resolution commemorating the events of Srebrenica.

We will take your request under consideration as we move forward and will keep you posted on any developments.

We are hopeful that this imitative will be welcomed by our party and others.   

Please do not hesitate to contact our office again in the future for any reason.

 All the best,

Jennifer Ehrlich

Legislative Assistant

Office of the Hon. Bob Rae

Confederation Building, Ottawa

613-992-5234

raeb@parl.gc.ca

Ken Dryden

 

From: DrydeK@parl.gc.ca [mailto:DrydeK@parl.gc.ca] 

Sent: October 29, 2009 9:47 AM

To: remir@mountaincable.net

Subject: RE: HELP MAKE JULY 11TH SREBRENICA REMEBRANCE DAY IN CANADA

Dear Professor Ramic,

Thank you for your letter.  The events that took place in Srebrenica, Bosnia during the summer of 1995 must never be forgotten.  I will be supporting Mr. Masse’s motion to declare July 11 Srebrenica Remembrance Day and the week of July 11 Bosnia and Herzegovina Tribute Week.

Sincerely,

Ken Dryden

 

Bernard Patry, M.P.

 

From: PatryB@parl.gc.ca [mailto:PatryB@parl.gc.ca] 

Sent: October 29, 2009 9:48 AM

To: CNAB@bosniak.org

Subject: RE: PLEASE SPONSOR MOTION SREBRENICA REMEBRANCE DAY IN CANADA

Good day,

Thank you for your message.

Be assured that I will take good note of your request when the time will come to discuss this important matter at the House of Commons.

Sincerely yours,

Bernard Patry, M.P.

 

Hon. Marlene Jennings, P.C., M.P

 

From: JenniM8@parl.gc.ca [mailto:JenniM8@parl.gc.ca] 

Sent: November 4, 2009 11:31 AM

To: CNAB@bosniak.org

Subject: RE: PLEASE SPONSOR MOTION SREBRENICA REMEBRANCE DAY IN CANADA

Good morning,

I would like to inform you that Ms. Jennings would be in favour of this motion.

Sincerely,

Dominic M. DiFruscio

Adjoint législatif / Legislative Assistant

Bureau de l'hon. Marlene Jennings, C.P., députée /

Office of the Hon. Marlene Jennings, P.C., M.P.

 

From: JenniM8@parl.gc.ca [mailto:JenniM8@parl.gc.ca] 

Sent: December 14, 2009 11:25 AM

To: CNAB@bosniak.org

Cc: RaeB@parl.gc.ca; CotleI@parl.gc.ca

Subject: RE: LETTER OF THE CONGRESS OF NORTH AMERICAN BOSNIAKS TO HONORABLE MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS

Dear Professor Ramic:

On behalf of the Honourable Marlene Jennings, M.P. for Notre-Dame-de-Grâce - Lachine, I acknowledge receipt and thank you for your e-mail. As you know, Madame Jennings is in support of the motion below. I am also forwarding your e-mail to the Hon. Bob Rae, M.P., who is the Liberal Critic for Foreign Affairs, as well as to the Hon. Irwin Cotler, M.P., who is the Liberal Special Counsel on Human Rights and International Justice.

Thank you again for your correspondence.

Sincerely,

Dominic M. DiFruscio

Adjoint législatif / Legislative Assistant

Bureau de l'hon. Marlene Jennings, C.P., députée /

 

 

Robert Oliphant, M.P.

 

From: Oliphant.R@parl.gc.ca [mailto:Oliphant.R@parl.gc.ca] 

Sent: Tuesday, November 17, 2009 1:37 PM

To: CNAB@bosniak.org

Subject: RE: PLEASE SPONSOR MOTION SREBRENICA REMEBRANCE DAY IN CANADA

November 17, 2009

To the Congress of North American Bosniaks:

Thank you for your email regarding the introduction of a Srebrenica Remembrance Day.

As you rightly point out, it is never too late to start officially remembering the horrendous atrocities that took place in Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. Following in the steps of the European Parliament and the U.S. Senate, I believe it is fitting to commemorate the lives of the thousands of men, women, and children who were killed in this terrible massacre. Understanding the importance of a Srebrenica Remembrance Day to Canada, and especially to its Bosniak community, I  support this  motion.

I would like to thank you again for bringing this issue to my attention. If you have any further questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me again.

Sincerely,

Robert Oliphant, M.P.

Don Valley West

 

Jim Karygiannins, MP

 

From: jim@karygiannismp.com

To: remir

Subject: RE: 

Date: Tue, 29 Sep 2009 14:25:24 -0400

Dear Professor Emir Ramic,

Thank you for your email and concerns raised. I am aware of the campaign which is been done in order to recognize SREBRENICA REMEMBRANCE DAY.

I wish to extend to you and the people working on this campaign the best of luck with this endeavour. I will be watching the Motion closely and when and if it makes its way to the house of commons for a vote I will give it full consideration.

Thank you again for bringing this issue to my attention.

Regards,

Hon. Jim Karygiannis M.

 

Hon. Irwin Cotler, MP, P.C., O.C. / C.P., O.C.

 

From: CotleI@parl.gc.ca [mailto:CotleI@parl.gc.ca] 

Sent: September 18, 2009 2:14 PM

To: remir@mountaincable.net

Subject: RE: MAKE JULY 11TH SREBRENICA REMEBRANCE DAY IN CANADA

Dear Professor Emir Ramic,

Prof. Cotler acknowledges receipt of your email and pledges his support for this motion. 

Best,

Timothy Wood

Parliamentary Assistant / Adjoint Parlementaire

Office of / Bureau de

Hon. Irwin Cotler, P.C., O.C. / C.P., O.C.

 

 

Derek Lee, MP

 

From: LeeD9@parl.gc.ca

To: remir

Date: Fri, 18 Sep 2009 11:29:48 -0400

Subject: Re: Please Co-sponsor Brian Masse's motion

Thank you for your September 14th letter promoting support for Srebrenica Remembrance Day as outlined in Bill C-416. The Bill also describes a Bosnia-Herzegovina Tribute Week.

I support efforts to remember the Srebrenica massacre, whether that remembrance be in Europe, or multinationally and here in Canada. I am not certain that the Canadian Parliament is the right place to initiate a tribute week for another country but I would be open to consider this if this Bill successfully reaches the Order of Precedence.

I commend you for engaging in this human rights initiative, in the memory of those who were killed in this horrible criminal act.

Yours truly,

Derek Lee, M.P.

 

Marlene Jennings, MP

 

I acknowledge receipt and thank you for your recent correspondence in which you express your desire to have Canada declare July 11, “Srebrenica Remembrance Day”. I surely understand your views and concerns. Without hesitation, we Liberals have labelled these massacres as genocides because. For racial, ethnic, religious or political reasons, certain countries sought to annihilate these populations in violation of their right to live. Canadians lost family members in these genocides. It is our responsibility to recognize the memory of these victims as well reflects on the senselessness of these sadistic atrocities. Canada must serve as an example to the world that all peoples, regardless of their colour, ethnicity, or religion can live with dignity and respect. Under previous Liberal governments, Canada was able to establish itself as a respected leader in the protection of human rights internationally and let me reassure you that the  Liberal Party of Canada stands committed to protecting humans rights worldwide.   In this spirit, let me reiterate you my support for this initiative to have Canada recognize and declare July 11th, Srebrenica Remembrance Day.

 

 

Megan Leslie, MP

 

From: Leslie.M@parl.gc.ca [mailto:Leslie.M@parl.gc.ca] 

Sent: November 9, 2009 3:03 PM

To: CNAB@bosniak.org

Subject: RE: PLEASE SPONSOR MOTION SREBRENICA REMEBRANCE DAY IN CANADA

Good afternoon,

Thank you for taking the time to contact the office of Megan Leslie regarding the support for MP Brian Masse’s motion.

Ms. Leslie has asked me to respond on her behalf and relay that she does intend to fully support Brian Masse’s motion Srebrenica Remembrance Day. 

Thank you for your request on this most important issue.

Best regards,

Danielle

Danielle Derochie

Member's Assistant to Megan Leslie, MP Halifax

519 Confederation Building, House of Commons

Ottawa, ON  K1A 0A6

Ph: (613) 995-7614 / fax: (613) 992-8569

website: meganleslie.ca

 

M – 416 Supporters from NDP

 

Chris Charlton, MP

 

From: CharlC0@parl.gc.ca [mailto:CharlC0@parl.gc.ca] On Behalf Of CharlC@parl.gc.ca

Sent: October 5, 2009 1:23 PM

To: remir@mountaincable.net

Subject: RE: HELP MAKE JULY 11TH SREBRENICA REMEBRANCE DAY IN CANADA

Dear Professor Emir Ramic,

I just wanted to let you know that I have sent a letter to the Clerk of the House of Commons asking that my name be placed as a seconder of Mr. Masse’s motion.

All the best,

Chris

Chris Charlton, MP

Hamilton Mountain

 

Libby Davies, MP

 

Thank you for your letter regarding the motion for Srebrenica Remembrance Day, submitted by my colleague, Brian Masse, MP for Windsor West. I will be supporting the motion and hope we can get it passed.

 

Paul Dewar, MP

 

From: DewarP@parl.gc.ca [mailto:DewarP@parl.gc.ca] 

Sent: September 28, 2009 1:39 PM

To: remir@mountaincable.net

Subject: RE: HELP MAKE JULY 11TH SREBRENICA REMEBRANCE DAY IN CANADA

Dear Professor Emir Ramic,

Paul Dewar, MP is happy to support this.

Phyllis Larsen

Member's Assistant

Assistant Du Député

Paul Dewar, MP | Député Ottawa Centre

NDP Foreign Affairs Critic

Porte-parole du NPD pour les affaires étrangères

Tel: 613.996.5322 www.pauldewar.ca

CEP 232

 

Dewar, Paul - M.P

From: Dewar, Paul - M.P. [DewarP@parl.gc.ca]

Sent: June 12, 2009 10:41 AM

To: Emir Ramic <remir@mountaincable.net>

Subject: RE: Resolution commemorating the victims and declaring July 11 as Srebrenica Remembrance Day in Canada

Dear Emir,

Thank you for writing me about this important issue. I want to let you know you have my full support for the declaration of July 11 as Srebrenica Remembrance Day and for the resolution as you have presented it.

Please feel free to contact me if you any other questions or concerns.

Sincerely,  

Paul Dewar, MP | Député Ottawa Centre

NDP Foreign Affairs Critic

Porte-parole du NPD pour les affaires étrangères

Tel: 613.996.5322 www.pauldewar.ca

CEP 232

 

M – 416 Supporters from the Bloc Quebecois

 

 

Gilles Duceppe, MP

 

Statement from Gilles Duceppe, Member of Parliament for Laurier—Sainte-Marie and Leader of the Bloc Quebecois, MP

Your comments have been conveyed to the appropriate members of our research service and to our party’s critic for Foreign Affairs, and the MP for La Pointe-de-I’lle, Mrs. Francine Lalonde, who will give them all the required attention. Please rest assured that the Bloc Quebecois will continue to take responsible approach and act at all times with the greatest respect for Canadian people as well as  in the best interests of Quebec. Once again thank you for sharing your concern with us.

 

 

Jean Dorion, MP

 

Monsieur Emir Ramic

Je vous remercie de votre correspondance portant sur la motion du député Brian Masse pour faire du 11 juillet la journée commémorative des événements tragiques qui se sont déroulés en juillet 1995 à Srebrenica.

Plusieurs tentatives ont été faites en ce sens à la Chambre des communes et le Bloc Québécois a toujours été favorable à cette demande. Par conséquent, nous appuierons  toute initiative en ce sens.

Veuillez agréer, Monsieur, mes salutations distinguées.

Le député de Longueuil—Pierre-Boucher,

Jean Dorion

 

 

Thierry St-Cyr, MP

 

From: StcyrT0@parl.gc.ca [mailto:StcyrT0@parl.gc.ca] On Behalf Of StcyrT@parl.gc.ca

Sent: October 29, 2009 3:53 PM

To: CNAB@bosniak.org

Subject: RE: S'il vous plaît motion sponsor Srebrenica Remebrance Day in Canada

Bonjour,

Au nom du député de Jeanne-Le Ber et porte-parole en matière de Citoyenneté et d’Immigration, j’accuse réception de votre courriel.

Votre message sera soumis à l’attention de Monsieur Thierry St-Cyr, afin qu’il puisse en prendre connaissance.

Nous vous prions d’accepter nos salutations distinguées.

Elise Gingras

Adjointe parlementaire

Bureau de Thierry St-Cyr

Député de Jeanne-Le Ber

Bloc Québécois

Édifice de la Justice, Pièce 09

Tél: 613-995-6403

 

Dear professer Emir Ramic

Like you, the Bloc Québécois recognizes the importance both for Quebec, Canada, for the international community to commemorate the horrific and tragic events in Srebrenica in July 1995. Nearly 8,000 Bosnian Muslims were killed there summarily executed by members of the Bosnian Serb militias and paramilitary units. Many violations of the Geneva Conventions were perpetrated there, particularly the deportation of thousands of women, children and elderly persons and the rape of many women.

Any process of healing and reconciliation begins first and foremost duty of memory. The international community has a responsibility to learn from these events, described as "genocide" by the International Court of Justice in order to prevent their recurrence and to enable to realize the necessary national reconciliation Bosnia-Herzegovina. That is why the Bloc Québécois supports the establishment of a Day of Remembrance events in Srebrenica.

More than 60 years after the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, ratified by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 9 and December 10, 1948, the international community must continue to ensure that full light be shed on the events in Srebrenica. This review atrocities committed during the conflicts in former Yugoslavia is still not completed but it is essential to any lasting peace in the region and essential for the establishment of a genuine process of justice.

Please be assured that the Bloc Québécois will continue to monitor this issue and seek to ensure that the Harper government contributes to ongoing efforts by the international community for stability, peace and lasting reconciliation in this region the heavy past.

Please accept, Excellency, our best regards

The member for La Pointe-de-l'Île Spokesperson of the Bloc Québécois Foreign Affairs,

 

The Green Party of Canada

OTTAWA--The Green Party of Canada urges the Government of Canada to declare July 11th as Srebrenica Remembrance Day in recognition of the 14th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina in July of 1995.Elizabeth May, Leader of Canada’s Greens, said, "We must remember and grieve the 7,000 Muslim men who were forcefully removed from the U.N. sanctuary at Srebrenica and murdered during the last Balkan War.  We must also remember how and why the international community failed to protect them in order to understand why the principle of Responsibility to Protect (R2P) - properly applied rather than misused - can save many lives and avoid much heartbreak."On January 15, 2009, the European Parliament adopted a resolution commemorating the victims and declared July 11th as Srebrenica Remembrance Day throughout the European Union. The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives also adopted resolutions in 2005 commemorating the victims.Joe Foster, Human Rights Critic for the Greens, stated, ”It is hoped that this act of remembrance will lead to greater efforts being made through diplomatic sources to avoid confrontations of this nature that always result in innocent people being victimized leaving scars on all sides of the conflict which take generations to heal.”

Contact:

Michael Bernard

Communications Officer

Green Party of Canada

613-562-4916 ext. 244

(c) 613-614-4916

michael.bernard@greenparty.ca

How it all started lobbying for the interests of the Bosnia and Herzegovina and Bosniaks in Canada

 

Statement from The Hon. Jean Augustine, former, MP

 

Enclosed is a statement I made in Parliament today to ensure that the Resolution of the Srebernica genocide is on the table in Parliament.

July 11 is a day that all Canadians will remember. Standing Order 31 in the House where The Hon. Jean Augustine have raised the issue of the Resolution of Srebrenica genocide on the floor of the House. Mr. Speaker, this July 11 will mark the 10th anniversary of the massacre in Srebrenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina in which almost 8,000 men and boys were meticulously and methodically separated from their daughters, mothers, sisters and wives and then killed by Serb forces, buried in mass graves and then reinterred in secondary graves to cover up the crimes. Srebrenica fell to invading Serb forces on July 11, 1995, which at the time had been declared a UN \" safe area\" under the protection of the international community. The Srebrenica massacre was the worst genocidal atrocity in Europe since World War II. The Resolution of the Congress of North American Bosniaks commemorating the 10 year anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide states that the policies of aggression and genocide as implemented by Serb forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1992 and 1005 meet the terms defining the crime of genocide in Article 2 of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, created in Paris on December 9, 1948, and entered into force on January 12, 1951. The memory of those atrocities are still very much alive in the minds and hearts of many of my constituents. Srebrenica marked the climax of the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The Red Cross estimated that between 8,000 and 10,000 innocent people were either executed or listed as missing. Throughout the three year war, tens of thousands were deprived of the fundamental democratic principles of peace, stability and safety. This July let us remember the individuals who suffered because of hatred and intolerance. Let us assure the Canadian-Bosniak community and all communities that aggression, ethnic cleansing, genocide and all such evils be not repeated and that Canada and Canadians stand ready to uphold democratic principles and the rule of law. I have written to the Honourable Pierre Pettigrew, Minister of Foreign Affairs, The Honourable William Graham, Minister of National Defence and Dr.Senad Patry, Chair of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade requesting their support for Resolution of the Congress of North American Bosniaks regarding the Srebrenica genocide. Canadians are marking this anniversary year from January to December. July 11 is a day that all Canadians will remember.

Statement by former minister Foreign Affairs Pettigrew on 10 th  anniversary of Srebrenica massacre

Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew today extended his condolences and sympathies to the families and friends of the more than 8,000 Bosnians who were killed in the Bosnian town of Srebrenica on July 11, 1995.

"The killings marked one of the darkest points of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina and constitute the worst crime committed in Europe since World War II.

"The most appropriate way to honour those murdered at Srebrenica is for the leaders of the region to bring to justice all of those indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, particularly Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, the architects of the Srebrenica massacre.

"Canada welcomes the recent commitments by the Serbian government to arrest Ratko Mladic and other indictees, and hopes that these commitments will be acted upon soon.

"We cannot undo the tragedy of Srebrenica but it is important that the right lessons be learned and applied to the future. In this regard, leaders of the region must acknowledge the atrocities committed in Srebrenica and elsewhere in the Balkans. Canada welcomes the announcement of Serbian President Boris Tadic's intention to attend the commemoration ceremony as a step toward full recognition of the horror of this crime."

This year marks the 10th anniversary not only of the Srebrenica massacre but also of the signing of The General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, known as the Dayton Accords, which ended the conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Since the early 1990s, Canada has been committed to supporting peace, stability and reconstruction in the Balkans. In successive UN, NATO and EU missions, more than 40,000 Canadian Forces members have served in the Balkans.

The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) has disbursed more than $500 million toward humanitarian assistance and development goals. Canada accepted tens of thousands who fled the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s. Canada is a member of the Peace Implementation Council, which provides political advice to the High Representative of the International Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina in overseeing the civilian implementation of the Dayton Accords.

Canada will be represented at the Srebrenica commemoration ceremony by Canadian Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Shelley Whiting.

PETITION TO CANADIAN PARLIAMENT

 

We endorse the Help Make July 11th Srebrenica Remebrance Day and Bosnia-Herzegovina Tribute Week Petition to Canadian Parliament

IMPORTANT!!!! PLEASE SIGN ONLINE PETITION, http://www.petitiononline.com/july09/petition.html

 

To:  Canadian Parliament

To: House of Commons, Canadian Parliament - Members 

 

Requesting House of Commons, Canadian Parliament - Members recognition of 11 July as the day of commemoration of the Srebrenica genocide in Canada. 

 

having regard to U.S. H. Res. 199 on Genocide in Bosnia-Herzegovina6/22/2005, and U.S.S. Res. 134 on Genocide in Bosnia-Herzegovina2/11/2005; 

 

having regard to European Parliament resolution of 15 January 2009 on Srebrenica; 

 

having regard that the State of Canada is a member of the Steering Board of the Peace Implementation Council; 

 

having regard that Canadian Bosniaks would like to see Canadian Parliament working together toward recognition of 11 July as the day of commemoration of the Srebrenica genocide in Canada 

 

Whereas in July 1995 the Bosnian town of Srebrenica, which was at that time an isolated enclave proclaimed a Protected Zone by a 

United Nations Security Council Resolution of 16 April 1993, fell into the hands of the Serbian militias led by General Ratko Mladic and under 

the direction of the then President of the Republika Srpska, Radovan Karadžic; 

 

Whereas, during the several days of carnage after the fall of Srebrenica, more than 8 000 Bosniak men and boys, who had sought safety in 

this area under the protection of the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR), were summarily executed by Bosnian Serb forces 

commanded by General Mladic and by paramilitary units, including Serbian irregular police units which had entered Bosnian territory from 

Serbia; 

 

Whereas nearly 25 000 women, children and elderly people were forcibly deported, making this event the biggest war crime to take 

place in Europe since the end of the Second World War; 

 

Whereas this tragedy, declared an act of genocide by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), took place in a 

UN-proclaimed safe haven, and therefore stands as a symbol of the impotence of the international community to intervene in the conflict and 

protect the civilian population; 

 

Whereas multiple violations of the Geneva Conventions were perpetrated by Bosnian Serb troops against Srebrenica's civilian population, 

including deportations of thousands of women, children and elderly people and the rape of a large number of women; 

 

Whereas there cannot be real peace without justice and whereas full and unrestricted cooperation with the ICTY remains a basic 

requirement for further continuation of the process of integration into the EU for the countries of the western Balkans; 

 

Whereas the institutionalisation of a day of remembrance is the best means of paying tribute to the victims of the massacres and sending 

a clear message to future generations; 

 

1. Entirely Canadian Bosniak Community and non-Bosniak supporters of this resolution call on the Canadian Parliament for recognition of 11 July as the day of commemoration of the Srebrenica genocide in Canada. 

 

2. Entire Canadian Bosniak Community and non-Bosniak supporters of this resolution call for further Canadian efforts to bring the remaining fugitives to justice, expresses Canadian full support for the valuable and difficult work of the ICTY and stresses that bringing to justice those responsible for the massacres in and around Srebrenica is an important step towards peace and stability in the region; reiterates in that regard that increased attention needs to be paid to war crimes trials at domestic level.

FACEBOOK GROUP HELP MAKE JULY 11TH SREBRENICA REMEMBRANCE DAY IN CANADA

This is a group specifically created to unite all people lobbying to make July 11th Srebrenica Remembrance day and Bosnia- Herzegovina Tribute Week in Canada.

Over the last few months I've been doing everything I could to promote this through e-mails however at times it's been tough. So I think this is a great way to keep you all up to date and send new information on how you can make a difference. This is a very SERIOUS cause that I passionately believe in and I can't stress how much support this resolution needs. So I ask all of you who care to invite all your friends and support this resolution.

THIS IS THE FIRST BREAK FOR BOSNIAN CANADIANS SO LETS NOT MISS THIS OPPORTUNITY TO LEAVE A STRONG MEMORY FOR ALL THOSE WHO ARE NOT FAMILIAR WITH THIS GENOCIDE. 

By joining this group you will be:

1. notified about any new rallies, lobbies press conferences taking place in Canada and around North America. 

2. contributing to make this resolution pass in Canadian parliament. (you are the only way this will pass)

3. getting latest updates on the status of this resolution and what politicians in Canada and in the US are doing regarding the Srebrenica Resolution. 

4. able to get answers to all of your questions. 

Each individual in this world has the power to create a change for the better....this is your chance.

***keep in mind this group is not only open to Bosnian-Canadians but also other Canadians who want to help this resolution pass. US residence are also welcome and can make a change by e-mailing the Canadian parliament and the US senate to push this resolution through. In other words this group is for anyone who strongly believes in making this possible.

SAMPLE LETTER

(Date)

RE: Co-sponsor and support Brian Masse motion SREBRENICA REMEMBRANCE DAY

 

Honourable (puno ime i prezime clana Parlamenta), MP

[ adresa clana Parlamenta – “Constituency Office”  ]

Dear, MP

 

As your constituent, I would kindly ask you to support  of MP Brian Masse's motion SREBRENICA REMEMBRANCE DAY.

 

Being a supporter of this motion will help demonstrate that you deeply care about issues important to your Bosnian-Canadian constituents. There are about 50,000 Bosnian-Canadians, and as you know, many of them live in your riding.

 

There are many most serious aspects directly implicating, involving, and connecting Canada to the events and issues leading to, and in the aftermath of, Srebrenica and many other atrocities in the war aggression and genocide on the sovereign state and UN Member the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (RBiH) and its People. In asking you to co-sponsor and support this motion, let me stress one aspect which is less known to Canada’s public, and that is international responsibility and privilege from Canada being a member of the UN Security Council’s Chapter VII Executive Governing Body of Bosnia and Herzegovina - the Steering Board of the Peace Implementation Council (SB PIC), sitting together with its closest allies and international partners, US and European Union, which have already adopted similar resolutions (European Parliament resolution of 15 January 2009 on Srebrenica; US S. RES. 134 and H.Res. 199). Further details and thoughts from us, Bosnian-Canadian community can be found at these links:

 

By passing Mr. Masse’s motion, Canada will benefit in many ways:

- If support, Canada’s international image will be respected as it was in the past;

- If support, Canada will send a clear message to all abusers of power that we will always stand for peace through justice;

- If support, Canada will serve as the model and guidance to other countries to follow its path in acknowledging the genocide of innocent Bosnians; and

- If support, Canada will give hope to those whose hope was taken from them;

 - If support, you are demonstrating that all Parties and Members of Parliament can work together in a non-partisan way on such fundamental issue of our human race.

 

I trust that I can count on you as a committed supporter of a free, democratic, and sovereign Bosnia and Herzegovina, of the victims and survivors of the genocide and the Canadian-Bosniak community in large (who still face overt and subtle threats and intimidation here in Canada without protection of the local and other authorities).

 

Thank you very much for your time and urgent attention to this matter.

 

Sincerely,

cc: CNAB@bosniak.org

 

CNAB LETTER TO HONORABLE MEMBERS OF THE CANADIAN PARLIAMENT

December 1, 2009

The Congress of North American Bosniaks (CNAB), representing interests of more than 350,000 Bosniaks in North America, and more than 50,000 Canadian Bosniaks, calls upon all members of the Canadian parliament to support the resolution M-416 on the genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH).

This resolution is of utmost importance as a means of bringing about justice for the victims of genocide. By supporting this resolution, you will help to ensure that the world knows the truth about the aggression and genocide in Bosnia, and that these kinds of atrocities are never repeated anywhere in the world. If we do not formally acknowledge what took place, we are destined to repeat the same mistakes that allowed for such crimes to take place.

We thank all the members of the Canadian Parliament who have already expressed support for the resolution. To those members who have yet to join the cause, we ask you to consider the message it would send to the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina who are desperate to reconcile and live in peace. There can be no lasting peace or reconcilement in Bosnia and Herzegovina without the support of the international community in order to take the next steps forward toward euro-Atlantic integration. We also ask you to consider such a resolution as in the best interest of the Canadian citizens who have often shown solidarity with the Bosniak people both here and abroad.

Canadian Bosniaks have successfully integrated themselves over the years and are model citizens of Canada, working for the betterment of their newfound communities. They are locally represented by the Canadian Branch of CNAB who have been working diligently with the members of the parliament to ensure this resolution is accurately communicated and that the vote takes place by the end of the year. Your support will be greatly appreciated by the entire Bosniak community in Canada.

Thank you again for your consideration in this very important matter.

Sincerely,

Haris Alibašić, MPA

President of the CNAB Board of Directors

 

LETTER OF CANADIAN – BOSNIAN COMMUNITY TO HONORABLE MEMBERS OF THE CANADIAN PARLIAMENT

 

 We would kindly ask you to support of MP Brian Masse's motion SREBRENICA REMEMBRANCE DAY.

 

Being a supporter of this motion will help demonstrate that you deeply care about issues important to your Bosnian-Canadian constituents. There are about 50,000 Bosnian-Canadians, and as you know, many of them live in your riding.

 

There are many most serious aspects directly implicating, involving, and connecting Canada to the events and issues leading to, and in the aftermath of, Srebrenica and many other atrocities in the war aggression and genocide on the sovereign state and UN Member the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (RBiH) and its People. In asking you to co-sponsor and support this motion, let me stress one aspect which is less known to Canada’s public, and that is international responsibility and privilege from Canada being a member of the UN Security Council’s Chapter VII Executive Governing Body of Bosnia and Herzegovina - the Steering Board of the Peace Implementation Council (SB PIC), sitting together with its closest allies and international partners, US and European Union, which have already adopted similar resolutions (European Parliament resolution of 15 January 2009 on Srebrenica; US S. RES. 134 and H.Res. 199). Further details and thoughts from us, Bosnian-Canadian community can be found at these links:

 

By passing Mr. Masse’s motion, Canada will benefit in many ways:

- If support, Canada’s international image will be respected as it was in the past;

- If support, Canada will send a clear message to all abusers of power that we will always stand for peace through justice;

- If support, Canada will serve as the model and guidance to other countries to follow its path in acknowledging the genocide of innocent Bosnians; and

- If support, Canada will give hope to those whose hope was taken from them;

 - If support, you are demonstrating that all Parties and Members of Parliament can work together in a non-partisan way on such fundamental issue of our human race.

 

We trust that we can count on you as a committed supporter of a free, democratic, and sovereign Bosnia and Herzegovina, of the victims and survivors of the genocide and the Canadian-Bosniak community in large (who still face overt and subtle threats and intimidation here in Canada without protection of the local and other authorities).

 

Thank you very much for your time and urgent attention to this matte

 

 LETTER OF CNAB – BRANCH CANADA TO HONORABLE MEMBERS OF THE CANADIAN PARLIAMENT

 

Mr. Brian Masse M.P., along with Dr. Zijad Delic, President of the Islamic Congress of Canada and professor Emir Ramic, President of the Congress of North American Bosniaks-Canada, the Canadian Bosniak community and many supporters launched on August 29, 2009 the campaign for a Srebrenica Remembrance Day in Canada with the public presentation of a motion to be introduced in the House of Commons. The motion is in the house from September 10, 2009.

 

The time is long past due for Canada to declare July 11 Srebrenica Remembrance Day. This anniversary raises awareness of the tragic suffering of the people of Bosnia and honours and remembers those who were killed as a result of the policies of genocide, ethnic cleansing, and war crimes carried out in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1992 to 1995. With this declaration, Canada acknowledges the importance of this event in helping to bring closure for the Bosnian people through truth and justice. The institutionalization of Srebrenica Remembrance Day every July 11 will help to inform future generations and assist all of us to work towards peaceful coexistence.

Even though genocide happened more than a decade ago, it is not too late for Canada denounces the evil inflicted on innocent people in Bosnia. Both the House and Senate of the U.S. Congress have passed resolutions and the European Parliament did so earlier this year. But the Canadian House of Commons has yet to act.

Long-overdue Srebrenica Remembrance Day is giving Canada the opportunity to stand up and join other countries in solidarity against the heinous crime of genocide and regain our national reputation a true peace-broker in the world.

By motion Canada will benefit in many ways:

a)    Canada’s international image will be respected as it was in the past;

b)    Canada will send a clear message to all abusers of power that we will always stand for peace through justice;

c)     Canada will serve as the model and mentor to other countries to follow its path in acknowledging the genocide of innocent Bosnians; and

d)    Canada will give hope to those whose hope was taken from them.

The Congress of North American Bosniaks which represents more than 50.000 Canadian Bosniaks believes that all Canadians should support motion, so that this genocide is not forgotten; so that people can live peacefully together and no one need fear that what happened to Bosniaks will ever happen again to any human being.

We call upon all Canadian representatives on the Hill as well as all Canadians of conscience to support this courageous initiative to sponsor the motion on the Bosnia-Herzegovina genocide so that justice can be brought to bear on behalf of all who were so brutally massacred.

Many Canadians, but especially those whose roots of origin are in Bosnia and Herzegovina are proud of Canadian politicians who value honesty, integrity and justice for every human being.

 

On behave of the Congress of North American Bosniaks and on behave of the more than 50.000 Canadian Bosniaks I would kindly ask you to support motion SREBRENICA REMEMBRANCE DAY.

 

Being a co-sponsor and supporter of this motion will help demonstrate that you deeply care about issues important to your Bosnian-Canadian community.

 

This is a very important question to the Canadian and Bosnian interest. I would appreciate your response at earliest opportunity.

 

Kind regards,

 

Profesor Emir Ramic

 

President of the Congress of North American Bosniaks, Canada

WHY CANADA SHOULD SUPPORT ANTI-GENOCIDE RESOLUTION

September 9, 2009

By Imam Dr. Zijad Delic — Bosnia and Herzegovina! Remember? This was once a wonderful place where people of all religious backgrounds enjoyed immeasurable blessings. Without hesitation I could describe this corner of the world as an earthly “paradise” — until psychopaths like Radovan Karadzic emerged from their dark caves.

They came among us with their bizarre fascist ideas, using aggressive rhetoric to manipulate the minds and hearts of their fellow Serbs, whipping them up into a frenzy of violence and hatred against Muslims and all non-Serbs in Bosnia. Paradise soon became Hell-on-earth.

Bosnia and Herzegovina! For most of the outside world, the name immediately calls to mind the terrible period between 1992 and 1995, when tens of thousands of innocent Bosnian Muslims were killed — ethnically “cleansed” — for the sole “crime” of being Muslims.

Men and boys had their lives wiped away and their potential lost forever; hunted down, murdered, buried without a shred of ceremony by bulldozers, and this in the heart of “civilized” Europe. Concentration camps, brutal murders, the pre-meditated rape of thousands of Bosnian Muslim girls and women (each one of them somebody’s daughter, wife, mother, fiancée); thousands of children traumatized; people wounded beyond healing.

Serbs from both Bosnia and Serbia — supported by the Serbian government — killed approximately 250,000 Muslims; raped more than 50,000 Muslim girls and women; imprisoned thousands in concentration camps; maimed and wounded tens of thousands more. The full list of atrocities and their morbid statistics is too long to recount here. In the now-infamous Bosnian town of Srebrenica — which was supposed to be an internationally recognized safe-zone — Serbs slaughtered an estimated 8,000 men and boys for the sole “crime” of being Muslim. All of this unspeakable brutality, this horrendous and obscene waste of humanity, took place right before the eyes of the so-called “civilized” world.

What was done to innocent Bosnians by Serb forces meets the definition of genocide as stated in Article 2 of the Convention of the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, which was established in Paris on December 9, 1948 and came into force on January 12, 1951. Traumatic memories of intentionally committed atrocities on Bosniaks are still very much alive in the minds and hearts of those who survived.

Even though these massacres happened more than a decade ago, it is not too late for the world to collectively denounce the evil inflicted on innocent people in Bosnia. Both the House and Senate of the U.S. Congress have passed resolutions and the European Parliament did so earlier this year. But the Canadian House of Commons has yet to act.

MP Brian Masse plans to put forward a motion this fall, as soon as possible after the House of Commons resumes sitting in October. He hopes to launch a campaign for a long-overdue Srebrenica Remembrance Day, thus giving Canada the opportunity to stand up and join other countries in solidarity against the heinous crime of genocide and regain our national reputation a true peace-broker in the world.

By passing Mr. Masse’s resolution, Canada will benefit in many ways:

a) Canada’s international image will be respected as it was in the past;

b) Canada will send a clear message to all abusers of power that we will always stand for peace through justice;

c) Canada will serve as the model and mentor to other countries to follow its path in acknowledging the genocide of innocent Bosnians; and

d) Canada will give hope to those whose hope was taken from them.

The above are just some of the reasons why CIC and Canadian Muslims support MP Brian Masse in sponsoring a resolution on the Bosnia and Herzegovina genocides. Furthermore, we believe all Canadians should support it, so that this genocide is not forgotten; so that people can live peacefully together and no one need fear that what happened to Bosnian Muslims will ever happen again to any human being.

CIC and Canadian Muslims thank Mr. Masse for recognizing that Bosnia and Herzegovina underwent the worst case of atrocities and genocide committed against civilians since the Second World War and that innocent Bosnian men, women, children, the sick and the elderly, took the brunt of intentional aggression by Serb forces.

We call upon all Canadian representatives on the Hill as well as all Canadians of conscience to support this courageous initiative to sponsor a parliamentary resolution on the Bosnia-Herzegovina genocide so that justice can be brought to bear on behalf of all who were so brutally massacred.

All Canadians should be thankful that MP Brian Masse cares enough about justice and truth to stand up for their sake in these troubled times! Many Canadians — but especially those whose roots of origin are in Bosnia and Herzegovina — are proud of Canadian politicians like himself, who value honesty, integrity and justice for every human being.

For me, as an Imam and a human being, the philosophy of “caring and respect” springs from three sources:

a) My religious background, which is based on strong principles of justice, equality and care for all human beings. The intellectual tradition of Islam has left a deep mark on my personal choices in regards to human relations. Muhammad (pbuh) once said; “The best amongst the people are those who benefit (all) people.”

b) My family and cultural Bosnian roots, through which I was exposed to great diversity and learned at a very young age to care about all people; and

c) My new homeland of Canada, where everyone is free and encouraged to live his or her faith unhindered and unashamed; where people can openly affirm God’s love for all humanity; where religion is an agent of healing, reconciliation, and peace; where religious people and institutions encourage understanding, cooperation, and respect; where religion promotes the safety, dignity, freedom and potential of every person as a whole human being.

In short, Canada is a place where all are given opportunities to help themselves and in turn extend help to others near and far, including those they have never seen or met. For most Canadians, Bosnians are those unknown people in need, people of goodness forgotten by their neighbors in the heart of Europe – forgotten only because they belong to a different religion.

Our plea to Canada: Do not forget people in need!

BRIAN MASSE LAUNCHES SREBRENICA REMEMBRANCE DAY CAMPAIGN

August 31, 2009

Presents motion to be introduced in the House of Commons this fall

Windsor, ON - Today Brian Masse M.P., NDP Industry, Automotive, and Border Critic along with Imam Dr. Zijad Delic, Emir Ramic, President of the Congress of North American Bosniaks-Canada, the Canadian Bosniak community and many supporters launched the campaign for a Srebrenica Remembrance Day in Canada with the public presentation of a motion to be introduced in the House of Commons this upcoming fall session.

“The time is long past due for Canada to declare July 11 Srebrenica Remembrance Day. This anniversary raises awareness of the tragic suffering of the people of Bosnia and honours and remembers those who were killed as a result of the policies of genocide, ethnic cleansing, and war crimes carried out in Bosnia and Herzegovina from 1992 to 1995,” Masse stated. “With this declaration, Canada acknowledges the importance of this event in helping to bring closure for the Bosnian people through truth and justice. The institutionalization of Srebrenica Remembrance Day every July 11 will help to inform future generations and assist all of us to work towards peaceful coexistence.”

After the fall of Srebrenica on July 11th 1995, Bosnian Serb forces, commanded by General Ratko Mladic (an indicted war criminal), and paramilitary units rapidly executed more than 8,000 Bosniak (Muslim) men, boys, and elderly, who had sought safety in the area. Moreover, approximately 30,000 people were forcibly deported in an UN-assisted ethnic cleansing. The European Parliament resolution referred to the Srebrenica Massacre as “the biggest war crime in Europe since the end of WWII.”

This atrocity has been declared an act of genocide by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. Both the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate in 2005 have passed resolutions on the Srebrenica Genocide and all the atrocities that occurred during the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995. The European parliament passed its resolution on January 15, 2009 institutionalizing July 11 as the day of Remembrance for the Srebrenica Genocide.

Senad Alicehajic, President of the Bosnian Club of Windsor, stated “We are also here today to recognize the fact that individuals committed these terrible acts, but it is the ideology of ethnic cleansing, fascism, racial and cultural discriminations, Nazism, and hatred that allowed them to carryout these atrocities. While the perpetrators of these crimes need to be brought to justice it is equally important that these false ideologies be condemned. The Srebrenica Remembrance Day will provide just such an opportunity.”

“The US Congress, both the House and Senate have passed resolutions. The European Parliament has done the same earlier this year. The House of Commons needs to act. With this motion the opportunity presents itself for Canada to join other countries in doing something that should have been done long ago,” Masse stated.

Historical overview of events leading to this moment:

Good Afternoon, My name is Senad Alicehajic, member of the Bosnian Community Windsor, President of the Bosnian Club Windsor and social worker at a local mental health agency.

On behalf of the Congress of North American Bosniaks-Canadian Branch, on behalf of the Institute for the research of Genocide-Bosnian and Canadian branch, on behalf of the Bosnian Community Windsor and most importantly on behalf of the victims of Genocide and their families, I welcome you and thank you for being here. Some of you traveled a geographical distance and some of you had to travel an emotional distance to be here, but you made it and I am humbled and honored to be among you.

Let us remind ourselves:

It is Canada who came to Bosnia before Bosnia came to Canada. It is Canadian battalion that served in Bosnia for over 3 years and it is Canada who lost 9 soldiers serving these two great countries. Our past is jointed in many ways as we continue to strive for the justice, peace, respect and honor.

These values are universal and transcend the boundaries created by humans.

Today we are here to reiterate our commitment to the promise of Never Again Genocide, Never Again Concentration Camps and Never Again Mass Graves. We are here today to show that maintenance of this commitment is very important because these strong messages can actually save lives of those living in regions impacted by raging wars.

Today we firmly stand here to confirm that we as human beings share the universal truth about the good and the wrong. We all know that when we do a good deed we feel great about it for a while and then the feeling goes away, but when we do a bad deed, the wrong feeling stays with us for much longer period of time, sometimes our whole life. This tells us that doing good deeds is natural and doing wrong deeds works against our body and soul; because, in essence, we are all created as good people and our body always tells the truth.

The truth that we want to say today, loud and clear, has been confirmed by many living and unfortunately many dead people. Experts from many renowned organizations, International courts and tribunals, survivors, witnesses, and exhumed remains from the mass graves all tell the same truth.

THAT IN THE PERIOD BETWEEN THE 10TH AND 14TH OF JULY 1995 IN THE REGION OF A SMALL TOWN IN EASTERN BOSNIA CALLED SREBRENICA, AT LEAST 8353 MEN AND BOYS WERE GRUSOMLY EXECUTED BY SERB FORCES, UNDER THE COMMAND OF GENERAL RATKO MLADIC, WAR CRIMINAL, STILL AT LARGE.

LET US REMIND OURSELVES THAT SREBRENICA AT THAT TIME WAS A SAFE HAVEN PROCLAIMED BY THE UNITED NATIONS.

Bodies of these innocent people were then buried in multiple mass graves, which were subsequently, by using heavy machinery, moved again and buried in secondary mass graves in order to bury the truth too.

Some bodies were dismantled in this process and the body parts of one person in some cases ended up in two, three or more different mass graves.

We are not here today, 14 year later, to prove anything to anyone or to point fingers at anyone. It is well know to the world what happened in Bosnia between ‘92 and ‘95. It has been confirmed by the International Tribunal in Hague, By the Senate of the USA, by the European Union Parliament, and by other counties, states and cities including the state of Michigan, city of Grand Rapids and the countries such as Croatia and Monte Negro.

The question is: What is Canada waiting for?

They all passed a resolution or a proclamation confirming the fact that an act of Genocide, the worst one Europe has seen after the WWII, has happened in the town of Srebrenica.

Again, the reasons for these resolutions are not one sided. They are based on the universal belief of the democratic world that we need to recognize countries in trouble and to help in a timely manner, to prevent genocide and intervene before it is too late. It is for the victims of Genocide that we are doing this as they have no voice to do it for themselves.

We are also here today to recognize the fact that yes, it must have been individuals who committed these terrible acts, but it is the ideology of ethnic cleansing, ideology of fascism, racial and cultural discriminations, Nazism, and hatred that need to be trialed in the courts, and condemned in our hearts. We have to condemn such ideologies and fight for the justice, truth, equality and democracy.

And this is where this story starts: During and after the war in Bosnia, as many as 50 000 Bosnians came to Canada as immigrants and refugees and found their new home here. As the new diaspora we worked hard to become a piece of the Canadian Multicultural Mosaic and to be productive members of this democratic society. We also learned how the system works and how we need to organize to preserve our culture and heritage.

However, this most important piece is not completed yet.

Our open wound still hurts as we watch every year, on July 11th, the day of genocide anniversary, hundreds of coffins placed in the ground for the last time.

So far, experts have been able to exhume and identify, by using the DNA technology, over 3500 bodies, and their families were able to give them a proper burial in the Commemorative centre POTOCARI near Srebrenica.

Over 5000 others are still waiting to be found in mass graves and to be identified and buried.

Each Year, Over 40 000 people come in person to this place to say their final good byes to their brothers, fathers, sons, grandsons, uncles, grandfathers, while millions are closely watching on their TV’s and computers. Among those who visited POTOCARI are President Bill Clinton, current vice president Joe Biden, Carla del Ponte, prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in August 1999 and others.

Today, only 14 years later, you are standing here and asking yourselves what went wrong. That is a complex question and we will not be able to answer it today, but what is maybe even more important question is what we can do to make it better for future generations.

This kind of approach is the driving force behind the Congress of North American Bosniaks, an organization established in North America that represents the interests of over 350 000 North American Bosniaks. This organization is committed to creating better future for Bosniaks and all

other people in Bosnia, Canada and USA.

This organization has been looking for support of Canadian MP-s, for the past 4 years, to help us on the road of recovery, to bring some closure to our past and to help us in our effort to have our voice heard in Ottawa.

It is only recently that we finally got the opportunity to do something like this. Thanks to Brian Masse, we are here today, all humbled and privileged to be able to help raise awareness on these sad, but true subjects.

Brian Masse agreed to work with Canadian Bosniaks towards, not only passing of a motion or a resolution or a bill, but also towards creating a prosperous Bosnia and Herzegovina in its effort to integrate in European Union.

By Sonja Puzic, The Windsor StarAugust 31, 2009 — Windsor West MP Brian Masse has launched a campaign for a nationally recognized Srebrenica Remembrance Day to mark the horrific 1995 massacre in Bosnia.

At a news conference in Windsor Saturday, Masse said he will present a motion in Parliament this fall to designate July 11 Srebrenica Remembrance Day. Masse was accompanied by members of Windsor’s Bosnian community.

In July 1995, Bosnian Serb forces led by General Ratko Mladic, an indicted war criminal still in hiding, executed more than 8,000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica.

The massacre has been referred to as the biggest war crime in Europe since the Second World War and declared a genocide by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. It is regarded as the worst atrocity of the war in Bosnia between 1992 and 1995.

The European Parliament passed a resolution early this year to mark July 11 Srebrenica Remembrance Day. The United States House of Representatives and the Senate have also passed similar resolutions.

CNAB SUPPORTS SPONSORSHIP OF THE RESOLUTION ON GENOCIDE IN SREBRENICA AND B&H

August 26, 2009

The Congress of North American Bosniaks, an umbrella organization representing American and Canadian Bosniaks, welcomes and supports the planned announcement of the Canadian MP Brian Masse to sponsor the resolution on genocide of Bosniaks in Srebrenica and the whole of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Canadian parliament. MP Masse will announce his plans at a press conference in Windsor on August 29th, 2009 at 12:00 pm, 400 City Hall Square, Windsor, ON.

Congress of North American Bosniaks – Canada branch, Institute for the Research of Genocide Canada and Bosnia and Herzegovina community of Windsor and the Bosnia and Herzegovina Diaspora in Canada work to intensify activities for the adaptation of the resolution. They call on all Canadians of Bosnia and Herzegovinian origin and all people of good faith who support the truth, justice, and a sovereign, multiethnic, democratic, prosperous Bosnia and Herzegovina, to be actively involved in this process and to focus their efforts in campaigning for the resolution to pass in the Canadian parliament.

The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives adopted resolutions in 2005 commemorating the victims of genocide perpetrated in Bosnia and Herzegovina and expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the massacre at Srebrenica in July 1995. Both resolutions acknowledged aggression and ethnic cleansing perpetrated by Bosnian Serb forces during the aggression on Bosnia.

On January 15, 2009, the European Parliament adopted a resolution commemorating the victims and declaring July 11 as Srebrenica Remembrance Day throughout European Union.

The Srebrenica genocide and the genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina were the worst atrocities in Europe since World War II. Memory of those atrocities is still very much alive in the minds and hearts of Canadian Bosniaks.

CNAB welcomes MP Masse’s sponsorship of the resolution and appreciates his work and commitment to truth and justice for Bosniaks and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

On behalf of the CNAB

Haris Alibasic, MPA

President of the CNAB Board of Directors

 

SECOND LETTER OF THE CANADIAN ISLAMIC CONGRESS

 

November 6, 2009

Mr. Brian Masse, MP Windsor West

Constituency Office 2-1398 Ouellette Avenue Windsor, Ontario N8X 1J8

Parliament Hill Office Room 701 Justice Building House of Commons Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6

 

Re: The Resolution M-416 on the Genocide in Bosnian & Herzegovina

 

Dear Mr. Brian Masse, MP

 

CANADIAN ISLAMIC CONGRESS, THE LARGEST ADVOCASY GROUP OF CANADIAN MUSLIMS, CONGRADULATES YOU ON BEING VOICE TO PARLIAMENT IN CANADA ABOUT GENOCIDE IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

 

Canadian Islamic Congress and all friends of truth and justice in Canada deeply respect your act of sponsoring the resolution M-416 on the genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is in parliamentary procedure and hope that you and your colleagues from the NDP will be successful in making this dream a reality.

What was done to innocent Bosnians by Serb forces meets the definition of genocide as stated in Article 2 of the Convention of the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, which was established in Paris on December 9, 1948 and came into force on January 12, 1951. Traumatic memories of intentionally committed atrocities on Bosniaks are still very much alive in the minds and hearts of those who survived.

Even though these massacres happened more than a decade ago, it is not too late for the world to collectively denounce the evil inflicted on innocent people in Bosnia. Both the House and Senate of the U.S. Congress have passed resolutions and the European Parliament did so earlier this year. But the Canadian House of Commons has yet to act.

Your plan to support such a resolution in the House of Commons gives us hope that Canada would be on the list of those who support the resolution. We believe that Canada was supposed to be a leader not just a follower on the matter.

Your stance will give Canada the opportunity to stand up and join other countries in solidarity against the heinous crime of genocide and regain our national reputation a true peace-broker in the world.

By passing this resolution, Canada will benefit in many ways:

a) Canada’s international image will be respected as it was in the past; b) Canada will send a clear message to all abusers of power that we will always stand for peace through justice; c) Canada will serve as the model and mentor to other countries to follow its path in acknowledging the genocide of innocent Bosnians; and d) Canada will give hope to those whose hope was taken from them.

The above are just some of the reasons why CIC and Canadian Muslims support you and your colleagues in sponsoring a resolution on the Bosnia and Herzegovina genocide.

Furthermore, we believe all Canadians should support it, so that this genocide is not forgotten; so that people can live peacefully together and so that no one needs to fear that what has happened to Bosnian Muslims will ever happen again to any human being.

CIC’s plea to all MPs and Canada’s government is: “Do not forget people in need!”

 

With respect,

 

Imam Dr. Zijad Delic

National Executive Director

Canadian Islamic Congress

 

FIRST LETTER OF THE CANADIAN ISLAMIC CONGRESS

August 26, 2009

The Canadian Islamic Congress today declared its full support for MP Brian Masse (NDP - Windsor West), who plans to sponsor a resolution in Parliament condemning the genocide of thousands of Bosnians between 1992 and 1995 in war-torn Bosnia and Herzegovina. 

 

Mr. Masse will publicly announce his resolution at a press conference scheduled for Saturday, August 29, 2009 at 12 noon at Charles Clark Square, City of Windsor, ON. 

 

"What was done to innocent Bosnians by Serb forces meets the definition of genocide as stated in Article 2 of the Convention of the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, which was established in Paris on December 9, 1948 and came into force on January 12, 1951," noted CIC National President, Mrs. Wahida Valiante. "Traumatic memories of intentionally committed atrocities on Bosniaks are still very much alive in the minds and hearts of those who survived." 

 

"What happened in Bosnia and Herzegovina was so terrible, I would never wish it on any human being," added Imam Dr. Zijad Delic, CIC’s Bosnian-born National Executive Director who will also attend and speak at the press conference. 

 

"Serbs from both Bosnia and Serbia - supported by the Serbian government - killed approximately 250,000 Muslims; raped more than 50,000 Muslim girls and women; imprisoned thousands in concentration camps; maimed and wounded tens of thousands more. The full list of atrocities is too long to recount here. In the now-infamous Bosnian town of Srebrenica - which was supposed to be an internationally recognized safe-zone - Serbs slaughtered an estimated 8,000 Muslim men and boys," Imam Dr. Delic added. 

 

The CIC thanks Mr. Masse for recognizing that Bosnia and Herzegovina underwent the worst case of atrocities and genocide committed against civilians since the Second World War and that innocent Bosnian men, women, children, the sick and the elderly, took the brunt of intentional aggression by Serb forces. 

 

The CIC calls upon all Canadians of conscience to support this courageous initiative to sponsor parliamentary resolution on Bosnia-Herzegovina genocide so that justice can be brought to bear on behalf of all who were so brutally massacred. 

 

Imam Dr. Delic concluded: "Thank you, MP Brian Masse, for caring about justice and daring to stand up for truth in these troubled times! All Canadians - but especially those whose roots of origin are in Bosnia and Herzegovina -- are proud of Canadian politicians like yourself, who value honesty and integrity." 

 

MP Brian Masse’s personal website: www.brianmasse.ndp.ca Brian Masse’s Parliamentary e-mail: Masse.B@parl.gc.ca 

 

Mrs. Wahida Valiante,

National President, Canadian Islamic Congress 

 

Imam Dr. Zijad Delic,

National Executive Director, Canadian Islamic Congress

 

OPEN LETTER TO THE CENTRAL ELECTION COMMISSION

Many Bosnian citizens in the US have not received their voting forms organization representing American and Canadian Bosniaks, is bringing to your attention serious issues about the forthcoming local elections in BiH. Many Bosnian American citizens have complained that they have not received their voting papers, even though they have registered to vote. This is a serious breach of election law in Bosnia and is a repeat of previous years’ failure to provide adequate documentation to Bosnian citizens who live abroad. Many of those who have registered were expelled during the war by the aggression and ethnic cleansing policies of the “Republika Srpska” entity. This is a just a continuation of the policy of creating ethnically clean areas. CNAB requests an immediate inquiry into why many of those who have sent in their documents from the United States have not received their voting paperwork.

 

STOP THE CHETNIKS IN BOSNIA

Congress of North American Bosniaks (CNAB), an umbrella organization representing the 350,000 American and Canadian Bosniaks, is urging your immediate action and assistance in regards to the planned gathering of the Chetnik Ravna Gora Movement on the mountain of Ozren in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). This gathering is being held in honour of the notorious war criminal, Radovan Karadzic, who is facing the International War Crimes tribunal for genocide and crimes against humanity, the leader of worst atrocities in Europe since the Second World War. We are asking for your support and help in outlawing the existence of such movement in BiH and outside of BiH. The Chetnik Ravna Gora Movement (CRP) is a well known ideological movement, with the aim of spreading racist propaganda, ethnic hatred, and inciting terrorist activities against non-Serbs in former Yugoslavian states. Recent efforts to rehabilitate the Chetnik movement are especially evident through building of monuments to Draza Mihajlovic, a war criminal and general from the Second World War. The movement celebrates specific dates and acts of atrocities committed against the non-Serbs in Bosnia.  Throughout the Second World War, the Chetnik movement collaborated with the Axis, and the Chetniks ended up fighting the Partisans instead of the occupation forces, and started cooperating with the Axis in their struggle to destroy the resistance, receiving assistance from German forces. On December 20, 1941, the Chetnik supreme commander at the time, Draza Mihajlovic issued instructions to his commanders. Some significant parts of those instructions include the following language:

 

o The creation of Greater Yugoslavia, and within it Greater Serbia, ethnically clean within the borders of Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Srem, Banat, and Bačka;

 

o The cleansing of all national minorities and anti-state elements from state territory;

 

o The creation of direct common borders between Serbia and Montenegro, as well as Serbia and Slovenia by cleansing the Bosniak population from Sandžak, and the Bosniak and Croat populations from Bosnia and Herzegovina; o The punishment of all Croats and Bosniaks;

 

o The settlement of the areas cleansed of national minorities and anti-state elements by Serbs and Montenegrins (to be considered are poor, nationally patriotic, and honest families).

 

Out of 150,000 Bosniaks who lost their lives in World War II, some 100,000 were murdered by Chetniks. During the 1990’s wars in Bosnia and Croatia, Serb paramilitaries often self-identified as Chetniks. Vojislav Šešelj's Serbian Radical Party formed the White Eagles which was identified as Chetniks and committed numerous atrocities in Bosnia and Croatia. Many countries have banned their gathering and organizing. Moreover, and to our and the civilized world’s utter dismay, the above goals proclaimed by the Chetniks before and during World War II, were quite successfully completed by Serbian forces which ethnically cleansed parts of Bosnia during their aggression from 1992-1995. You will agree that this situation is untenable. CNAB is warning that in the heart of Europe, in Bosnia, where the genocide and atrocities have been committed against Bosniaks, a Serbian neo-Nazi and fascist movement is gathering strength. We must not let this happen. As much as Bosniaks stood side by the side of the allies fighting Nazis during WWII and fighting the terrorist threat in Europe during recent years, so the western world and democracies must fight the rise of neo-fascist movements such as the Ravna Gora Chetnik. Europe owes it to Bosnia, and especially to future generations, to prevent the falsifying of history and to ensure our civilized society is built on strong foundations.  Please prevent the Republika Srpska from allowing the gathering and help Bosnia to outlaw these types of organizations in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

 

LETTER TO SWEDEN PRIME MINISTER AND THE SPEAKER OF THE RIKSDAG

Honorable Prime Minister Reinfeldt and Honorable Speaker Westerberg:

Congress of North America Bosniaks (CNAB), an umbrella organization representing 350,000 American and Canadian Bosniaks, is urging the Swedish government not to allow itself to be manipulated by an admitted war criminal, Ms. Biljana Plavsic, and not to allow her release from your jail. Biljana Plavsic, former president of the smaller entity Republika Srpska, in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), is serving her 11 year sentence because of the war crimes committed in Bosnia and is currently in jail in accordance with the decision of the International War Crimes Tribunal from February 27, 2003. 

We remind you that Ms. Plavsic admitted her guilt for her part in war crimes against the Bosniaks in BiH. Ms. Plavsic was accused on multiple counts of genocide, crimes against the humanity, breaking the law and convention of war and breaking the rules of Geneva conventions. 

Those acts against humanity do not deserve leniency and release from jail for good behavior or based on the age of the prisoner or conditions of the prisons. Even discussing leniency for such a notorious war criminal is doing irreparable damage to the victims of aggression in Bosnia. Additionally it does not further reconciliation, peace keeping, stability in Bosnia and the region or the World.  Just yesterday Australian government decided to extradite an 86-year-old man accused of killing a Jewish teenager in Hungary during World War II. He will face charges for killing one person.  Imagine releasing a person who is guilty of destroying 200,000 lives and irreparably damaging at least a million others. Ms. Plavsic deserves to stay in jail until she serves her time –even 11 years is lenient for her crimes. As you may remember, most Nazi Germany officials were sentenced and put to death following the Nuremberg trials.

 

 

DODIK MUST BE DISMISSED

The Congress of North American Bosniaks (CBNA), an umbrella organization representing 350,000 Bosniaks living in The United States and Canada is writing to you with serious concerns for future of Bosnia and Herzegovina. We welcome the arrest of the notorious war criminal Radovan Karadzic and his immediate extradition to The Hague. This is one of many very much needed positive steps for Bosnia. However, increasingly there are troubling signs of undemocratic processes at play in Bosnia.

 

 

The most recent attacks on the principles of liberty, democracy, respect for human rights and the fundamental freedoms and the rule of law have gone unchecked by the international community. Additionally, internal forces from the Republika Srpska entity, a smaller entity created by the bloody ethnic cleansing campaign of Milosevic and Karadzic, are hard at work at destroying Bosnia and the years of work and billions of dollars invested by the international community in Bosnia.

We are calling your attention to some of the troubling signs occurring as a result of unchecked policies created by Milorad Dodik.

Violation of Bosnian sovereignty, its institution, its symbols, and history.

 

 

The Prime Minister of the smaller entity, Mr. Milorad Dodik’s nationalistic rhetoric goes unchecked. His statements aimed at Bosnia's sovereignty, its institutions, its history, and the insulting comments for the victims and survivors of the genocide have now effectively reversed a decade of reforms. Mr. Dodik has succeeded in stopping the only true Police reform, initially offered by Mr. Lajcak, the High Representative. Mr. Dodik has set up parallel institutions within the Republika Srpska in an effort to challenge the sovereignty of Bosnia over the territory. He uses every opportunity he has to undermine Bosnia. Dodik’s comments have warranted immediate dismissal on several occasions. However, Bonn powers and the dismissal of Prime Minister Dodik from his position failed to materialize due to inaction by the High Representative. However, Mr. Lajcak was prompt in making sure that the passports of the war criminal Karadzic’s family have been returned to Karadzic’s family.

 

 

Violation of human rights and the right to assembly.

 

 

On several occasions, Milorad Dodik’s police apparatus has prevented the citizens, survivors of some of the most brutal aggression and genocide against civilians, from visiting the place their family members were tortured, murdered and buried. The denial of the right to remember those who have been killed by aggression is in essence a double killing. Denial of the Holocaust is a punishable offense; likewise, denial of the genocide that occurred in Bosnia should also be made a crime. Violation of religious freedom and failure to protect historical and sacred buildings.

 

 

There have been many attacks on refugee returnees, attacks and vandalizing of the mosques in Republika Srpska, and threats to imams. Freedom to worship is one of the most fundamental rights and must be protected.  Bosnia and Herzegovina has been a proven partner to the EU, United States in their efforts in Afghanistan, Iraq and anti-terrorism. You, as leaders of the free world and promoters of peace and stability in the region should make sure the international investments as well as freedom and democracy, in Bosnia, are protected. Furthermore, stability is essential to the future of Bosnia and its membership into the EU and NATO. Prime Minister Dodik should be removed from his position immediately and the parallel institutions he has created must be immediately dismantled. We need a comprehensive, sustained, and long term fulfillment of international obligations towards Bosnia and Herzegovina. With Dodik in power in the Republika Srpska entity, peace and progress are impeded in Bosnia. The International community failed to protect Bosnia during the war; will it fail again to stand up for the Bosnia’s right to be a democratic, multi-ethnic state with one central government?

 

LETTER TO THE EDITOR THE OTTAWA CITIZINE - CANADA

Reference is being made to the article authored by James Bissett, Canada’s former ambassador to Yugoslavia, published in your Friday, June 27, 2008, edition, titled “Don’t forget all the victims of Srebrenica.”

 

The disinformation imbued in that article certainly calls for a rebuttal and presentation of facts, free of nuances, half-truths, omissions as well as deviations from the judicial process of the highest legal authority in the world, The International Court of Justice, which, in its Ruling on February 27, 2007, publicly declared that genocide against Bosniaks was committed by the Serbs in Srebrenica and surrounding areas. Mass graves of over than 8,000 Muslim men and boys are still being located and documented. It is an international effort. Canada’s public is ill served in that it is not apprised of that first-hand documentation of unearthing of the evidence of a crime, to the likes of which, the Europe and the world of the post-World-War-Two exclaimed: ”Never again!”

 

As a matter of fact, genocide against the Bosniaks in their homeland of Bosnia and Herzegovina, was not limited to just Srebrenica, it was widespread and in the end, some 220,000 civilians were murdered, with well over 90% of them being of Muslim faith.

 

Mr. Bissett claims that Naser Oric committed war crimes. The facts do not support that claim. On July 2, 2008 a U.N. appeals court overturned the war crimes conviction of Naser Oric. While Serbian perpetrators of war crimes are still at large, the Bosnian government and public faces its alleged war crimes. The commander of the Bosnian Serb Army, Gen. Ratko Mladic — charged with genocide for the Srebrenica killings — is still in hiding and is believed to be in Serbia. Radovan Karadzic, who is responsible for mass murders and rapes, at a holocaust level, is still in hiding too.

 

It is regrettable that Mr. Bissett conveys the message that he was sent to be Canada’s ambassador to Yugoslavia holding a clearly pro-Serbia bias, although he does call Croats to support his misinterpretation of the historical facts. He, unfortunately, is not the only official representative of Canada who was sent to Belgrade, Serbia, or to Bosnia and Herzegovina for that matter, and who ended up denying and defending the indefensible - crimes against humanity, crimes of genocide and the crime of being a willing and ready accomplice to the crime of genocide.

 

We invite your Editorial Board to convey a meeting with members of the Bosniak community as we feel that it takes an effort to build and maintain a rapport, to serve as a basis for building a community of peoples of all religions - religious differences being the slant which Mr. Bissett attached to his article. In order to achieve that rapport, it takes honesty and willingness to learn and understand the plight of the people who were killed, raped, or brutally thrown out of their homes because they are of Muslim faith.

 

While we cherish and respect our welcome here, in Canada, we live here because of the genocide committed against us in our own homeland, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Surely, James Bissett does not have more knowledge and understanding of our own predicament and history than hundreds of thousands of Bosnians who live on this continent. Most of us arrived here by way of force - being thrown out of our own country because we are Bosniaks, an island of Islam in the heart of Europe. That is the undeniable fact.

 

We invite you to help stop the cycle of blame. We invite you to help bridge the imposed divides of differences. We all, after all, are the believers in the One and the Only, our Lord Almighty, the only Creator. We cherish the one and same Divine Being. The Councils of Florence had been held in order to bridge the imposed divide of belief. It was bridged then. We need to bridge it now, again.

 

In the end, let us not forget that Mr. Bissett’s comment was made and published just two weeks before the 13th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide - July 11, 1995. As such, it is, regrettably, rather inflammatory. We need and deserve better in Canada. All of us.

 

DISINFORMATION CANADA'S FORMER AMBASSADOR TO YUGOSLAVIA

Reference is being made to the article authored by James Bissett, Canada’s former ambassador to Yugoslavia, published in your Friday, June 27, 2008, edition, titled “Don’t forget all the victims of Srebrenica.” The disinformation imbued in that article certainly calls for a rebuttal and presentation of facts, free of nuances, half-truths, omissions as well as deviations from the judicial process of the highest legal authority in the world, The International Court of Justice, which, in its Ruling on February 27, 2007, publicly declared that genocide against Bosniaks was committed by the Serbs in Srebrenica and surrounding areas. Mass graves of over than 8,000 Muslim men and boys are still being located and documented. It is an international effort. Canada’s public is ill served in that it is not apprised of that first-hand documentation of unearthing of the evidence of a crime, to the likes of which, the Europe and the world of the post-World-War-Two exclaimed: ”Never again!” As a matter of fact, genocide against the Bosniaks in their homeland of Bosnia and Herzegovina, was not limited to just Srebrenica, it was widespread and in the end, some 220,000 civilians were murdered, with well over 90% of them being of Muslim faith.

 

Mr. Bissett claims that Naser Oric committed war crimes. The facts do not support that claim. On July 2, 2008 a U.N. appeals court overturned the war crimes conviction of Naser Oric. While Serbian perpetrators of war crimes are still at large, the Bosnian government and public faces its alleged war crimes. The commander of the Bosnian Serb Army, Gen. Ratko Mladic - charged with genocide for the Srebrenica killings - is still in hiding and is believed to be in Serbia. Radovan Karadzic, who is responsible for mass murders and rapes, at a holocaust level, is still in hiding too.

 

It is regrettable that Mr. Bissett conveys the message that he was sent to be Canada’s ambassador to Yugoslavia holding a clearly pro-Serbia bias, although he does call Croats to support his misinterpretation of the historical facts. He, unfortunately, is not the only official representative of Canada who was sent to Belgrade, Serbia, or to Bosnia and Herzegovina for that matter, and who ended up denying and defending the indefensible - crimes against humanity, crimes of genocide and the crime of being a willing and ready accomplice to the crime of genocide.

 

We invite your Editorial Board to convey a meeting with members of the Bosniak community as we feel that it takes an effort to build and maintain a rapport, to serve as a basis for building a community of peoples of all religions - religious differences being the slant which Mr. Bissett attached to his article. In order to achieve that rapport, it takes honesty and willingness to learn and understand the plight of the people who were killed, raped, or brutally thrown out of their homes because they are of Muslim faith.

 

While we cherish and respect our welcome here, in Canada, we live here because of the genocide committed against us in our own homeland, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Surely, James Bissett does not have more knowledge and understanding of our own predicament and history than hundreds of thousands of Bosnians who live on this continent. Most of us arrived here by way of force - being thrown out of our own country because we are Bosniaks, an island of Islam in the heart of Europe. That is the undeniable fact.

 

We invite you to help stop the cycle of blame. We invite you to help bridge the imposed divides of differences. We all, after all, are the believers in the One and the Only, our Lord Almighty, the only Creator. We cherish the one and same Divine Being. The Councils of Florence had been held in order to bridge the imposed divide of belief. It was bridged then. We need to bridge it now, again.

 

In the end, let us not forget that Mr. Bissett’s comment was made and published just two weeks before the 13th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide - July 11, 1995. As such, it is, regrettably, rather inflammatory. We need and deserve better in Canada. All of us.

 

REQUEST FOR TRANSFER OF ICTY ARCHIVE TO SARAJEVO

Considering taht the issue of location of the ICTY archive after closing of Tribunal has been opened, and having in mind UN Resololutions 1503 and 1504, which foresee the completion of work of the ICTY in 2010 and formation the UN Advisory Commission on the Courts Archive, the Congress of the North American Bosniaks {CNAB}, which represents more than 350.000 American and Canadian Bosniaks, most of them are victims of the agression in Bosnia and Herzegovina, expressing its readiness for the ICTY archive to be transferred and kept in Bosnia and Herzegovina, that is in Sarajevo.

 

The city of Sarajevo has a moral obligation and is entitled to launch such procedure as a cuty victim in the past war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. We are well aware of the campaign that is underway, regarding the issue of which city and country are to take over ICTY documentation after closing of the Tribunal. It is not necessary ro remind eveyone about what this city and country have endured, which gives the City of Sarajevo a huge advantage to become the city that will take over, store and preserve this documentation.

 

The city of Sarajevo as the centre of the state and ist institutions, has a moral obligation to support the Initative out of numerous essenatial reasons: as a city were more than 14,000 citizens were killed in the past war, we are obliged to save the memories on its citizens, as well as other citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina who were victims of the war, Sarajevo is a city that can meet very high technical criteria for protection, it can offer adequate premises, provade the necessary personnel and adequatly manage and handle such archive, to the criteria and rules that are yet to be defined.

 

We especially emphasize the importance of the archive in the process of establishment of a joint memorial space where beside ICTY archive, a number of other documents taht are to arise from trials before local courts will be located. This memorial would be a unique place for gathering and a reminder, a source indisputable facts about the events tah would contribute to justice, building of trust and long term and steable peace in the whole Bosnia and Herzegovina.

We are aware that the transfer of the ICTY archive to the City of Sarajevo, project of accomodation, protection and usage of the archive, certainly could not bee realized without direct and unconditional assistance and cooperation from the UN,and especially not without cooperation with ICTY representatives.

This letter is an expression of our will and intent, and at the same time we are sending a request to the UN that the ICTY archive, after the cocompletion of the work of the Tribunal, be trensfered to the City of Sarajevo. We maintain that the City of Sarajevo possesses all the necessary preconditions for the ICTY archive to be safely accommodated and protected and made equally available to all interested parties, primarly to prsecutions in order to achieve justice, trust, education and prevention.

 

CNAB cannot accept the interpretation that the accommodation of the ICTY archive in Bosnia and Herzegovina, that is in Sarajevo, would be a cause for any instability or conflict, but quite the opposite, we consider that such interpretation are aimed at stopping the persecution of war criminals, causing new traumas to the victims and creation of conditons for new instabilities in the region.

 

CNAB thinks that placing trust in the City of Sarajevo, a heroic city, would be a historical, moral decision of the UN, which would best show clear determination that the ICTY archives does not end up in the hands of those structures that, except for profitable and political reasons to want the ICTY archive.

 

CNAB wish to believe that your decision on the future of the ICTY archive will be in the interest of the victims, persecution of the war criminals, stability and peace in the region, as well as in the interest of the future generations who will, by studying these issues, be in a position to build a better future for all peaples and countries on the territory of former Yugoslavia.

 

LEGALLY FORBIDDING THE ACTIVITS OF THE FASCIST TERRORIST OF "SERB CHETNIK’S MOVEMENT RAVNA GORA"

Congress of North American Bosniaks, (CNAB), speaking on behalf of some 350,000 American and Canadian Bosniaks, calls upon the High Representative, and Special Representative of the European Union, Mr. Miroslav Lajcak, to use his Bonn Authorizations in legally forbidding the activities of the fascist-terrorist organization and extremist of "Serb Chetnik Movement Ravna Gora" (“Ravnogorski cetnicki pokret”) in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

 

CNAB would like to remind the High Representative, Mr. Miroslav Lajcak, that the Ravna Gora chetnik movement, as is affirmed in the Congress of the United States, acts against the Dayton Accords, against the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and does so militantly.

 

Such activity of this fascist-terrorist organization is a threat not only to Bosnia and Herzegovina, but to the region as a whole. It is important to note the fact that the Serbian Ravna Gora terrorist chetnik movement is well organized, and cohesive, in attacking the Bosniak repatriates in the smaller entity of RS. In doing so, they are committing crime against humanity and civility. It all runs contrary to the Dayton Peace Accords, dealing with the freedom of movement and unrestricted and safe return of the expatriates to their hearths, which is but the fundament of the state and societal fabric in Bosnia and Herzegovina. That fabric was torn during the aggression against Bosnia and Herzegovina and genocide upon the Bosniaks.

 

The activities of the Ravna Gora chetniks are, indeed, an attack upon the Dayton Peace Accords and the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

 

CNAB takes it that it is the duty of the High Representative to use all of his empowerments to protect the personal and material safety of the Bosniak returnees. 

CNAB would like to remind the High Representative, Mr. Miroslav Lajcak, that tolerating the activities of the above mentioned fascist-terrorist organization and its nationalistic rhetoric, will only lead to serious aggravation of peace, which is already taking place. There are escalations of serious threats that the Bosniak repatriates will, again, be killed according to the scenario from the recent times of the aggression against Bosnia and Herzegovina and genocide against Bosniaks.

 

OPEN LETTER TO LEWIS MACKENZIE

Your statement to The Lord Byron Foundation for Balkan Studies, The Rockford Institute Center for International Affairs and the Montreal Rally against the Recognition of Kosovo "Independence", March 30th, 2008, merits a refute as it is based upon false representations, half-truths and outright disinformation.

While you stated “I do not consider myself an expert by any stretch”, you proceeded with your pro-Serbian rant as if you were. Further, your statement “however starting in 1992 with the independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina I witnessed the beginning of international anti-Serb bias based in no small part due to the efforts of professional North American based public relations firms hired by two sides in a three sided civil war. The Bosnian Serbs were slow off the mark, hired no one and have paid the price” serves only to confirm that you have accepted your posting in Bosnia and Herzegovina holding a clear and firm pro-Serbian bias while occupying a position of senior responsibility which, under the United Nations statutes, demanded of you to be impartial.

 

Your statements, to the above referenced entities, indeed, are filled with hate against Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosniaks, Kosova, Albanians and Croatia, everything non-Serbian, all in practically one sentence. Every time you open your mouth is in total disregard for the most fundamental principles of democracy which were applied, at request of the European Union in 1991 and 1992, in all of former Yugoslavia, when four out of six republics voted to separate from Serbia and Montenegro?

 

Canada’s taxpayers funded your trip to Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992. Why is it only today that we learn from you that you went to Bosnia and Herzegovina with a pro-Serbian bias, as referenced above in your own words? Were you not supposed to be impartial as a person of senior responsibility of the UN presence there? 

There are some 350,000 Bosniaks in North America, on whose behalf Congress of North American Bosniaks speaks, and most of whom would not be here if it were not for the military aggression and genocide of Serbia against civilians in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and you know that. You were in the middle of aggression and genocide yet you saw nothing.

 

 

SERBIA DOES NOT RECOGNIZE THE SOVEREIGNITY, TERITORIAL INTEGRITY AND INDEPENDENCE OF BOSNIA

By arresting a citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a certain Ilija Jurisic, in May of 2007, the authorities of Serbia have clearly sent a message to the citizens and peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as to the international community, that they do not recognize the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). Serbia and her international mentors offer no hope that Ilija Jurisic will be freed. The Office of the High Representative, in a meting with representatives from Tuzla, in January of this year, has considered the case however, it has not resulted in any meaningful measures. Instead of applying pressure upon the high political circles in Serbia, including a threat to implement sanctions, it insists upon transferring of this case to the applicable Ministry of BiH, the OHR seems to be satisfied with offering but a verbal support to Jurisic. The High Representative Miroslav Lajcak, given his function, ought to prevent any and all outside interference into internal matters of BiH. Interference, by the authorities of Serbia, has become so aggressive and frequent, that it, has, combined with the threats of the political leaders in the smaller BiH entity, morphed into a real danger with respect to the sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence of BiH. This highly hypocritical approach by the international and European officials in BiH, who directly observe the situation as if to prepare BiH for inclusion into EU, only serves to encourage the domestic and foreign detractors of BiH. The best proof of that are the articles in the BiH and foreign press, about possible new arrests by Serbia of the citizens of BiH, in BiH, for their alleged crimes committed upon the Bosnian Serbs, in the way it was done with Jurisic. Hakija Meholjic, in his statement to “Dnevni Avaz” says:” I have left Srebrenica a week ago, as have some others, as we do not want to be shoved into the trunk of a car and taken to Belgrade”. As the Bosniaks are discovering new mass graves containing severed bodies of their loved ones, the protagonists and followers of that same Serbian policy which committed those crimes are now acting like pirates across BiH, before the eyes of the world, trying to use their “hunt for the Bosnian/Herzegovinian criminals” so as to muddy up and minimize their crimes of aggression, genocide and grave violations of the international humanitarian law. With this obvious destruction of BiH, the authorities in Serbia and their agents and surrogates in the smaller entity not only discourage the return of the persecuted Bosniaks to their homesteads but also instill added fears among the few who have returned.

 

With the construction of a grandiose cross in the locality of Zlatista, above Sarajevo, as a memorial to the Serbs who perished in Sarajevo, the Serbs want to show their intention of dominance of an aggressive and genocidal policy which provokes conflicts and destabilizes the law and security in BiH and also harms the interests of Serbs in BiH. This is but an irresponsible act and abuse of the victims, as well as being political provocation invented in order to create tensions and definitive destruction of the state of BiH.

 

The High Representative, Miroslav Lajcak, with his statements of support to Milorad Dodik’s attempts to have the smaller BiH entity recognized as a lasting category without the constitutional prohibition for separation has ventured outside the boundaries of his acting in the interests of all citizens of BiH. It is both unacceptable and worrisome that Miroslav Lajcak evades using the Bonn Prerogatives with respect to the key reforms, but does not shy away, at the same time, from being a spokesman on behalf of the policy which has conferred aggression upon BiH and genocide upon Bosniaks. If the High Representative really aims for a European future and prosperity for the citizens of BiH then he ought to promote the constitutional solution of a lasting prohibition of separation of any of the entities of BiH, instead of publicly lobbying for creation of a legal framework which would serve as the cornerstone for the smaller entity to separate from, and disintegrate BiH.

 

Congress of North American Bosniaks (CNAB) calls upon the High Representative to apply pressure upon the political leadership of Serbia, including the threat of sanctions, insists upon transferring of the Jurisic case to an appropriate Ministry in BiH. CNAB will request that the state of BiH reintroduces into its Criminal Code the institution of due process “in absentia”, which process was discontinued by the High Representative of BiH rendering it the only state in the region which is unable to prosecute “in absentia”.

 

CNAB, on behalf of the 350,000 displaced American and Canadian Bosniaks, victims of aggression and genocide, asks of Mr. Miroslav Lajcak, the Office of the High Representative, members of the Peace Implementation Council, members of international organizations, representatives of EU, UN, and the international community to clearly distance themselves from the political leadership of Serbia and that of the smaller entity, which jointly and persistently further their efforts of premeditated destruction of BiH.

 

CNAB invites the High Representative to commence, without delays, the implementation of the recommendations of the Peace Implementation Council, and to firmly confront the spreading of religious hatred in BiH. The High Representative ought to adequately respond to the humiliation of the Sarajevan and Bosnian-Herzegovinian victims of the Greater-Serbian fascism, with the only adequate response being removal from the functions of, and application of due process against, the persons who abuse religious symbols in order to spread national hatred with the aim of destroying the state of BiH.

 

CNAB invites the High Representative to focus upon his primary objectives in BiH, to strengthen the state of BiH and its open civil society, instead of seeing it as his duty to fortify the smaller entity in spite of the fact that the smaller entity, with respect to the Ruling of the International Court of Justice, was founded upon the crime of genocide.

 

THE PLACE FOR A MEMBER OF SERBOCIDE PEOPLE, “EXPERT” IN “EURO-TERRORISM”, IS BEHIND BARS

Following the publication of a letter by Congress of North American Bosniaks to the organizers of 11th Congress of European Police, requesting that Darko Trifunovic, a certain expert in terrorism, be barred from this important gathering of police, ministers of justice and internal affairs, as well as European parliamentarians, who will talk about European strategy for combating terrorism. That Darko Trifunovic, himself an “expert” defender of Serbian fascism and terrorism, and the biggest Serbian and Montenegrin crimes and criminals ever since the Second World War. We emphasize that this “expert” is known for negating genocide against Bosniaks in BiH and especially against the Bosniaks of Srebrenica, which is well documented on the Internet. So, following the publication of the CNAB letter to the Editorial Board of the web magazine Bosnjaci.net, Darko Trifunovic, a beardless chetnik has contacted Emir Ramic, President of CNAB, employing the chetnik hysteria, and threatened to give direction to his lawyers in the United States and in BiH to start a lawsuit against Ramic if he fails to apologize on Bosnjaci.net.

 

 

Trifunovic, a Serbian “expert” on terrorism, writes the following:

 

 

Esteemed Mr. Ramic, in your statement you have used a number of insulting words which do not belong into civilized forms of communications. As well, you have sent your insulting statement to a number of addresses and in so doing have caused me great damages. Unless, within 24 hours, you do not remove same from this web page and replace it with an apology, I will be forced to instruct my lawyers in the States and in BiH to start a lawsuit against you, states Darko Trifunovic in his little pamphlet.

 

 

How facetious, demanding an apology of the survivors of genocide in BiH who speak the truth. Congress of Bosniaks rightly emphasizes in their letter that Trifunovic is a proven enemy of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as a falsifier of history who negated the aggression against internationally recognized Bosnia and Herzegovina and the crime of genocide against Bosniaks. CNAB rightly surmises that “it is shameful and should not be allowed to have such ‘expert’ speak about the European strategy to fight terrorism when he himself is an ‘expert’ defender of the Serbian terrorism and of their biggest crimes and criminals ...” It has to be openly stated that this “expert”, Dr. Darko Trifunovic, belongs to the Serbocide people who in their genes carry fascism and terrorism. The eleven genocides against Bosniaks are a proof of that and is described in Ramic’s letter that “Trifunovic is a defender of the Serbian terrorism, which with most brutal means broke all the rules of international humanitarian law by way of murder of over 200,000 innocent civilians, rape of over 30,000 women, torture of over 50,000 people in concentration death camps, displaced over one Million people and destroyed many cultural, spiritual and civilization’s treasures. As a denier of aggression, genocide, ecocide urbicide, elitocide... CNAB rightly states that Trifunovic belongs with those who deny Holocaust and genocide and other war crimes - behind bars, and not on the stage with Vice-president of the European Commission and a Commissary for Justice, Freedom and Security, Franco Frattini.

Evidence from recent history of the Balkans, where the Serbian and Montenegrin fascists, led by the complete Belgrade-Podgorica political and military leadership, committed aggression and genocide in BiH, Croatia and, later, in Kosovo, in other words, against Bosniaks, Croats and Albanians.

Mr. “expert”, clean up the garbage of terrorism in your backyard before going to Europe.

 

LETTER TO MR. JACK QOUIN

I have taken the liberty to contact you on behalf of Congress of North American Bosniaks, an organization which promotes the interests of some 350,000 Bosniaks living in North America, most of them in the United States.

 

 

It has come to our attention that among your clients you list an entity called “Republika Srpska”.

 

 

While you certainly have the prerogative, right and freedom to conduct your business in the best interests of your stakeholders, it is of concern that a group of people of your obvious and impressive credentials would lend their good name and offices in representing an entity which was created by way of genocide, first and foremost, and which has no constitutional provisions to conduct extraterritorial, international and, in that context, legal activities, including purporting to be acting at the level of a State, which it definitely is not.

 

 

Please find attached several extracts from the February 26, 2007, Judgment of the International Court of Justice with references to some of the crimes perpetrated in the name of your client, for which crimes your client feels no remorse.

 

 

Sometimes the high principles of ethics, morality and civility ought to outweigh any and all financial considerations. I invite you to reconsider promoting those who do not subscribe to those principles.

 

 

Please feel free to contact me should you need more input.

 

 

Extracts from the February 26, 2007, Judgment, by The International Court of Justice, in The Hague, The Netherlands, in the case of Bosnia and Herzegovina vs. Serbia and Montenegro:

 

233. By a “sovereignty” resolution adopted on 14 October 1991, the Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina declared the independence of the Republic. The validity of this resolution was contested at the time by the Serbian community of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Opinion No. 1 of the

Arbitration Commission of the Conference on Yugoslavia (the Badinter Commission), p. 3). On 24 October 1991, the Serb Members of the Bosnian Parliament proclaimed a separate Assembly of the Serb Nation/Assembly of the Serb People of Bosnia and Herzegovina. On 9 January 1992, the Republic of the Serb People of Bosnia and Herzegovina (subsequently renamed the Republika Srpska on 12 August 1992) was declared with the proviso that the declaration would come into force upon international recognition of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. On 28 February 1992, the Constitution of the Republic of the Serb People of Bosnia and Herzegovina was adopted The Republic of the Serb People of Bosnia and Herzegovina (and subsequently the Republika Srpska) was not and has not been recognized internationally as a State; it has however enjoyed some de facto independence

 

275. The Court further notes that several resolutions condemn specific incidents. These resolutions, inter alia, condemn “the Bosnian Serb forces for their continued offensive against the safe area of Goražde, which has resulted in the death of numerous civilians” (Security Council resolution 913 (1994), Preamble, para. 5); condemn ethnic cleansing “perpetrated in Banja Luka, Bijeljina and other areas of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina under the control of Bosnian Serb forces” (Security Council resolution 941 (1994), para. 2); express concern at “grave violations of international humanitarian law and of human rights in and around Srebrenica, and in

the areas of Banja Luka and Sanski Most, including reports of mass murder” (Security Council resolution 1019 (1995), Preamble, para. 2); and condemn “the indiscriminate shelling of civilians in the safe areas of Sarajevo, Tuzla, Bihaæ and Goražde and the use of cluster bombs on civilian targets by Bosnian Serb and Croatian Serb forces” (General Assembly resolution 50/193 (1995) para. 5).

 

288. The VRS and MUP of the Republika Srpska from 12 July separated men aged 16 to approximately 60 or 70 from their families. The Bosnian Muslim men were directed to various locations but most were sent to a particular house (“The White House”) near the UNPROFOR headquarters in Potoèari, where they were interrogated. During the afternoon of 12 July a large number of buses and other vehicles arrived in Potoèari including some from Serbia. Only women, children and the elderly were allowed to board the buses bound for territory held by the Bosnia and Herzegovina military. Dutchbat vehicles escorted convoys to begin with, but the VRS stopped that and soon after stole 16-18 Dutchbat jeeps, as well as around 100 small arms, making further escorts impossible. Many of the Bosnian Muslim men from Srebrenica and its surroundings including those who had attempted to flee through the woods were detained and killed.

 

293. The Court has already quoted (paragraph 281) the passage from the Judgment of the Appeals Chamber in the Krstiæ case rejecting the Prosecutor’s attempted reliance on the Directives given earlier in July, and it would recall the evidence about the VRS’s change of plan in the course of the operation in relation to the complete takeover of the enclave. The Appeals Chamber also rejected the appeal by General Krstiæ against the finding that genocide occurred in Srebrenica. It held that the Trial Chamber was entitled to conclude that the destruction of such a sizeable number of men, one fifth of the overall Srebrenica community, “‘would inevitably result in the physical disappearance of the Bosnian Muslim population at Srebrenica’” (IT-98-33-A, Appeals Chamber - 106 - Judgment, 19 April 2004, paras. 28-33); and the Trial Chamber, as the best assessor of the evidence presented at trial, was entitled to conclude that the evidence of the transfer of the women and children supported its finding that some members of the VRS Main Staff intended to destroy the Bosnian Muslims in Srebrenica. The Appeals Chamber concluded this part of its Judgment as follows:

 

“The gravity of genocide is reflected in the stringent requirements which must be satisfied before this conviction is imposed. These requirements ⎯ the demanding proof of specific intent and the showing that the group was targeted for destruction in its entirety or in substantial part ⎯ guard against a danger that convictions for this crime will be imposed lightly. Where these requirements are satisfied, however, the law must not shy away from referring to the crime committed by its proper name. By seeking to eliminate a part of the Bosnian Muslims, the Bosnian Serb forces committed genocide. They targeted for extinction the forty thousand Bosnian Muslims living in Srebrenica, a group which was emblematic of the Bosnian Muslims in general. They stripped all the male Muslim prisoners, military and civilian, elderly and young, of their personal belongings and identification, and deliberately and methodically killed them solely on the basis of their identity. The Bosnian Serb forces were aware, when they embarked on this genocidal venture, that the harm they caused would continue to plague the Bosnian Muslims. The Appeals Chamber states unequivocally that the law condemns, in appropriate terms, the deep and lasting injury inflicted, and calls the massacre at Srebrenica by its proper name: genocide. Those responsible will bear this stigma, and it will serve as a warning to those who may in future contemplate the commission of such a heinous act.

In concluding that some members of the VRS Main Staff intended to destroy the Bosnian Muslims of Srebrenica, the Trial Chamber did not depart from the legal requirements for genocide. The Defence appeal on this issue is dismissed.” (Ibid. , paras. 37-38.)

 

302. Several Security Council resolutions expressed alarm at the “massive, organised and systematic detention and rape of women”, in particular Muslim women in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Security Council resolutions 798 (1992), Preamble, para. 2; resolution 820 (1993), para. 6; 827 (1993), Preamble, para. 3). In terms of other kinds of serious harm, Security Council

resolution 1034 (1995) condemned “in the strongest possible terms the violations of international humanitarian law and of human rights by Bosnian Serb and paramilitary forces in the areas of Srebrenica, Žepa, Banja Luka and Sanski Most as described in the report of the Secretary-General of 27 November 1995 and showing a consistent pattern of summary executions, rape, mass expulsions, arbitrary detentions, forced labour and large-scale disappearances” (para. 2).

 

The Security Council further referred to a “persistent and systematic campaign of terror” in Banja Luka, Bijeljina and other areas under the control of Bosnian Serb forces (Security Council resolution 941 (1994), Preamble, para. 4). It also expressed concern at reports of mass murder, unlawful detention and forced labour, rape, and deportation of civilians in Banja Luka and Sanski Most (Security Council resolution 1019 (1995), Preamble, para. 2).

 

 

336. In the Tadiæ case, the ICTY found that “[n]on-Serb cultural and religious symbols throughout the region were targeted for destruction” in the Banja Luka area (Tadiæ, IT-94-1-T, Trial Chamber Judgment, 7 May 1997, para. 149). Further, in reviewing the indictments of Karadžiæ and Mladiæ, the Trial Chamber stated that: “Throughout the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina under their control, Bosnian Serb forces . . . destroyed, quasi-systematically, the Muslim and Catholic cultural heritage, in particular, sacred sites. According to estimates provided at the hearing by an expert witness, Dr. Kaiser, a total of 1.123 mosques, 504 Catholic churches and five synagogues were destroyed or damaged, for the most part, in the absence of military activity or after the cessation thereof.

This was the case in the destruction of the entire Islamic and Catholic heritage in the Banja Luka area, which had a Serbian majority and the nearest area of combat to which was several dozen kilometres away. All of the mosques and Catholic churches were destroyed. Some mosques were destroyed with explosives and the ruins were then levelled and the rubble thrown in the public dumps in order to eliminate any vestige of Muslim presence.

 

Aside from churches and mosques, other religious and cultural symbols like cemeteries and monasteries were targets of the attacks.” (Karadžiæ and Mladiæ, Review of the Indictment Pursuant to Rule 61 of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence, 11 July 1996, para. 15.)

 

 

MISTER HOLBROOKE, "REPUBLIKA SRPSKA" WAS BORN BY MURDER, RAPE, EXPLOSION, GENOCIDE

Bosnians and Herzegovinians, in particular Bosniaks are grateful for the blessings of peace and are appreciative for the efforts of the United States to this end. We, KBSA, the umbrella organization for the Bosniak American community will continue to work toward an ever more durable peace and functional Bosnia & Herzegovina based upon an open, pluralistic, democratic society and the rule of law and justice, values that should be shared between America and the land of our origin. This will also facilitate real partnership between Bosnia & Herzegovina and the United States.

 

This is exactly why we are troubled by some of your recent statements, including he interview attached below. You make certain statements which someone with your background in the region and knowledge knows better. This is disconcerting, since it could be understood as an attempt to adjust history and terminology to a current reality still in need of change rather than the a committed effort for progress in BiH.

 

Carelessly applying misnomers as "civil war," Bosnian Muslims declared Bosnia independent" or "Serb territory of Bosnia," is inconsistent with the evidence. You have also declared either "Republika" or "Srpska" as a mistake, but not both and never stated that the ideology of connecting territorial exclusivity with ethnicity was and is inconsistent with BiH history, shared Euro-Atlantic values or justice. "Republika Srpska" was born out of a systematic effort at creating ethnically homogeneous territories by murder, rape expulsion, ie genocide.

 

To a less familiar audience, your terminology and rationalization could rewrite their understanding of the recent past and evidence. To us, the supporters of shared values and as Bosniak Americans, this could appear as a shrewd attempt to justify the flaws of the Dayton Accords. However, we believe that you will or should know that Republika Srpska is inconsistent with Bosnia & Herzegovina's past or future as a partner of the Euro-Atlantic family. It may be a negotiated part of the Dayton Accords, but you better than most understand that Republika Srpska cannot be harmonized with the spirit or values for which the United States, Bosnia & Herzegovina or shared future are based upon.

 

The current realities are as they are; however we will not be party nor should you advance efforts to give Republika Srpska, its genocidal creation or its "founding fathers," Milosevic to Karadzic and Mladic, any moral, legal or historical legitimacy.

 

LETTER TO EUROPEAN POLICE CONGRESS

Dear Organizers of the "11th European Police Congress",

 

 

I am writing to you regarding the forthcoming "11th European Police Congress" (EPC), the largest specialized conference for internal security in the European Union, which has been re-scheduled for the end of January 2008. This year, dignitaries who will join the experts from national and regional police, security, and civilian authorities are: Franco Frattini, European Commission, Vice President, Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security; Dr. Karl von Wogau, MEP, European Parliament, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Security and Defence; the Ministers of the Interior and Justice of several European states, members of European and national Parliaments, and others.

 

One of the speakers scheduled for the Panel Session “European Counterterrorism Strategies - Detection, Financing, Prosecution” is Dr. Darko Trifunovic from Belgrade.

 

The Congress of North American Bosniaks (CNAB), representing the interests of 350,000 Bosniaks who live in the United States and Canada, is sternly protesting to the organizers of the 11th Congress, requesting that Dr. Darko Trifunovic is excluded from the forthcoming Congress.

 

Dr. Trifunovic proved himself as determined, persistent enemy of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), falsifier of the history, and denier of the aggression against the internationally recognized state of BiH and subsequent crimes of genocide toward the Bosniaks.

 

Dr. Trifunovic is the author of the scandalous “Report About Case Srebrenica Case (the first part)”(The Center for Documentation of the Government of Republic of Srpska, Banja Luka, Republic of Srpska, BiH, 2002), which he conveniently omitted from his Congress' biography.

 

On the page 34. of that report, Trifunovic concludes his 'analysis' of the number of Bosniaks men and boys who disappeared during the events surrounding the Bosnian Serb take-over of the United Nations ‘safe area’ of Srebrenica with the 'finding' that Armed Forces of the Republic of Srpska (VRS) might executed less than 100 of "Muslim soldiers". Moreover, Trifunovic 'justified' even this "VRS-executed-less-than-100- Muslim-Soldiers" crime with: "As a consequence, the remaining figure in the missing list would be the number of Muslims soldiers who were executed by Bosnian Serb forces for personal revenge or for simple ignorance of the international law. It would probably stand less than 100."

 

( http://www.slobodan-milosevic.org )

Lord Jeremy "Paddy" Ashdown, the then High Representative to Bosnia and Herzegovina, was furious and ordered the commission, Trifunovic and his 'work' to "go away and RS to try again".

 

It is mind-boggling that such an 'expert' in, and proponent of, the genocide denial and the psychological warfare of hate mongering could have been invited to speak to European policemen, interior and justice ministers, members of parliaments about the “European Counterterrorism Strategies". He who himself is an 'expert' defender of Serbian terrorism of violating all applicable international conventions (on war conduct, against war crimes and crimes against humanity, on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide) when it, by the cruellest means, killed more than 200.000 innocent civilians, organised mass rape of more than 30.000 women and girls, tortured more than 50.000 peoples in concentration camps of death, "ethnically cleansed" more than 1 million of people, destroyed many cultural, spiritual, and civilization treasures.

 

He is part of the notorious Belgrade state-security apparatus and locales, admitted even by the Serbian Government members to be behind Serbian active violation of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Mladic in Belgrade etc.). With other readily available details about his other extremist activities and involvements, one has to ask: what is the real agenda here?

 

Being such hate monger and denier of aggression and genocide, culturocide, ecocide, ethnocide, urbicide and elitocide, his place is with those who deny Holocaust and other war crimes - behind the bars, and not on the same podium with European Commission Vice President and Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security, Franco Frattini. It would be a mockery.

 

On behalf of 350,000 North American Bosniaks, majority of whom are victims of aggression, "ethnic cleansing", genocide, the CNAB is requesting the European Police to undertake all measures at its disposal to prevent the 'ekspert' Trifunovic from attending the Congress again.

A prompt reply would be greatly appreciated.

 

LETTER FROM HILLARY CLINTON

Kongres Bošnjaka Sjeverne Amerke je inicirao novu metodu u procesu lobiranja za oèuvanje i jaèanje bošnjaèkog biæa i demokratske, jedinstvene i prosperitetne države BiH.

Gospodin Stockwell Day, zadužen za meðunarodne odnose u kanadskoj zvaniènoj opoziciji (Konzervativna partija Kanade), na osnovu pismenih i usmenih konatakata sa predstavnicima Kongresa Bosnjaka Sjeverne Amerike, pismeno se obratio Premijeru Kanade, gospodinu Paul Martinu, sa pitanjem o ulozi Kanade u procesu stabilizacije držve i društva u BiH.

Kanadski premijer je pismeno odgovorio gospodinu Stockwell Day.

U odgovoru se istièe:

1. Kanada je jedan od osnivaèa Meðunarodnog tribunala za podruèije bivše Jugoslavije sa sjedištem u Hagu. Kanada æe i dalje davati snažnu podršku radu Tribunala.

2. Kanadska vlada æe i dalje vrsiti pritisak na sve odgovorne u regionu za bezuslovno hvatanje i privoðenje Tribunalu ratnih zloèinaca Radovana Karadziæa i Ratka Mladiæa.

3. U procesu stabilizacije mira i ukupne situacije u BiH, Kanada snažno podržava instituciju Visokog predstavnika meðunarodne zajednice u BiH i posebno njegove mjere u oblasti prisiljavanja zvaniènika Republike Srpske da saraðuju na planu obnove države i društva u BiH.

4. Još jednom, ovoga puta od najodgovornijeg politièkog predstavnika Kanade, jasno je potvrðeno da je nad Bošnjacima izvršen genocid, a na džavu BiH agresija.

5. Kanadska agencija za meðunarodnu saradnju æe i dalje nastaviti sa svojoim doprinosom u procesu jaèanja i stabilizacije pravne države u BiH.

 

Dear Mr. Emir Ramic;

Thank you for taking the time to get in touch with me with concerns regarding the tragedy of Srebrenica and its tenth anniversary. As promised, I have taken your concerns forward on your behalf directly to the Prime Minister of Canada Honourable Paul Martin. Please allow me to quote from His response back to me:

"Canada has been a staunch supporter of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and its work to try persons indicated for acts of genocide in Srebrinca (as well as for other war crimes and crimes against humanity in former Yugoslavia). Canada will continue to pressure the governments of the region to ensure that Ratko Mladic and Radovan Karadzic, accused of being the principal architects of the aggression, genocide and massacre, are brought to justice along with other indictees. As you are probably aware,Canada also played a leading role in the establishment of the International Criminal Court (ICC) - as a permanent institution mandated to try the worst crimes {genocide war crimes, crimes against humanity}. ICC stands as a deterrence for those who might contemplate committing these acts and ensures that there is no impunity.

 

 

Canada, through its participation on the Peace Implementation Council Steering Board, has supported the Office of the High Representative in his efforts to seek a full accounting of the genocide trough the work of the Srebrenica Commission The work of the Commission has been as test of strength of the rule of law in the Republika Srpska. Canada supported the High Representative when it became necessary to impose sanctions on the Republika Srpska because officials obstructed the Commission\'s work. At the insistence of the international community, the Commission has developed a list of individuals implicated in the massacre. The list has been forwarded to local prosecutors. The publication of the report, the acceptance by the Government of the Republika Srpska that the massacre took place, and the recognition of the number of victims represent part of the process of reconciliation of Bosnia and Herzegovina\'s peoples.

 

 

The Canadian International Development Agency {CIDA} has made rule of law a focus of its program in the Balkan. This assistance will help build a strong legal system that will not only prosecute those involved in past war crimes, but will also contribute to the development of a safe and secure environment in which the rule of law is respected. Further, a large number of Canadians deployed through CIDA or Foreign Affairs Canada have worked Bosnian legal institutions in state courts in the Office of High Representative, and in other international organisations."

 

 

This concludes the Prime Minister\'s response to me. I will continue to do all I can to support those in search of total justice for the massacre in Srebrenica. Please let me know of I should be doing something more on this file.

Stay in touch so that we can be update on the situation. 

Yours sincerely;

Stockwell Day, M.P.

 

Dear Mr. Ramic:

Thank you for taking time to get in touch with me with concerns regarding the tragedy of Srebrenica and its tenth anniversary. I am proud on Senate Resolution 134 passed in the United States Senate. This resolution is a bipartisan measure commemorating the tenth anniversary of the deplorable massacre at Srebrenica. The atrocities committed on July 11th ten years ago were a result of hatred and intolerance. The global community must work together to ensure that peace, stability and universal respect are provided to all individuals no matter where they reside.

 

 

I will continue to focus on the issues that matter to Bosniak families in the United States and I am committed to working with Americans to make Bosnia more secure, more prosperous and more filled with opportunity for everyone. 

Sincerely yours,

Hillary Rodham Clinton

 

REASON AND JUSTICE FOR SREBRENICA AND B&H

1. REASON AND JUSTICE

 

The Congress of North American Bosniaks, and associations of citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina living in Portland, Seattle and Vancouver, mark the Ninth Anniversary of Genocide in Srebrenica, and adopt the following Declaration for the event, entitled “Reason and Justice, not Vengeance”: 

1.

With the verdict of the trial of Radislav Krstic, the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (the “Hague Tribunal”) confirmed that Genocide against Bosniaks was conducted. In the meantime, on trial are the genocidal intentions of accused Slobodan Milosevic – the genocidal intention of eradicating the Bosniak population in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as an ethnic group, either in full, or partially. Also on trial is the idea that the majority of the accused at the Hague Tribunal, both premeditated, and collaborated on, the execution of Genocide. Given the illegal and persistent hiding of the accused Karadzic and Mladic, with the assistance of the institutions of Republika Srpska and neighbouring countries, we are lead to conclude that the verdict which will confirm their involvement in Genocide will also be a verdict against Republika Srpska and the Serbian Democratic Party (SDS). With that in mind, we question the reasoning behind cooperation and collaboration by certain representatives of International Community in Bosnia and Herzegovina with officials of SDS and Republika Srpska.

2.

On every centimetre of land, and during every minute of decades-long preparation, organization, execution and cover-up of Genocide, the party structure and leadership of the SDS is to be found. Crimes have been committed by political leaders, members of the Army of Republika Srpska, police force of Republika Srpska, institutions of Republika Srpska… while in all structures and on all level the SDS was in power. Not going into the question of how and why, even now, the SDS is in power in Bosnia and Herzegovina, we seek the severance of all political contacts with this party that has been the driving and operational force of Genocide.

3.

We call upon the representatives of the International Community to help the ever-growing number of Bosnian Serbs who wish to distance themselves from the SDS and the politics of Genocide. But fear of consequences and uncertainty will not leave these Bosnian Serbs as long as cooperation and collaboration between representatives of the International Community and the SDS continues. Such demoralizing behaviour only prolongs both individual and national agony. We, as citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who are also citizens of the United States and Canada, insist that the path for normal political activities be opened to our fellow Bosnian Serbs by preventing the public and secret work of SDS.

4.

Srebrenica has become an inseparable part of our future. Srebrenica reminds us of what could have been, but never was. Srebrenica has come to find a separate meaning for itself in the Bosnian lexicon - one that the rest of our words do no justice in conveying… Srebrenica has become an intrusive part of our culture and an axis which, from the position in which we find ourselves, leads to the place that holds our most beloved… Srebrenica is the ultimate point of comparison of the pale faces of those we no longer have, and those we cannot find, or recognize… Srebrenica is a word that must make us all better; an iron cry so that it may never happen again… Srebrenica is a little Bosnian girl who, after all, is left with parental suffering, troubled memories, and the search for justice… God, give us strength to persevere… 

5.

On the Ninth Anniversary of the beginning of the Genocide in Srebrenica, we request from the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina to issue an edict commemorating the Anniversary, in a manner in which occasions of great importance are marked in civilized countries on the continent to which Bosnia and Herzegovina belongs to. 

6.

We request from the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina to adequately mark the 10th Anniversary of Genocide in Srebrenica, in 2005, through political and diplomatic activities.

We request that the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina undertake all activities and insist on the adoption of a UN Resolution on the 10th Anniversary of Genocide in Srebrenica which would underline the non-recognition of political, legal, and factual results established by way of Genocide. 

We request that on the Tenth Anniversary, on 11 July 2005, the UN flag flies at half mast, because Srebrenica, after all, was a UN safe area.

7.

Recognizing that the struggle of Bosnia and Herzegovina is symbolized by the suffering endured by Srebrenica, we insist on the realization of technical-communicational conditions that would provide foreign Heads of States and Governments, on their visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina, with an opportunity to visit the Srebrenica Memorial Centre and pay their respects to the casualties of Genocide. We believe that the majority of statesmen do have a desire to pay their respects to the casualties of Srebrenica. The Diaspora of Bosnia and Herzegovina is prepared to financially participate in the realization of the technical solution to the problem of a fast VIP access to Srebrenica 

8. 

We welcome the formation of a single Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina. We believe that this Army must also act in marking the tragedy of Srebrenica. We therefore propose the formation of an Honour-Guard of the Army of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which will stand guard in front of the Memorial Centre in a manner practiced in the United States, Canada and European countries that have memorial centres, observe traditions and commemorate events of great suffering.

9. 

As citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina living in the United States and Canada, we find that Annex IV (Constitution) of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina is inappropriate. It is an imposed international act, signed and guaranteed, amongst others, by the ICTY accused Slobodan Milosevic. Annex IV prevents Bosnia and Herzegovina in the normal development of its statehood. We therefore pledge our constitutional loyalty to the Constitution of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with which the country achieved its independence, and which by way of Genocide and genocidal politics, ceased being the supreme legal act. We hold all debates surrounding changes to Annex IV of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Dayton Peace Agreement) politically naive, insofar as they do not consider that changes to Annex IV must be along the path of redefining the Constitution of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and creation of a decentralized country with strong, distinct, municipal self-government. 

10. 

CNAB strongly supports authorities of the United States which two years ago declared the Chetnik Ravna Gora Movement to be a terrorist organization. CNAB urges the government of Canada to make the same decision. The CNAB protests the fact that the Embassy of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Canada did not take concrete political nor diplomatic steps to stop the promotion of Chetniks and Chetnik organizations in Canada.

11. 

Finally, we request from the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina to announce an open competition for the selection of a symbol that will symbolize the Genocide in Srebrenica. We request that this be done by the next (Tenth) Anniversary of the Genocide; that it be mode in a shape which can be worn on clothing and that the same be distributed by way of the diplomatic-consular missions of Bosnia and Herzegovina to all associations of Bosnians and Herzegovinians. Such a symbol would foster personal solidarity and awaken a personal connection among all citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It could also be an additional source of donations for the Memorial Center. CNAB is of the opinion that 11 July will be a day when the vast majority of the population of Bosnia and Herzegovina will pay its respects toward Srebrenica by wearing this symbol. 

 

OPEN LETTER TO MS DIANA JOHNSTONE

 

Diana Johnstone - in her grossly one-sided revisionist book \"Fools\' Crusade: Yugoslavia, NATO and Western Delusions\" - denies and revisions the number of victims of the Srebrenica genocide, questions the use of rape as a tool of war in Bosnia and revisions the number of people killed throughout the war in Bosnia. This kind of revisionism does not have place in Canadian society. Those people who deny holocaust and/or genocide should be stopped from publishing their work in Canada. We ask you to do everything in your power to publicly condemn Johnstone\'s denial of genocide and to pull out her book from circulation in Canada.

In her book, Johnstone claims Milosevic did not preside over a campaign of ethnic cleansing, but rather that he was advocating ethnic tolerance and harmony amonths Yugoslavia\'s peoples. She also (denies) casts doubt on the generally accepted figure (as noted, for example, by the Red Cross) of nearly 8,000 killed in Srebrenica, claiming the number is \"inflated\". She further argues that what happened in Srebrenica was not genocide. \"One thing should be obvious,\" she writes. \"One does not commit 'genocide' by sparing women and children."

 

In fact, in the case of Momir Nikolic and Dragan Obrenovic, The Hague Tribunal ruled that over 7,000 men were murdered in Srebrenica, many of them children. The children were not spared as Diane Johnstone claims - boys as young as 10 were separated from their mothers and systematically executed. Here is what the International Tribunal ruled in the case of Momir Nikolic:

 

"The crime of persecutions, as charged in Count 5 of the Indictment, was carried out by the following means:

 

- the murder of thousands of Bosnian Muslim civilians, including men, women, children and elderly persons;

- the cruel and inhumane treatment of Bosnian Muslim civilians, including severe beatings at Potocari and in detention facilities in Bratunac and Zvornik;

- the terrorising of Bosnian Muslim civilians in Srebrenica and Potocari;

- the destruction of personal property and effects belonging to the Bosnian Muslims; and

- the forcible transfer of Bosnian Muslims from the Srebrenica enclave.

- The criminal acts were carried out on the civilian population who fled the Srebrenica enclave following the attack and take-over by the Serbs. "

 

So far, almost 6,000 bodies were recovered from Srebrenica\'s primary and secondary mass graves. If anyone wanted more proof that Johnstone\'s claims were false, they could look to the case of Radislav Krstic, the Bosnian Serb general who was convicted of genocide by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia for the crimes committed in Srebrenica, or ICTY judgment of Kunarac/Kovac/Vukovic who were convicted of participating in sex enslavement rape camps for women in eastern Bosnia.

 

Or they might look to the 2002 confession by the former Bosnian Serb president Biljana Plavsic, who admitted that her government carried out a campaign of ethnic cleansing. They might even have looked to the admission earlier this year of the massacre in Srebrenica which finally came from the government of Republika Srpska itself, at the same time revealing the existence of 32 NEW mass graves.

 

SREBRENICA TOWN, SISTER/BROTHER TOWN OF NEW YORK CITY

The Congress of North American Bosniaks (CNAB) is an independent organization based in the United States and Canada and is comprised of thousands of individuals, organizations and their members. Most of the CNAB’s membership is comprised of Americans and Canadians of Bosniak and Bosnian decent and by Bosniaks now residing in North America. It is estimated that 350,000 Bosniaks now reside in the United States and Canada.

 

There were 12, 000 civilians killed in Srebrenica in the eyes of the U.N. soldiers, who were supposed to protect them. But they did not do. There were 3000 civilians killed into the World Trade Centre in New York.

 

The Congress of North American Bosniaks with influential cicrcles the organizations and individuals of Bosniaks in North America initiate a plan to make Srebrenica town the sister or brother town of New York City in order to establish a symbolic link based on perception of the civilian tragedy in face of terror.

 

WHY IT IS IMPORTANT FOR BOSNIAKS TO VOTE IN THE AMERICAN ELECTIONS

 

BOSNIAKS, A CIVILIZED EUROPEAN NATION; WHO WISHES TO DEFEND ITS FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENTS OF EXISTENCE: ITS RELIGION, NATION, AND COUNTRY; WHO CONTINUES TO STRIVE FOR A MULTICULTURAL, MULTIRELIGIOUIS AND MULTIETHNIC WORLD, SUCH BOSNIAKS MUST SEE THE IMPORTANCE OF VOTING IN THE AMERICAN ELECTIONS.

IT IS IMPORTANT TO VOTE, STAND UP AND SPEAK. IT WILL RELIEVE SOME OF THE MISPERCEPTIONS THE GENERAL PUBLIC HAS OF US.

 

LET  MAKE A DIFFERENCE

 

1) Voting in a democratic system is one of the few ways to affect social changes, and as Bosniaks it is our civic and religious duty to strive to move the society forward as closely as possible to the ideals of justice, fairness, equity and compassion for all;

 

2) Bosnaiks are mandated by the Qur\'an to work in cooperation with everyone for common causes that are beneficial to all people. Allah says, \"And cooperate ye with one another on virtue and God-consciousness.\" (Qur\'an: 5:2);

 

3) Bosniaks are mandated to work to remove injustice, discrimination and xenophobia in their societies whether directed against Muslims or non-Muslims; we cannot do this effectively unless we ensure that those who are committed to such ideals are voted to positions of power;

 

4) Islam and Muslims are increasingly becoming targets of racial profiling, demonization, and discrimination. Unless we stand united to ensure that those who directly or indirectly condone or sanction such attitudes and policies are restrained, the situation will only get worse. There is no effective way to do this except through voting;

 

5) Bosnaiks have a duty to help elect those who uphold values of liberty, freedom, and fairness for all those residing in the USA of ours. There is no better way to ensure that we will be able to enjoy our freedoms and God-given rights, as guaranteed to us in American Constitutions;

 

6) Bosniaks must stand up for the causes dearest to our hearts: fighting poverty; rooting out crimes and vice; working toward employment equity and equal opportunity for everyone;

 

7) Bosniaks have a duty to stand united to work for a vision of the USA that is inclusive. The USA which embrace all of their citizens regardless of differences of race, religion, ethnicity and help defeat those forces whose vision is ethnocentric, backward looking, and exclusivist. Islam calls for universalism and inclusiveness;

 

8) Bosniaks have a duty to ensure that our civil liberties are not eroded. We must unite with the democratic forces in the USA and work to ensure that those seeking to bring the USA closer to countries, where civil liberties and human rights are being systematically undermined, are stopped;

 

9) The state of Muslims in the USA as well as in the rest of the world will only go from bad to worse if Muslims continue to remain apathetic and fail to participate in the political process, allowing others to decide policies and laws that may jeopardize our interests both locally and at a global level;

 

10). It is mandatory for Bosniaks to work for the above. In fact, according to the principles of Islamic jurisprudence, \"if a mandatory duty cannot be accomplished except by fulfilling another duty, then realizing the latter (the prerequisite) becomes mandatory as well\";

 

11. The elections in the USA are demonstrating that we are at a critical point in choosing governments whose policies may adversely impact the Bosniaks community in the USA. This is why it is very important for all Bosniaks living in North America to vote in the upcoming November’s election in the USA, as it provides an opportunity for the Bosniak voice to be heard and the Bosniak concerns to be addressed.

 

2. ELECTION ALERT

As you all know how important it is for all of us who are eligible to vote to caste our vote in the upcoming presidential elections. Please go to www.voterinfonet.com to verify that you are registered and find out the polling place and other details. For those who travel a lot , you can get an absentee ballot from the web site that it have mentioned in this email. Also, the suburb that you live in might also have provision for you to vote after October 13 in the village hall of the village you live in that you can check.

 

3.THE LETTER OF THE CONGRESS OF NORTH AMERICAN BOSNIAKS TO THE HONOURABLE JOHN KERRY 

 

Dear Senator Kerry: 

 

The Congress of North American Bosniaks represents the interests of many of the 300,000 Americans of Bosniak or Bosnian heritage living in the United States. We are writing to you today in regard to the American Presidential election in November and we are posing the question: why should Bosniak/Bosnian-Americans vote for the Kerry-Edwards ticket?

 

Our membership is widespread and there are significant Bosniak or Bosnian-American populations in several of the so-called key battleground states, including: Arizona, Florida, Michigan, Missouri, Pennsylvania and Washington. Our population demographics range from a several thousands in Arizona, Pennsylvania and Washington to tens of thousands in Florida, Michigan and Missouri. All of these population centres (as well as others in non-battleground states) have increasing numbers of voting Bosniak or Bosnian-Americans.

 

Generally, our organization’s members are not fully satisfied with this administration’s policy towards Bosnia and Herzegovina as two of the greatest war criminals since World War II, Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, are still free. Any global war on terror rings hollow when individuals indicted for Genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes—indeed the most heinous crimes of terror—are allowed to hide from justice for almost a decade. It is imperative that America is seen in the Islamic and Muslim world as the world power which seizes and turns over to the Hague War Crimes Tribunal these two evil war criminals from Serbia who planned and carried out Genocide against the Bosniak (majority Muslim) population of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

 

Our membership also supports Bosnia and Herzegovina’s case brought against Serbia and Montenegro in the International Court of Justice as an indispensable process for attaining long term peace and stability in the region through justice, regardless of the outcome of the case. We believe that the American government ought to support Bosnia and Herzegovina in its search for justice at the ICJ in The Hague.

 

In terms of American policy in Bosnia, we believe that a significant reworking of the Dayton constitution must be undertaken to alleviate structural impediments to Bosnia’s political and economic advancement. Simply put, there are too many layers of government and government officials for such a small country—this public sector ought to be slashed. Also, the entities themselves have failed to bring prosperity to their people and have therefore failed to justify the necessity of their existence. The entities ought to be done away with in favour of a competent democratic central government. The government and the reworked constitution must actively guarantee full and equal individual rights for each and every person in each and every inch of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Each citizen ought to have the same legal standing as all other citizens and the same value to their vote as all other citizens. Democracy necessitates individual equality. National group rights ought to continue to be addressed through the Parliamentary Assembly’s House of Peoples.

 

On the economy in Bosnia, we call for debt forgiveness for Bosnia and Herzegovina. Bosnia’s debt to the United States and to the international community must be forgiven for Bosnia to be able to begin to stride towards prosperity. Internally, Bosnia’s laws must be drastically improved to allow for greater foreign investment and for fiscal and legal security.

 

Our members conditionally support the full integration of all of Bosnia’s neighbours into Euro-Atlantic economic, military and political frameworks. We support their general political and economic advancement. While we do support Serbia and Montenegro’s economic and political advancement, the next administration should increase political pressure on the authorities in Serbia and Montenegro to fully cooperate with the War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague, to take steps to permanently enhance minority rights and to permanently dampen extremist nationalism.

 

We have forwarded a similar letter to the Bush-Cheney campaign. Though our organization does not endorse candidates, we do intend on forwarding these letters and the responses we receive to them from the two campaigns to the Bosniak/Bosnian-American media. Bosniak and Bosnian-Americans are a growing community with greater numbers entering the American political process, and we know that our votes will be decisive in choosing the next President of the United States. 

Our organization and our members look forward to your campaign’s response. We thank you for your continuing service to our country and we wish you all the best during this campaign season and in the future. 

 

WHY IT IS IMPORTANT FOR BOSNIAKS TO VOTE IN THE AMERICAN ELECTIONS

The Congress of North American Bosniaks represents the interests of many of the 300,000 Americans of Bosniak or Bosnian heritage living in the United States. We are writing to you today in regard to the American Presidential election in November and we are posing the question: why should Bosniak/Bosnian-Americans vote for the Bush-Cheney ticket?

 

Our membership is widespread and there are significant Bosniak or Bosnian-American populations in several of the so-called key battleground states, including: Arizona, Florida, Michigan, Missouri, Pennsylvania and Washington. Our population demographics range from a several thousands in Arizona, Pennsylvania and Washington to tens of thousands in Florida, Michigan and Missouri. All of these population centres (as well as others in non-battleground states) have increasing numbers of voting Bosniak or Bosnian-Americans.

 

Generally, our organization’s members are not fully satisfied with this administration’s policy towards Bosnia and Herzegovina as two of the greatest war criminals since World War II, Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic, are still free. Any global war on terror rings hollow when individuals indicted for Genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes—indeed the most heinous crimes of terror—are allowed to hide from justice for almost a decade. It is imperative that America is seen in the Islamic and Muslim world as the world power which seizes and turns over to the Hague War Crimes Tribunal these two evil war criminals from Serbia who planned and carried out Genocide against the Bosniak (majority Muslim) population of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

 

Our membership also supports Bosnia and Herzegovina’s case brought against Serbia and Montenegro in the International Court of Justice as an indispensable process for attaining long term peace and stability in the region through justice, regardless of the outcome of the case. We believe that the American government ought to support Bosnia and Herzegovina in its search for justice at the ICJ in The Hague.

 

In terms of American policy in Bosnia, we believe that a significant reworking of the Dayton constitution must be undertaken to alleviate structural impediments to Bosnia’s political and economic advancement. Simply put, there are too many layers of government and government officials for such a small country—this public sector ought to be slashed. Also, the entities themselves have failed to bring prosperity to their people and have therefore failed to justify the necessity of their existence. The entities ought to be done away with in favour of a competent democratic central government. The government and the reworked constitution must actively guarantee full and equal individual rights for each and every person in each and every inch of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Each citizen ought to have the same legal standing as all other citizens and the same value to their vote as all other citizens. Democracy necessitates individual equality. National group rights ought to continue to be addressed through the Parliamentary Assembly’s House of Peoples.

 

On the economy in Bosnia, we call for debt forgiveness for Bosnia and Herzegovina. Bosnia’s debt to the United States and to the international community must be forgiven for Bosnia to be able to begin to stride towards prosperity. Internally, Bosnia’s laws must be drastically improved to allow for greater foreign investment and for fiscal and legal security.

 

Our members conditionally support the full integration of all of Bosnia’s neighbours into Euro-Atlantic economic, military and political frameworks. We support their general political and economic advancement. While we do support Serbia and Montenegro’s economic and political advancement, the next administration should increase political pressure on the authorities in Serbia and Montenegro to fully cooperate with the War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague, to take steps to permanently enhance minority rights and to permanently dampen extremist nationalism.

 

We have forwarded a similar letter to the Kerry-Edwards campaign. Though our organization does not endorse candidates, we do intend on forwarding these letters and the responses we receive to them from the two campaigns to the Bosniak/Bosnian-American media. Bosniak and Bosnian-Americans are a growing community with greater numbers entering the American political process, and we know that our votes will be decisive in choosing the next President of the United States. 

Our organization and our members look forward to your campaign’s response. We thank you for your continuing service to our country and we wish you all the best during this campaign season and in the future.

 

CHOOSING TO DEFEND MILOSEVIC IS CHOOSING TO DEFEND A WAR CRIMENAL

The National Post from August 16, 2004 featured an article, “Milosevic’s Canadian Defence” by Bruce Garvey in which it was stated that Slobodan Milosevic, indicted war criminal and former Serbian president has called four Canadians, retired Major-General Lewis MacKenzie, Ottawa Citizen defence correspondent David Pugliese and war correspondent and author Scott Taylor and Calgary filmmaker Garth Pitchard to be defence witnesses in his trial. The Congress of Bosniaks of North America, Branch Canada (The Congress) urges the four Canadians (and other Canadians who may be called to testify for Milosevic in the future) not to testify as defence witnesses for Milosevic who faces more than 60 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role in the 1991-95 war in Croatia, the 1992-95 war in Bosnia and the 1998-99 war in Kosovo. Milosevic has also been charged with genocide and complicity in genocide, the gravest of war crimes, for the war in Bosnia, which left 200,000 people dead. Choosing to defend Milosevic would contradict the human rights, freedom and democracy, which Canada strongly supports. Canada is a country that is fighting for peace and justice. It is a country that had and still has peace-keeping troops in Bosnia and Herzegovina, who are the best witnesses as to who the victim is and who the aggressor is in Bosnia.

 

The Congress firmly believes that if Lewis MacKenzie were to accept Milosevic’s invitation and testify for him, his testimony would have to be carefully examined. After all, allegations of sexual misconduct have been made against MacKenzie. The Congress has already sent a letter to the Canadian Prime Minister, Paul Martin detailing the evidence that supports the allegations. Unfortunately, as far as we know an investigation has still not been conducted on this case. 

MacKenzie’s views about the war in Bosnia are clearly expressed in his book, The Peacekeeper. \"The second [of May, 1992] was a relatively quiet day\", writes MacKenzie. (PEACEKEEPER, MacKenzie, 246). This is from the journal of a man who was both the eyes and the ears of the international community while he was stationed in Sarajevo, Bosnia. The second of May was far from quiet. In fact, on the second of May, Sarajevo\'s library was burning as well as its post office, leaving the people no contact with the outside world. Also, Bosnia\'s president, at the time, was kidnapped on the second. Calling the second of May relatively quiet shows that this man, General MacKenzie, was biased and this is just one more reason why if he were to testify his testimony should not be taken at face value. On 10 March 2003, MacKenzie listed the major disasters of UN peacekeeping in the Globe & Mail. At the top of his list was Bosnia and Hercegovina. Why had Bosnia reached the top of his list? Because of, \"the UN\'s failure to protect civilians.\" What General MacKenzie forgot to mention was that he was the first UN commander on the ground. It was General MacKenzie that laid the foundations of that particular mission and actually dissuaded the U.S. from intervening, even with humanitarian aid.

 

It was in Senate, on August 11th of 1992 that General MacKenzie said, \"There is no military solution. There is no way intervention will do anything but escalate the violence.\" In response to this statement, Senator Nunn asked, \"When you say intervention will escalate the violence, do you include humanitarian assistance as intervention?\" MacKenzie\'s response as, \"I\'m sorry but I\'m afraid so.\" MacKenzie’s comments during his stay in Bosnia can be summarized in a few lines: I am dealing with Serbs, Croats and Muslims and it is like dealing with criminals. One of them has killed fifteen people, one of them killed ten and one of them killed five. But all of them are criminals. This is what MacKenzie says but the facts tell a different story. Most of the estimated 200,000 people who died during the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina were Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims), most of the estimated 50,000 people who were in concentration camps were Bosniaks, most of the estimated 30,000 women who were raped were Bosniaks and most of the estimated 1,500,000 who were victims of ethnic cleansing were Bosniaks. And this is why Slobodan Milosevic is an indicted war criminal and why he should be convicted. It was his plan for a “Greater Serbia” that started the war in Slovenia, which then moved to Croatia, then to Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo.

 

During the war in Bosnia some Canadians were probably saying, ``Why should Canada, thousands of miles away, get involved?\'\' Our answer was straightforward: because Milosevic must be stopped. His army must be dismantled. Milosevic was not stopped and his army did continue its aggression in Kosovo. Finally, after hundreds of thousands have been killed and displaced from their homes Milosevic has been stopped. He has been indicted of war crimes. So if Canadians choose to get involved at this time, the Congress urges them to help convict Milosevic. Choosing to defend Milosevic is choosing to defend a war criminal.

 

LETS MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Why it is very important for all Bosniaks living in North America to vote in the upcoming June’s Canadian and November’s American elections

 

BOSNIAKS, A CIVILIZED EUROPEAN NATION; WHO WISHES TO DEFEND ITS FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENTS OF EXISTENCE: ITS RELIGION, NATION, AND COUNTRY; WHO CONTINUES TO STRIVE FOR A MULTICULTURAL, MULTIRELIGIOUIS AND MULTIETHNIC WORLD, SUCH BOSNIAKS MUST SEE THE IMPORTANCE OF VOTING IN THE CANADIAN AND AMERICAN ELECTIONS.

IT IS IMPORTANT TO VOTE, STAND UP AND SPEAK. IT WILL RELIEVE SOME OF THE MISPERCEPTIONS THE GENERAL PUBLIC HAS OF US.

LETS MAKE A DIFFERENCE

 

1) Voting in a democratic system is one of the few ways to affect social changes, and as Bosniaks it is our civic and religious duty to strive to move the society forward as closely as possible to the ideals of justice, fairness, equity and compassion for all;

 

2) Bosnaiks are mandated by the Qur\'an to work in cooperation with everyone for common causes that are beneficial to all people. Allah says, \"And cooperate ye with one another on virtue and God-consciousness.\" (Qur\'an: 5:2);

 

3) Bosniaks are mandated to work to remove injustice, discrimination and xenophobia in their societies whether directed against Muslims or non-Muslims; we cannot do this effectively unless we ensure that those who are committed to such ideals are voted to positions of power;

 

4) Islam and Muslims are increasingly becoming targets of racial profiling, demonization, and discrimination. Unless we stand united to ensure that those who directly or indirectly condone or sanction such attitudes and policies are restrained, the situation will only get worse. There is no effective way to do this except through voting;

 

5) Bosnaiks have a duty to help elect those who uphold values of liberty, freedom, and fairness for all those residing in Canada and the USA of ours. There is no better way to ensure that we will be able to enjoy our freedoms and God-given rights, as guaranteed to us in Canadian and American Constitutions;

 

6) Bosniaks must stand up for the causes dearest to our hearts: fighting poverty; rooting out crimes and vice; working toward employment equity and equal opportunity for everyone;

 

7) Bosniaks have a duty to stand united to work for a vision of Canada and the USA that is inclusive. Canada and the USA which embrace all of their citizens regardless of differences of race, religion, ethnicity and help defeat those forces whose vision is ethnocentric, backward looking, and exclusivist. Islam calls for universalism and inclusiveness;

 

8) Bosniaks have a duty to ensure that our civil liberties are not eroded. We must unite with the democratic forces in Canada and the USA and work to ensure that those seeking to bring Canada and the USA closer to countries, where civil liberties and human rights are being systematically undermined, are stopped;

 

9) The state of Muslims in Canada and the USA as well as in the rest of the world will only go from bad to worse if Muslims continue to remain apathetic and fail to participate in the political process, allowing others to decide policies and laws that may jeopardize our interests both locally and at a global level;

 

10). It is mandatory for Bosniaks to work for the above. In fact, according to the principles of Islamic jurisprudence, \"if a mandatory duty cannot be accomplished except by fulfilling another duty, then realizing the latter (the prerequisite) becomes mandatory as well\";

 

11. The elections in Canada and the USA are demonstrating that we are at a critical point in choosing governments whose policies may adversely impact the Bosniaks community in Canada and the USA. This is why it is very important for all Bosniaks living in North America to vote in the upcoming June’s election in Canada and November’s election in the USA, as it provides an opportunity for the Bosniak voice to be heard and the Bosniak concerns to be addressed.

 

LEWIS MACKENZIE SEXUALLY MOLESTED BOSNIAK WOMEN HELD BY SERBIAN FORCES

For almost 12 years, allegations of sexual misconduct against Canadian Gen. Lewis MacKenzie (Ret) have been circulating widely in domestic Bosnian circles. Major General Lewis MacKenzie was the Canadian commander of UN troops in Bosnia during the siege of Sarajevo in 1992. Some time after he steped down from his assignment (August 01, 1992) he was charged in a bill of indictment by chief military prosecutor Mustafa Bisic with sexually molesting four Bosniak women held by Serbian forces in a concentration camp Sonya in northern Sarajevo. During the last twelve years, the Canadian government and the military kept a low profile on the allegations and - to our knowledge - never investigated them.

 

So, is there any evidence to support allegations of sexual misconduct against Gen. MacKenzie? Let\'s go back to 1992. In a letter to the Bosnian president Alija Izetbegovic dated December 3rd same year, Mr. Bisic cited the eyewitness testimony of a Serbian guard who had worked at the camp. The guard claimed he saw Gen. MacKenzie and several escorts arrive in a military transport vehicle with the UN insignia; Serbian guards were then ordered to release four female Bosniak prisoners to MacKenzie. According to the Mr. Bisic\'s complaint, the women were later murdered by camp guards under orders to \"erase evidence\" of this \"unusual gift.\"

 

The eyewitness testimony of a Serbian guard was just part of the evidence against Gen. MacKenzie. On February 23, 1993 Helsinki Watch for Congressional staffers conducted the briefing. A Bosnian nurse who spent ten months helping war victims at a frontline hospital in Sarajevo testified she had been shown the videotape placing Gen. MacKenzie at the Sonya\'s camp. New evidence helped refocus attention to the charges, but was largely ignored by the Canadian media.

"I looked at the tape and saw General MacKenzie, whom we always saw on TV news, with Serb chetniks. There were three or four girls on both sides of him...MacKenzie was hugging them.\"

 

In his article: \"Answers needed to charges of UN misconduct in Bosnia\" dated 06/04/1993, Dennis Bernstein (investigative reporter for Pacific News Service) reported that in a telephone interview with PNS Mrs. Ovcina said she recognized some of the young women as formely involved in a hair cutting business.

"They didn\'t laugh, they didn\'t cry, they just sat there...The feeling I had is that they were surrounded by a bunch of drunken people, and they were very unhappy,\" she recalled. Mrs. Ovcina said she was told by her neighbours that the women were later killed and buried in a grave on the outskirts of Sarajevo.

The then US Congresswoman Louise M. Slaughter (D-NY) expressed her concern about the charges. She was reported as being especially troubled to learn that twice when Gen. MacKenzie visited Washington in May 1993, he was represented by the public relations firm of Craig Shirley and Associates which was closely identified with the Serbian government and Serbian-American organizations who worked to counter the negative media images about Serbia.

Another eyewitness who testified against Gen. MacKenzie was Serbian soldier Boris Herak who was captured by Bosnian forces in early November 1992 (three months after Gen. MacKenzie left Bosnia). Herak testified he was at the camp when Gen. MacKenzie arrived in a white UN vehicle and met with the Serbian camp warden Miro Vukovic. According to the testimony, Gen. MacKenzie was then taken to a room \"for big shots\" where he was served whiskey and food. Herak also testified he saw Gen. MacKenzie and several other UN soldiers \"taking four or five girls in this vehicle to have fun.\" Asked if he were certain it was Gen. MacKenzie, Herak replied, \"Yes, I am sure. I saw him on television.\"

 

Interesting thing about Gen. MacKenzie is that he completely ignored the evidence against him and denounced the prosecutor\'s charges as a propaganda tactic. While I do not want to prejudge the allegations against Gen. MacKenzie, we consider them serious enough to warrant investigation by the Canadian government and the military.

 

FROM DARKNES OF THE BASEMENT TO THE LIGHT OF THE MOSQUE

The Bosniak Islamic Centre Hamilton was founded two years ago, with the will of the well-known Bosniak enthusiasts, lead by the hardworking and knowledgeable Imam Ismail ef. Fetic. They decided to put up a struggle against the Bosniakforgetfulness that was threatening to destroy the clarity of the multidimensional Bosnian being, depicted in the Islamic faith, Bosnian nationality and patriotism.

 

They started to gather in a basement of an old building in Hamilton. The basement was quickly turned into a mosque in which all the necessary religious Islamic duties were fulfilled. In a short period of time, the centre was registered with theCanadian authorities. Aside from working on the Islamic component of Bosniak being, one had begun to work on the defense and strengthening of the Bosniak national component. The center starts its informative voice \" Bosniak Informator\", which from the onset is favored among Bosniaks and which is for now the only informative Bosnian voice in Canada. Being the only organized Bosnian strength in this area, the centre is rapidly advancing in different ways: humanly, materialistically and spiritually.

 

Hence, in a very short period of time, conditions for buying a property were formed and within a short period of time it was adapted to a mosque. Also a centre, it served to nourish the pride of not only Hamilton Bosnians, but also of those Bosnians in Canada and North America. Conditions for a faster, more organized and diverse work which served to strengthen all of the components of the Bosnian being were due to moving in these new property.

 

It is possible to fulfill various religious duties in our mosque. These include: five daily prayers,salatu-l- Jumu\'ah, religious education for the youth, women and elderly, as well as lessons in Tajweed and the Qor\'an, lessons for the adults- Tefsir of Qor\'an, lessons in Islamic topics, as well as commemoration of religious holidays, as well as meetings.

 

In our centre, we work on preserving and strengthening the national component of Bosnian being through publication of private leaflet, forming of a website, starting a Bosnian language school, and organizing social meetings, as well a formation of a Bosnian library in Hamilton. In addition, contacts with the local, provincial and federal Canadian authorities are well maintained.

 

Within these contacts, Bosnians and their country present themselves to Canadians and also lobby for Bosnian interest. All that is best in Bosnian and Herzegovinian tradition is conveyed to Canadians.

 

In only two years Bosnian Islamic Centre has become an example in illustrating a \'reawakening\' of the sleepy Bosnian masses and how negative energy has the ability to be transformed in a positive one, that of action. Thus, trengthening and further developing the multidimensional Bosnian being in a Canadian cultural mosaic.

 

Bosnians in Hamilton led by the imam Ismail ef.Fetic and by the Bosnian enthusiasts have elevated the darkness of the Hamilton basement to the level of light of mosque and the centre. This light will from now on shine and invite all the future Bosnian generations to meet around the mosque and the centre and thus preserve their identity, religion, culture, nation and tradition, and their only homeland Bosnian and Herzegovina.

 

Bosnian Islamic Centre in Hamilton is becoming a distinctive place of production of the Bosnian front, which will realize through a Bosnian dialogue a critical mass of religious-national-patriotic Bosnians. These will begin a large mission of creating a minimum of mutual elements of Bosnian existence, being an introduction into the formation of a Bosnian national program.

 

LETTER FROM THE PRIME MINISTER OF CANADA

 

Please know that your e-mail message has been received in the Prime Minister\'s Office and that your comments have been noted. Our office always welcomes hearing from Canadians and being made aware of their views. Thank you for writing.

 

HONOURABLE PM PAUL MARTIN;

Today, We Bosniaks - Bosnian Muslims are very sad. Sheikh Yassen who was one of the most Holiest Imam in the Muslim World was assassinated by the Israeli Government. His Murder touched every Bosnian Muslims - We strongly speak against this Crime and condemn the Israeli Government for their action.

HONOURABLE PM PAUL MARTIN;

We Bosniaks living in Canada request you to come out against this Crimes of the Israeli Government.

 

ON THE INDEPENDENCE DAY OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

 

Rich history of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and of the Concept and the Spirit of Bosnia, in constancy of purpose, shows unity and harmony of state, concept, and spirit. Therein, four religions and churches (Judaism, Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Islam), four nations (Jews, Croats, Serbs, Bosniaks), four cultures, traditions, and civilizations, each of them in its own, contributed to and built a distinctive Bosnian-Herzegovinian culture, civilization, and tradition.

(These distinctive Bosnian-Herzegovinian culture, civilization, and tradition)

 

It is manifested when the one accepts, respects, and has a tolerance for the other and the different one.

 

It is enlivened in the Concept and the Spirit of Bosnia, graced by Good, but only Good People of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

 

It is materialized in the reciprocal influence and the records of harmony between different cultural, religious, national, and natural resources in relatively small area.

 

It is on a historical record as a great Bosnian creation of the cross-roads of the greatest world traditions.

 

Bosnia and Herzegovina is distinctive cultural, economic, state, political, and legal entity, as it has throughout history. Today we have a world experiment in Bosnia. Its keyword is compromise. First Tudjman and Milosevic reached a \'compromise\' on exactly how Bosnia would ultimately be carved and deleted in its existence. They did not ultimately succeeded. Then international community intervened (and pretended?) to preserve and rebuild the multicultural, multiethnic, multireligious social fabric of Bosnia. But they attempted to actually effect similar \'compromise\'. The attempt as such one can hardly only avoid as unworthy: it offends. The \'Lord Protectors\' [op.: to je puni zvanicni naziv glavnog za vrijeme Protektorata], with apparent superficiality, relate to Bosnian history and tradition, toward the Concept and the Spirit of Bosnia, and toward historically given state and legal existence of the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Bosnia and Herzegovina is amazing treasury of times.  Suppressed, interdicted, debarred, evolutionally trampled, revolutionary exterminated by fire and sword.

Enormous/Immense treasure of little land of Bosnia and Herzegovina survived solely/exclusively thanks to its magnificent riches, diversity, universality, and strength, a which inspire and raise.  It survived thanks to Good People of Bosnia. Enemies of Bosnia and Herzegovina could not stand them, their culture and condemn them summarily. Genocide, ecocide, ethnocide, and urbicide will remain in history pages as something which is remembered for centuries. One could recall an old Latin proverb: \"Verba volant, egzemp trabunt\" (Words fly, examples prove). But Good People of Bosnia, that special sort of people, remained.

With their spiritual bundles and the need to replenish, enrich, and anew strengthen and freshen them up. Good People of Bosnia, at peace with self, at peace when stay alone, who persevere in keeping the Concept and the Spirit of Bosnia. Who persevere in protecting those beautiful gifts from land of Bosnia and Herzegovina, those magnificent and authentic signs of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian spirituality, those pillars of the Bosnian-Herzegovinian heritage. Who do not give in to \'compromises\' similar to the ones mentioned before, and who bring recognition and ascent to Bosnia and Herzegovina. A culture of the Concept and the Spirit of Bosnia and bigotry and totalitarianism of any kind are diametrically opposed. From time immemorial, Bosnia and Herzegovina was recognized in Europe as multireligious, multicultural, multiethnic. Bosnia is not cradle of colonialism, less that of Crusades. Let this be told, too: Bosnia accepted on its land Sephardim Jews, who were persecuted and oppressed across Europe of that time. Bosnia and Herzegovina is cradle of the Concept and the Spirit of Bosnia. I cannot think of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a state other than a clearly multinational, multicultural, and especially multireligious society. Those are attributes of the European states, and why not be of B&H as a European state. After all, Bosnia and Herzegovina is known in history for exactly that tradition. I personally come out for civil, democratic, and integral Bosnia and Herzegovina. Bosnia and Herzegovina is my homeland, native country. I am its citizen and cannot be indifferent toward the future of Bosnia as a State. I do not have homeland other than Bosnia.

 

ELEVEN GENOCIDES AGAINST BOSNIAKS

The New Hijri Year has just started. In Islam there is no special religious ceremony to mark the New Year. However, since our religious calendar is the Hijri calendar, it is good to remind ourselves about the meaning and significance of Hijrah at this time. We should talk about Prophet’s Hijrah from Makkah to Madinah that took place in the year 622 CE. We should talk about its meaning and significance and we should also talk about the general concept of Hijrah in Islam. 

The Arabic word Hijrah is often translated as “exile, exodus, flight or migration”. Its meaning is, however, much more dynamic and active. It means “to leave, to move, to shun and quit”. It is especially used for an intentional transfer of residence, but in the Qur’an it is also used to mean leaving a wrong condition and moving to a better condition, even though it may involve some difficulty.

 

Hijrah is a principle that is integral to Islam. It transforms a Mu’min from a mere believer to a Mujahid, the one who struggles for his faith. It is for this reason that the Qur’an has used in many places the words Iman, Hijrah and Jihad together.

 

Muslims chose Hijrah as the focal point to reckon their chronology. In physical terms Hijrah was a journey between two cities about 300 miles apart, but in its grand significance it marked the beginning of an era, a civilization, a culture and a history for the whole mankind. Islam progressed not only from the physical Hijrah, but because Muslims took Hijrah seriously in all its aspects and dimensions.

 

We Bosnian Muslims – Bosniaks should use this occasion to remind ourselves about the Hijrah and about the eleven genocides against Bosnian Muslims - Bosniaks.

 

Crimes of genocide against Bosniaks in the Balkans are part of their history. These crimes of genocide last over three centuries, originated from both the East and the West sides, depending on the historical period. The causes of genocides against Bosniaks are, in principle, ideological ones, but there are other as well: first of all fight for territories (cf. \"space for living\", Lebensraum, as used by Nazi), and then plans for extermination of people.

 

Crimes of genocide have their historical continuity from the second half of the 17th century. While some of them were results of genocidal acts of Venetian and Austrian troops, for the most part they have been result of Serbian and Montenegrin continuous politics since the beginning of the 17th century until the present days.

 

That is to say, physical and spiritual extermination and destruction committed by Serbs and Montenegrins against Bosniaks in the Balkans are motivated by Serbian genocidal ideology founded on: Kosovo Myth, Njegos\' epics on annihilation of the converts to Islam, as well as lies and political propaganda. This ideology was developed in works of Njegos (\"Gorski vijenac\", \"The Mountain Wreath\") and Ilija Garasanin (\"Nacertanije\", 1844), with contributing motives from Vuk Karadzic\'s \"Jezicki nacionalizam\" and religious doctrine of the Serbian Orthodox Church. These criminal programs have been complemented in the recent past by Stevan Moljevic\'s \"Programski dokumenti\" of June 30, 1941 (an ideologist in the Draza Mihailovic\'s Chetniks Movement), Resolutions at the 1943 Chetniks\' Conference in village Sahovici, and last \"Memorandum\" by SANU - Srpska Akademija Nauka i Umetnosti (Serbian Academy of Science and Arts) - thus giving a framework for this criminal construction.

 

Historiographic, philosophical and literature works of Vasa Cubrilovic, Dobrica Cosic, Milorad Ekmecic, Vojislav Djuretic, Vasilije Krestic, Mihailo Markovic and others provided intellectual and spiritual foundation to this genocidal politics.

 

The last genocide committed against Bosniaks (1992-1995) by Serbia and Montenegro was planned by: Military top of the former Yugoslavia (SFRJ) (usurped by Serbia), State Leadership of Serbia, Serbian political opposition, Serbian Orthodox Church, Ministry of Internal Affairs of Serbia, SANU, as well as corresponding powers in Montenegro.

 

All plans for \"Greater Serbia\" and Chetniks\' genocidal programmatic documents state that creation and organization of homogenous Serbia (ethnically pure Serbian state), comprising \"all territories inhabited by Serbs\", is first and primary duty of \"all\" Serbs.

 

THE FIRST GENOCIDE

The first genocide against Bosniaks occurred during and after the Great Vienna War, between Ottoman and Austrian Empires. As Ottomans lost in this war all territories and power in Hungary, Slavonia, Lika, Krbava, Dalmatia, Bay of Kotor, all Moslem-Bosniaks who did not timely withdraw from these areas and territories to Bosnia and other areas south of Sava and Danube river were killed, expelled, assimilated or forcefully converted to Christianity. All cultural and sacral objects were destroyed and valuables looted. Precise and clear evidence about conversion to Christianity exist in Franciscan archives in Dalmatia, Lika, Slavonia. Various toponyms and last names are today only signs that Bosniaks had inhabited these areas. For the first genocide, it is most important to say that while Ottoman and Austrian Empires waged war, Bosniaks perished.

 

THE SECOND GENOCIDE

The second genocide against Moslem-Bosniaks occurred on Orthodox Christmas Eve of year 1711. So called \"istraga poturica\" (\"annihilation of the converts to Islam\") was carried out on that night. About 1,000 Muslims, living in the area of \"The Old Montenegro\" comprising four regions called nahija and with Cetinje as a capital, were killed then. The Orthodox Church created strategy, promoted idea and was actor of this second genocide. This assertion is based on the facts that the Christmas Eve is the greatest Christian holiday and that the 19th century Bishop and poet Petar Petrovic Njegos \'celebrated\' and documented the annihilation in his work \"The Mountain Wreath\". With this poem, he provided epical background and paradigm for all future genocides against Muslims of Serbia, Sandzak, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. All motives for genocide are celebrated in \"The Mountain Wreath\"; e.g., Njegos expressed and inflamed the religious hatred toward Muslims in verse: \" Odza rice na ravnom Cetinju – zaudara zemlja Mu’amedom ” ! "The Imam roars upon Cetinje plain, the soil smells of Mohammed\")

 

THE THIRD GENOCIDE

The third genocide against Bosniaks occurred between 1804-1820 as a result of The First and The Second Serbian Uprising. Serbian historian an diplomat Stojan Novakovic described this genocide as \"general extermination of Turks-Muslims from population\".  The third genocide against Muslims sees historians, politicians, and poets (such as Njegos) of that time joining The Orthodox Church, which itself plays the key role from time of the second genocide.

 

THE FOURTH GENOCIDE

The fourth genocide against Bosniaks occurred between 1830-1867 as a result of the 1830 Hati-s-serif and its Annex of 1830. This document gave Serbia the vassal autonomy within the Ottoman Empire. Subsequently, all Bosniaks were expelled from Belgrade, Uzice, Sokol, Sabac. Expelled Muslims were settled by the Porte in Bosnia, in two newly formed settlements: Upper and Lower Azizia, i.e., Bosanski Samac and Orasje.

 

THE FIFTH GENOCIDE

The fifth genocide against Bosniaks occurred after The Treaty of Berlin 1878. The Article XXVI of The Treaty recognized the independence of Montenegro. It also expanded its territory into Herzegovina. The Article XXXIV recognized the independence of the Principality of Serbia, subject to the conditions set forth in the following Article XXXV: \"In Serbia the difference of religious creeds and confessions shall not be alleged against any person as a ground for exclusion or incapacity in matters relating to the enjoyment of civil or political rights, admission to public employments, functions, and honors, or the exercise of the various professions and industries, in any locality whatsoever. The freedom and outward exercise of all forms of worship shall be assured to all persons belonging to Serbia, as well as to foreigners, and no hindrance shall be offered either to the hierarchical organization of the different communions, or to their relations with their spiritual chiefs.\" Serbia expanded its territory over Nis, Toplica, i Vranje areas. However, Serbia broke the Article XXXV, i.e., the conditions for its independence, in respect to religious, civil, and political freedom of Muslims. They were killed in and expelled from Belgrade, Sabac, Uzice, Sokol, Nis, Pirot, Vranje, and their cultural and sacral objects destroyed.

 

THE SIXTH GENOCIDE

The sixth genocide against Bosniaks happened after the provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina had been occupied and administered by Austria-Hungary. During and after the occupation Bosniaks were subject to emigration to Sandzak, Kosovo, Macedonia, which stayed under the Ottoman administration after The Treaty of Berlin 1878. The result was the sharp decrease of Muslim population in total population of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Historians\' citation that between 1879 and 1910 the percentage of Muslim population in Bosnia and Herzegovina decreased by 7% is even more tragic when viewed in absolute figures, because Bosniaks are not numerically big nation.

 

THE SEVENTH GENOCIDE

The sewenth genocide against Bosniaks occurred in 1912 - 1913 in Plav-Gusinje area (South Sanjak or North Montenegro). The genocide against Bosniaks occurred in Sanjak, part of Montenegro with the forcible conversion of Muslim to Christianity in areas of Plav and Gusinje. This genocide is a direct consequence of The First and The Second Balkan Wars. It was the seventh genocide against Muslims in (Central-West) Balkans and the first against Bosniaks in Sanjak. This time, the most prominent Bosniaks of this region, between 800 - 1200 peaple, were executed.

 

THE EIGHT GENOCIDE

The eight genocide against Bosniaks occurred in 1919 in Plav-Gusinje area, or better to say, it was repeated in this area after the forcible conversion to Christianity in 1912-1913. This time, the most prominent Bosniaks of this region, about 450 of them, were executed. This has been an untold and unwritten story since then, a good indication that all Bosniak\'s historians so far failed to document this genocide, and which we here cite as The Eight, or the second one in the Plav -Gusinje Region with just 6-7 years apart.

 

 

THE NINETH GENOCIDE

The Ninth genocide against Muslim-Bosniaks lasts from the formation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes in 1918 until its collapse in 1941. In this period the lives of Bosniaks were treated as worthless, and especially difficult situation was for Muslims in Sandzak and Herzegovina. One example is village Sahovici near Bijelo Polje where about 600 Muslims were killed on November 7, 1924, without any reason, guilt, and cause. Bosniak population in Eastern Herzegovina suffered from execution squads known as \"(Serbian) King\'s Komite\". Data analysed attribute to them about 3,000 unresolved murders of Muslims-Bosniaks. All these killings, expulsions and intimidation changed the ethnical profile of the Eastern Herzegovina to the Bosniaks\' detriment.

 

 

THE TENTH GENOCIDE

The tenth genocide against Bosniaks occurred during the WWII, 1941-1945. According to some estimates, about 106,000 Bosniaks died, mostly civilians slaughtered by Chetniks and their daggers. I means that about 8.3% of Muslim population perished in this period. These are still raw data, and full details of suffering are not yet sufficiently investigated and researched. Consequently, I hereby appeal to Bosniak\'s historians and intellectuals skilled in writing to get down to work. As in old saying, \"what is not recorded in writing, is not happened\"! The complete, precise, fantastically powerful and easily web-accessible archive of the ICTY, especially testimonies and cross-examinations of the Prosecutor\'s expert witnesses, many of them historians and intellectuals who are often doing more goods to us Bosniaks than sometimes we ourselves do, is one of the places to start.

 

THE ELEVENTH GENOCIDE

The eleventh genocide against Bosniaks occurred in the period 1992-1995 during aggression on Bosnia and Herzegovina by Serbia, Montenegro, and Croatia.  This time it was simultaneous and collaborative commission of genocide by Serbia, Montenegro, and Croatia. It never happened before, in previous ten genocides, that they together and simultaneously committed crimes.  This genocide is the most gruesome, cruel, brutal and the largest in scale than all previous ones. And that is amplified when put in historical perspective of it happened at the end of the 20th century in the midst of Europe.

All Serbian and Montenegrin that could creep, were included in committing this crime, including the top state, governmental, political, military, and Church structures. Also, the crucial, key contribution to this crime of genocide came from Serbian and Montenegrin intellectual establishment. The obvious intention was the formation of The Greater Serbia along Karlobag-Virovitica line as was long ago planned in the programs of Garasanin, Moljevic, and the last Memorandum of SANU (Serbian Academy of Science and Arts). And Croatia, too, wanted to, so to speak, \'make a profit\' in this criminal aggression. Its aspirations to Greater Croatia corresponded with already known crimes of Croatian warriors against Bosniak civilians in Stupni Do, Ahmici and other places. Sufferings of Bosniak civilians are enormous in lost lives so one can call it a cataclysm, or gernika, as somebody said. It should be told that this aggression on Bosnia and Herzegovina also inflicted an urbicide and culturecide.  For this genocide, it is important to emphasise that this time Bosniaks resisted military and organizationally, which had not been the case in the previous ten genocides. Bosniak people, although unarmed in the beginning and surrounded by deceit, found the strength and resisted the aggressors. And how the latter felt the Bosniak strength! At the end, let me conclude with the statement that nothing anymore is the same as before and Bosniaks will never again allow to be slaughtered like lambs, and they demonstrated in this fight against aggressors that they will, know how to and can counter strike.

 

DEAR RESPECTED DOCTOR CINA

Dear and highly respected Doctor Cina,

We have been informed that you have very successfully performed a very difficult and complicated surgery on our very dear and close friend, Mr. Nedzad Hafizovic. Indeed, it is a great and splended deed, and your prominence and skilfulness will remain in our memory eternaly, as well as in the hearts of all our relatives and friends. Even though we never got acquainted with you, yet we feel very close to you and your team of doctors.  I want, on behalf: of the Congress of North American Bosniaks, of the Islamic Association of North American Bosniaks and of the Bosnian Islamic Centres of Toronto, Hamilton and London and on my own behalf, to express heartfelt thanks and deep appreciation to you and your colleagues efforts in helping Mr. Hafizovic to overcome his illness. Thanking you again, I ask God to grant you and your noble family good health and long life, and may He bless and reward you in this life and in the Hereafter. Dear Doctor Cina, please accept the assurances of my highest consideration.

 

I DO NOT KNOW ANY NATION THAT WOULD FORGIVE, JUST LIKE  THAT 250.000 PEOPLE KILLED

According to the results of the independent research project did by professor Emir Ramic on the topic of “Opinion of the Bosniaks in Diaspora to an apology issued by the President of the rump Yugoslavia for the \"evil\" his people had caused during Bosnia\'s war of independence”; 95% Bosniaks reacted sceptically to an apology issued by the President of the rump Yugoslavia. The research took in Europe, Australia and North Amerika from December 1,2003 to January 20,2004. The research simple was 30 Bosniaks from different social and educational structural in 20 states.

 

On November 13, 2003. Serbia and Montenegro President Svetozar Marovic met Bosnian leaders during his first official visit to Sarajevo, where he declared contrition for the 1992-95 war between Belgrade-backed Serbs and Bosnia\'s Muslims and Croats.

 

Most of the estimated 250,000 people who died in the conflict were Bosniaks or Bosnian Muslims, most of the estimated 50.000 people who were in concentration died lager were Bosniaks or Bosnian Muslims, most of estimated 30.000 women who were ripped were Bosniak or Bosnian Muslim women, most of estimated 1.5000.000 who were victims of ethnic cleaning at he end of the 20th century were Bosniaks or Bosnian Muslims.

 

"I want to use this opportunity to apologize for any evil or disaster that anyone from Serbia and Montenegro caused to anyone in Bosnia-Herzegovina,\" Mr. Marovic said. "The time of forgiveness is before us. We have to have enough courage to create common ground to help each other heal our wounds," he said.

"There was injustice, evil, suffering and murder. There were things..... one can\'t imagine people doing,\" he added, saying that states should not be blamed for evil acts by individuals.

 

Bosnian President Dragan Covic, a Croat, said the apology was an \"encouragement for the future of the two countries and for the region as a whole,\" and other leaders said it would help to heal the wounds remaining from the conflict.

 

According to the results of the research more than 95% Bosniaks in Europe, Australia and North America were less enthusiastic, saying the apology came too late and offered no comfort for the suffering of Bosniaks.

 

The apology is at least a break from the attitude displayed by Mr. Marovic\'s predecessors. (Vojislav Kostunica, who followed strongman Slobodan Milosevic as Yugoslav president, visited Sarajevo three times during his tenure but refused to apologize.) The apology is meant to steer blame solely on a few individuals such as Mr. Milosevic.

 

It\'s quite late. The major objective here is to make the Bosnian government simply forgive and forget. And that is not possible. We don\'t know any nation that would forgive, just like that, 250,000 people killed.

 

According to the results of the research Bosniaks believe the Serbian government made the apology with the hope that Bosnia would withdraw a lawsuit filed against Belgrade at the International Court of Justice, demanding compensation for aggression and genocide. Bosniaks believe the apology represents no watershed or turning point. An apology lacking depth and authority may have the effect of diffusing the enormity of what took place during the war.

95% Bosniaks believe it may be too soon for an apology to have any real effect or meaning.

 

"Apologies for the Holocaust came years afterwards and feelings are still raw about that said Bosniaks”

 

THE DONATION WAS GIVEN TO CHETNIK MOVEMENT WHICH DID GENICIDE IN BOSNIA

Bosnian Muslims (CNAB) is an independent organization based in the United States and Canada and is comprised of thousands of individuals, organizations and their members. Most of the CNAB’s membership is comprised of Americans and Canadians of Bosniak – Bosnian Muslims decent and by Bosniaks now residing in North America. The Bosniaks – Bosnian Muslims are the relative majority national group of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Congress of the North American Bosniaks represent the interests estimated of 350.000 Bosnian Muslis in North America, among them estimated of 50.000 in Canada and among them estimated of 2000 in Hamilton.

 

Congress of North American Bosniaks, is deeply disturbed over the fact that you donated $75,000 to the Chetnik Ravna Gora movement {Orthodox Christians who did genocide, kulturocide, ecocide, ethnocide urbicide, ethnic clearings; who raped Muslim sisters, mothers and women, who tortured Muslims in concentration camps }. The donation was given to an organization that was condemned by the entire international community for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in the Second World War. The donation was given to an organization and a movement that in aggression on sovereign and internationally recognized state of Bosnia-Herzegovina from 1992 to 1995 committed heinous crimes against humanity, war crimes, genocide, culturocide, ecocide, and ethnocide against Muslims. Did you know that the same people you sponsored during the most recent aggression on Bosnia-Herzegovina and Bosnian Muslims resurrected concentration camps where over 50,000 Bosniaks – Bosnian Muslims were interned and tortured? Did you know that the members of the organization that you sponsored raped over 30,000 Muslim women and inadvertently forced the international community to recognize rape as the war crime? Did you that the Chetniks, members of the Ravna Gora movement (the people you sponsored), killed the Bosniaks, destroyed their property, and evicted them from their homes. Did you know that those same people you sponsored destroyed over 1,200 mosques and other religious, cultural and historical monuments in an attempt to destroy the idea of existence of Bosnian Muslims? Did you know that those same people you sponsored used Canadian soldiers as human shields against NATO air raids? If you knew all of this… then you committed an unforgivable mistake. However, if you were not aware of these facts then I am glad that I had a chance to point them out. I meant this letter to be a reminder and a warning that in future you must conduct business of your organization with more care and thought.

 

Please accept our greatest respect with hope that this letter will awaken conscience of your otherwise very useful and noble organization.

 

A TLAE FROM THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH

Why Bosnia?

Why has Bosnia been chosen as a horrid exercise in human hatred and contempt? As a multicultural, multiethnic, and multireligious nation where Orthodox, Catholics, Muslims, Jews and others lived in harmony, Bosnia served as an example to the world the true meaning of peace.

Combining nationalism and religious fanaticism conflict could be provoked only where the three greatest religious ideologies { Catholicism, Orthodoxy, and Islam have the deepest roots. That place is Bosnia. 

Where is our happiness ? Our happiness are truth and justice. The truth and justice are the mission of remind, the Mr. Amor Masovic mission.

 

 

Dear Friends;

Please send this story to your friend.

 

The acting President of the State Commission for the Exchange of Prisoners of War for the government of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and a member of the Legislative and Legal Commission in the Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mr. Amor Masovic, upon an invitation by the Congress of North American Bosniaks, and the Bosnian-Canadian Relief Association, Toronto resided among Canadian Bosniaks and American Bosniaks. A great feat of Mr. Amor Masovic and his associates is their relentless pursuit of truth and justice for the Bosniak people. To date, this heroic team has evidenced 30 000 missing victims scattered throughout 300 mass graves and 3500 individual ones throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina. Thus far, the figure of victims totals 17 500, of which 10 500 have reclaimed their lost identities and have been provided with a dignified burial. Regrettably, there are around 7 000 victims laying in mortuaries across Bosnia and Herzegovina still awaiting their identification and deserved burials.

 

 

Mr. Amor Masovic, has spent the last decade burrowing the earth’s womb in Bosnia and Herzegovina and continues to exhume the thousand innocent citizens which have fallen victim to brutal slaughter. He strives to unearth the identities of his fellow countrymen, and by so doing, declare to the world and to those who have necessitated his line of work, that Bosniaks are ready to valiantly mark and expose the sites of their torment and boldly divulge on the sinister motives exhibited through genocide on the Bosniak people. The earth in Bosnia and Herzegovina stands as a witness to the horrific crimes, which the executioners and loyalists of “Great Serbia” and “Great Croatia” have unremittingly worked, to lay to rest with their victims. Perhaps they sought to inter their liability with the genocide?

 

 

My mission is to remind… Mr. Masovic said, emphasizing,  …I lowered my eleven-year old son – whose educational curriculum and textbooks have eradicated genocide and the Drina which ran with the blood of his people – into one of the many pits I frequent, that he may confront the corpses of massacred civilians and witness what horrors truly befell Bosnia…I consciously did this so that he may see and feel what befell his people and one day not be forced into a situation where he would need to rummage for my remains or those of someone from our family… Run Semso! Run! …his wife said to him while his Chetnik neighbours were taunting him outside his home: Come out Semso, come out! We know you are at home… cried the beasts outside. Listening to his imploring wife’s suggestion, Semso Dzaferagic from Kljuc, a small town in northwestern Bosnia, escaped through a window overlooking his backyard and hid among some shrubbery some 70-80 meters from his home. His wife, with her two children, her youngest daughter Azra in her arms - Azra was no more than 5 months old at the time – greeted the serbian “heroes” outside her door. They butchered both her and her daughter. They did not spare ammunition. According to Mr. Masovic, Semso attended the exhumation of a site dubbed Laniste – a mass grave in which lay the remains of 188 monstrously massacred Bosniaks. Every morning Semso would lean over the edge of the pit and wait… He would wait until he recognized pieces of clothing worn by his family at which time he would bleakly pronounce: father… brother… sister… wife… Semso would merely assert and nothing more. He waited to see his children disinterred. Semso was mute… no scream, no cry… not even a tear when they unearthed little Azra still clenching her pacifier, her corpse wrapped in a small blanket. The dimensions of her skeleton morbidly confirmed that she was only a baby when she was butchered.

 

 

They were all asking the same question… Mr. Masovic and his team perplexed by Semso’s stolid disposition, his lack of tears. They all felt it… innately they understood that a dead man cannot cry. They understood that Semso died that instant in the shrubbery some 70-80 meters from his home when he beheld the Chetnik “heroes” butchering his wife and two children. Semso just respires like a plant, his passion and his will to live long lost, his soul dead; may Allah shower him with his infinite mercy.

 

 

Those present in the auditorium are silenced; they would pose questions to Mr. Masovic but their thoughts are voiceless and their eyes are tearful. And those who dare speak do so with a voice that quivers like a leaf in the fall wind. Mr. Masovic is patient; he is cognizant of victims, whether those covered by earth or those walking on it, akin to Semso who is also a victim of malevolence. The Chetniks murdered him but Semso continues to live, subsisting only as a premise of medicine.

When I returned home after Mr. Masovic’s lecture the children were long asleep. I drew near them gently, afraid to awaken them, the thought of Semso refusing to part with me. I felt as though he was there, on my back, constricting my neck, making my every breath a painful exertion. Had I not offered up a prayer for both myself and him I am certain he would have asphyxiated me. I am oblivious as to how I managed to get a minute’s sleep that night. I was feverishly searching for a position in which I may fall asleep with my hands free and not tied up. I frantically avoided bringing my hands together or worse, having them crossed, for fear of having them easily tied up. The video footage of Mr. Masovic and his team vividly illustrated the sadistic modus operandi to which innocent civilians were exposed just before their liquidation and disposal into mass graves. The footage clearly revealed that ropes, which now protruded through the sleeves of jackets or sweaters, tied hands. At one time those were the hands of Bosniaks tied up by serb fascists – hands akin to those of the man next to me who watched to documentary nervously cracking his knuckles – akin to my own, akin to hands of each and every one of us. Today it was them; tomorrow, perhaps we are next.

I came here tonight with the intention to expose you to this so that you may not sleep well at least one night.

 

 

Mr. Masovic, you have succeeded in bringing us closer to the somewhat derogated tragedy of the Bosnian nation and the veracity of the calamity that has befallen the Bosniak people. The genocide, which came to pass in Bosnia and Herzegovina, was something that became for many of us a very personal rapport. However, very few of us have ever felt the atrocities and ghastliness of mass graves. You mention that the former commander of the special brigade, Mr. Gafic, was haunted by sleepless nights and nightmares after visiting some of those mass graves. He dealt with his problem by embracing alpinism. What will the rest of us who have seen your documentaries do? How will we exorcise the gruesome aftermath of the carnage we witnessed from more than 280 mass graves found to date? Perhaps someone will ameliorate one’s relationship with one’s neighbour or cousin. Perhaps someone will be better acquainted with one’s sister or brother. Perhaps they will better care for their mother and father. Someone will certainly more tenderly embrace his wife and children.

 

 

A pit in which bones, interlined by strata, starting with a layer of 111 Bosniak corpses, followed by a layer of rocks, earth, and tires, and finally topped by yet another sheath of 77 Bosniak cadavers, speaks volumes about the sadistic practices and sinister motives which are not difficult to interpret; motives which summoned the eradication of a people, in this case the Bosniak people.

 

 

It is not an easy task subduing feelings of hatred and malice. It is difficult but not impossible! We all must conclusively heed to the wisdom and the profound messages of people whose charisma has been evolving and continues to evolve in the continual effort to shield the Bosniak people from extinction, to fight for freedom and a life which every human merits.

 

 

Never forget what has happened so that it does not happen again, said Mr. Masovic. Seek truth and justice, said the father of our nation, the late Mr. Alija Izetbegovic.

 

 

TO THE FAMILY OF FRANK MCCLOSKEY

The Congress of North American Bosniaks, which represents more than 300,000 Bosniaks in the USAD and Canada, The Islamic Association of Bosniaks of North America and The Bosnian Investment Group of North America are deeply sad because McCloskey, the moral voice for Bosnia who had no family or political connections in Bosnia, who did not profit from any post-war contracts who did not have a Bosnian constituency in his district, who stood tall in Congress as the moral voice of America in favour of saving lives in the genocide, culturocide, ecocide, ethnocide urbicide and aggression of Bosnia, died on Sunday November 2, 2003 at his home. This was a very courageous and unusual stand at a time when the American government was busy denying genocide, when Europeans were mum, and a national UN commissioner was hiding the news of concentration camps for more than six months.

 

McCloskey was also determined to bring the crimes against Bosnians to light at a time when certain quarters were interested in covering up the concentration camps, rapes, torture, and murder.

 

On behalf of the Congress of North American Bosniaks , the Bosniak community in the USA and Canada I would like to express my deep sorrow to the family of Frank McCloskey. I pray that we have more moral voices like his in America and in the World for the cause of justice in all quarters of the world.

 

WE DEMAND A WRITTEN APOLOGY FOR INFLICTED DEEP SCARS IN OUR BEGINS

Odgovor Mr. Jeffrey Kuhner na fašisiodno pisanje u Washington Times

Svojevrsna reakcija bosnjackih organizacija i pojerdinaca te istaknutih svjetskih intelektualaca, pokrenuta od Kongresa Bosnjaka Sjeverne Amerike na tekst novinara Jeffery Kuhnera u Washington Times od 1. 10. 2003. godine pod naslovom "Redrawing Bosnian Borders " se nastavlja. Reakcija koja je zapravo presla u akciju formiranja slobodne bosnjacke javnosti oslobodjene bilo kakvog tutorstva jasno pokazuje zrelost bosnjackog bica u odbrani jedinstvene, demokratske, prosperitetne i multikulturne, multietnicke i multireligijske Bosne i Hercegovine u medjunarodno priznatim granicama.

 

Bosnjaci postepeno napustaju stanje bolesnog pasivizma i prelaze u stanje zdravog aktivizma koji prije svega podrazumjeva hrabrost Bosnjaka za izlazak na historisku scenu sa drugima, posjedovanmje predstave o zadacima koji se u savremenom vremenu donose i odgovornost prema neucinjenom. Bosnjacko bice mjenja svoj mentalni sklop i izlazi iz moralne hipokrizije. Polahko se priblizavamo bosnjackom intelektualnom konsenzusu uz visi stupanj individualne i kolektivne samodiscipline. Dijalosko promisljanje bitnih pitanja bosnjacke egzistencije, a pitanje etnicke ne potrganosti jedinstvenog bosanskohercegovackog tkiva je jedno od tih pitanja, generira aktivnu bosnjacku javnost u smislu da bosnjacke razlicitosti postaju uslov za realizaciju bosnjacke zrelosti. Bosnjaci su svjesni da je sudbina bosnjackog bica zavisna i vezana za gore naznacenu Bosnu i Hercegovinu.

 

Slijedi rekacija Bosnjacke islamske zajednice "Gazi - Husrev - Beg" Toronto, najveceg dzemata i najvece bosnjacke zajednice u Kanadi, jedne od najvecih u Sjevernoj Americi i dijaspori uopste.

 

No matter to what length we, the humans, may go to obscure facts or delude our fellows, the truth has a way of squeezing out through the cracks, eventually. The danger is that the damage is done before the truth is widely realized. The reality is that it is easier to ignore uncomfortable facts and go along with whatever distortion is currently in fashion. In a stunning work of journalism, Mr. Jeffrey Kuhner’s article ‘Redrawing Bosnian Borders’ of October 1, 2003 has relentlessly abused the truth, knowingly and intentionally misled the American public. Kuhner’s argument are indeed ludicrous, arguing that Herzegovinian Croats produced some of the Europe’s finest fighters. These finest fighters engaged in a campaign OD cultural destruction, destroying the sixteen-century Ortodox monastery of Zitolislici, south of Mostar, and blew up the orthodox Cathedral in Mostar, as well as destroying hundreds of smaller village orthodox churches. Only these finest fighters of Europe destroyed seventy mosques in Mostar regions alone. The army under control of the Bosnian government never engaged in any such barbaric and genocidal crimes.  Croatian army slaughtered Muslim civilians in Ahmici, near Vitez, in April 1993, and in the village of Stupni Do over 100 civilians in October 1993. In December 1995 Croat authorities further violated the Dayton Accord by releasing Ivica Rajic, who was indicted by the International Tribunal for crimes against humanity, including the mutilation and burning alive Muslim children at the village of Stupni Do. Images of skeletal prisoners at the HVO (Croation Council of Defence) concentration camps at dretelj, Gabela, Capljina, Ljubuski, and Radoc had been starved, forced to drink their own urine, and tortured and abused sexually. By November 1993, after eighteen months of shelling, first by Serb’s army then by HVO, the multi religious heritage of Mostar was reduced to rubble. As a final gesture, Christoslavic forces supported by Franjo Tudjman destroyed the old bridge of Mostar (on November 9, 1993) which had stood since 1561 as a symbol of Bosnia’s rule role in bridging cultures. The horrific consequences of the anti-Bosnian policy of the Croatian ethno-national leadership culminated in the systematic destruction of the Muslim presence in Stolac, Capljina, Prozor, Mostar and other zones under Croatian military control and the establishment of concentration camps for more than twenty thousand Bosniaks. On January 15, 1997, the International War Crime Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in Hague ordered twenty-seven officers of the Croatian army serving in Bosnia, including its Defence Minister, Gojko Susak, to appear before it by means of a subpoena sent to the Republic of Croatia (published in the Zagreb daily, National, 13 August 1997) Regarding Croatian policy in Bosnia and Herzegovina, we can say what we wish, but this is a policy that 95 % of Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina supported. And if Croatian policy in Bosnia is under accusation, then the Croatian people in it are also being accused (from an interview with Adriano Prick, president of the quisling Croatian Republic of Herceg-Bosna at the time when these crimes were committed and an alliance was being engineered with the Republika Srpska /National, 13 August, 1977/).

 

This is the truth and reality about Hercegovinian Croats and what happened in Bosnia. Yes, we demand a written apology for inflicted deep scars in our beings.

 

LETTER TO ONTARIO GOVERMENT

The Congress of North American Bosniak, is comprised of thousands of individuals, organizations and their members in the SAD and Canada and it represents the interests of the approximately 300,000 Bosniaks, living in the United States and Canada. In Canada are living more than 30,000 Bosniaks, among them more than 15,000 in Ontario. We Bosniaks living in Ontario have, with great interest watched the Ontario Elections. 

On behalf of the Congress of North American Bosniaks, I would like to congratulate on your successes in 2003 Ontario Elections. 

As a new Prime Minister of Ontario, we hope you will build a better future of our beautiful Province and still better conditions for protection and strengthen Bosniak heritage, culture, language, history, religious, and ethnic background. 

 

Dear Mr. Emir Ramic;

 

Thanks very much for your e-mail. It was good to hear from you abou the Congrees of North American Bosniaks. Your message is important to me and won't be forgotten. Thanks again for your message. I appreciate your interest in our policies and look forward to working with you to build a better Ontario.

Yours truly,

Dalton McGuinty

Designated Prime Minister of Ontario

Leader of the Ontario Liberal Party

Dear Dr. Ramic,

Thank you for taking the time to wish us well, compliment the platform and to explain the support of the Bosnian Community.

It is appreciated.

Sincerely,

Doug Brown,

Progressive Conservative Candidate,

Hamilton West,

 

Dalton McGuinty

Leadership that works for you for a change

Dalton McGuinty will deliver real, positive change for Ontario. After eight years of Harris-Eves government, he’s the new leader this province needs.

Instead of a cynical, tired government, McGuinty leads an energetic team that will work for you.

Instead of a reheated version of the old Common Sense Revolution, McGuinty has a positive plan for the future.

Instead of a narrow agenda that favours those who can buy their way to the front of the line, McGuinty is squarely focused on giving all Ontarians a fair chance to succeed.

The approach is new and different, but it’s the product of years of experience.

Leader of the Ontario Liberals since 1996, and the MPP for Ottawa South since 1990, McGuinty has watched both the NDP and Tories govern Ontario.

“One was an economic disaster, the other a disaster for the social fabric of our province,” McGuinty says.

“It strengthened my belief in new ideas, instead of old ideologies. I want to move Ontario forward, not to the left or right.”

This philosophy, dubbed the “radical centre” by some journalists, is reflected in the Ontario Liberal platform.

McGuinty’s team will ban two-tier health care, smoking in public places, junk food in our schools, and the waste of taxpayers money on partisan government advertising.

It will cancel the Harris-Eves government’s $3.2 billion corporate tax giveaway and the $500 million handout to private schools.

It will deliver smaller class sizes, mandatory learning until age 18, a university and college tuition fee freeze and a 10 per cent expansion in post-secondary spaces, 8,000 more nurses and 1,600 new hospital beds, 20,000 new housing units and double the provincial investment in public transit.

It will replace the coal-fired generating plants that pollute our air, and prevent the raiding of our water supplies for profit. 

The plan is the product of McGuinty’s tireless travels across the province, listening to Ontarians from every walk of life.

“People want change – practical, positive, measurable change,” McGuinty says.

“And our plan is as clear and strong and innovative as the people I’ve met, and the people we plan to represent, the people of Ontario.”

It’s also the reflection of the values of the man who has led his party’s policy process.

Born in Ottawa on July 19, 1955, Dalton James Patrick McGuinty grew up in a family where the creed was three-fold: hard work, respect and community service.

His father, Dalton Sr., was a teacher and professor who served in the Legislature from 1987 until his death in 1990. His mother, Elizabeth worked full-time as a nurse. They raised 10 children.

McGuinty sometimes jokes in speeches that all of those children grew up to be a success, with the possible exception of those who grew up, like him, to be a lawyer.

McGuinty practised law in Ottawa before becoming an MPP. He has a law degree from the University of Ottawa, and a science degree from McMaster University in Hamilton. He worked his way through school, at one time working as an orderly in a war veterans’ hospital. 

He met his wife Terri, now an elementary school teacher, when they were both still students in high school in Ottawa.

Married 23 years, the couple has four children: Carleen, Dalton Jr., Liam and Connor.

A fitness buff, McGuinty works out regularly. His friends will tell you he’s an expert skier and water skier. He will tell you he’s a lousy golfer.

Everyone who knows him will tell you there has been precious little time for hobbies: McGuinty has been working hard, preparing the team and the plan to deliver real, positive change for Ontario.

 

 

POSTHUMOUS AWARD OF THE LEGION OF MERIT TO DRAZA MIHAJLOVIC HONORS CHETNIK GENOCIDE

Regarding the information that the war criminal Draza Mihailovic is to receive the American Legion of Merit, the Congress of North American Bosniaks is issuing the following statement:

The Chetnik commander Draza Mihailovic who, following WWII, was convicted and executed as a war criminal, will posthumously be awarded the Legion of Merit with which he was decorated by President Harry Truman for having saved 500 American pilots during WWII. The American delegation will bring this medal to Belgrade on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of Victory over Fascism. Eleven years ago, Draza Mihailovic’s grandson, Vojislav Mihailovic, a high-ranking official of the Serbian Renewal Movement, made a formal request to the State Department asking that the United States of America officially confer this award. According to Vojislav Mihailovic the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia and Montenegro, Vuk Draskovic reissued that request in his talks with the then Secretary of State Collin Powel. 

 

Dear and Esteemed Citizens of the Democratic World, 

 

The concept of genocide represents the most grievous crime which encompasses acts committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group. Recently, this concept has been supplemented with new international documents. All the signatory countries are required to work on its prevention and, should genocide be perpetrated, on the punishment of its perpetrators, regardless of when the act of genocide was committed, since such crimes do not expire over time. The Chetniks not only intended to, but have committed all forms of the crime of genocide against the Bosniaks in Bosnia and Herzegovina. However, only until recently this has been a taboo topic. One could not write about it in the former Yugoslavia and it was simply passed over in silence or only declaratively mentioned in passing without any concrete facts or statistical information. It was only with the advent of democratic change in 1990 that writing on genocide against the Bosniaks began to appear in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Nevertheless, there are no scientifically founded studies that have comprehensively treated this problem. Systematic and exhaustive research on this topic has not been conducted. We wish to use this opportunity to emphasize some of the most important elements of the Chetnik plans and activities which, according to all international norms, represent a crime of genocide against the Bosniaks. 

 

Since its inception, the Chetnik movement has been an instrument of the nationalistic and expansionist policy of Serbia. In addition to the military and the police, the Chetnik movement represents one of the means of dealing with their political opponents and preserving the centralistic Serb nationalist political system. By means of various Chetnik associations and numerous organizations with a similar program where terror, cruelty and murder featured prominently, the Serb nationalist policy has realized its goal. The Serb nationalist policy had forcibly suppressed and extinguished every Bosniak aspiration for the affirmation of its own national values. At the same time, the Serb national values were emphasized and an attempt was made to promote Serb national conscience among the Bosniaks. The Chetniks, as the most recognizable and prominent members of the Serb nationalists and expansionists, could never resign themselves with the creation of a democratic, independent and integral state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The reason for this is fairly simple since the Chetniks were of the opinion that the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina represented an integral part of the so-called “Serb lands”, despite the fact that Bosnia and Herzegovina was never part of a Serb state and that the Bosniaks and the Croats accounted for the majority of its population. In accordance with the Chetnik ideology Bosnia and Herzegovina could become part of a “Homogeneous or Greater Serbia”, as it was referred to in the Chetnik documents, only once the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina was destroyed and the Bosniaks and other non-Serb peoples were ethnically cleansed from its territory and then annexed to Greater Serbia.

 

Stevan Moljevic, one of the chief Chetnik ideologists and a key adviser to General Draza Mihailovic is the creator of a famous memorandum known as “Homogenous Serbia” in which he outlines the Chetnik program regarding the borders, social system and foreign policy of Greater Serbia. In accordance with this project the Serbs were charged with their first and most important task: to create and organize a homogeneous Serbia which was to include the regions populated by the Serbs. This would mean that all of Bosnia and Herzegovina and a larger part of Croatia would be included in such a state of Serbia. The Chetnik movement has a distinct genocidal and anti-Bosniak character. The pursuit for the establishment of ethnically-pure Greater Serbia at the expense of the historical and national territories of the Bosniak and Croat people (and others) is the main cause of Chetnik terror and crimes. The following are some of the instructions issued by Draza Mihailovic:

 

Perhaps these objectives seem great and unattainable. Remember the great struggle for liberty under the leadership of the great Karadjordje. Serbia was full of Turks (Muslims). In Belgrade and other Serb towns the minarets jutted out and in front of the mosques the Turks performed their malodorous ablutions as they are doing today in the Serb Bosnia and Herzegovina. At that time our homeland was inundated by hundreds of thousands of Muslims. But pass through Serbia today. Nowhere will you find a single Turk (Muslim), you will not find one single Muslim grave nor will you find a single Muslim headstone… This is the best proof and the greatest guarantee that we will succeed in this, our sacred struggle and that we will purge our Serb lands of Muslims. Not one single Muslim will remain among us… The villagers and other common folk will be relocated to Turkey. In that respect our Government in London, through the influence of our allies and friends in the English government, is attempting to obtain the approval of the Turkish government with respect to this plan (Churchill has discussed this with Mr. Ineni). All the Muslims who have transgressed against or offended our people during their tragic days will receive no mercy. We will spare the villagers and the common folk. We will make real Serbs out of them through conversions to Orthodoxy by hook or by crook. There, these are the goals of our great struggle. Once the decisive moment arrives we shall realize our goals as we have already done in some parts of our homeland…

 

 

At the end of the war the Chetniks were militarily defeated but many of them were given the opportunity during the war, most often after having been captured, to \"voluntarily\" join the Partisans. More than 80% of them took advantage of this opportunity and, almost as a rule, were granted amnesty for their crimes. Only a few were put on trial for their crimes. As a result, many of them were presented with an opportunity to plan the revenge which they had constantly emphasized during the war. The Chetnik crimes against Bosniaks in Bosnia and Herzegovina weren’t random. Instead, they were systematic and an integral part of the military and political goals of the Chetnik movement. Their origins lie in the conception of the Serb nationalists and expansionists, of which the Chetnik movement proved to be its most extreme, most organized and most effective part during the war. According to them, the national and historical territories of other peoples outside of Serbia are also Serb, since Serbs, regardless of their number, inhabit them. Also included in the Serb lands are those territories where Serbs are not found since the Serbs happen to consider such territories geostrategic. It is the precisely this perpetual effort of the Chetnik movement to establish “Greater Serbia” on the mentioned territories which is the real cause of Chetnik terror and genocidal crimes.

 

The Chetniks have demonstrated their genocidal tendencies at any and every opportunity, in numerous documents, maps, speeches, statements and in practice, during and, unfortunately, following WWII. During WWII, they attempted to realize their genocidal plans, first with the backing and under the aegis of the Italian and later the German occupiers, and later with the support of the exiled Monarchial government of Yugoslavia and the assistance of the United States of America and the Great Britain. For this reason all the above mentioned factors bear their share of responsibility for their crimes. In such a way, as we have partially demonstrated, many regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia have been “cleansed” of its Bosniak population. Wherever the Chetnik units were present, horrific crimes were committed and the scale of these crimes depended only on the balance of military strength in a given territory. The Chetnik movement could not carry out its genocidal plans for it did not have enough armed units at its disposal. However, we are of the opinion that their plans did not materialize because of the self-organized defense and armed resistance of the Bosniak people which prevented even more tragic Chetnik crimes. Furthermore, it was the Bosniak armed resistance that brought about their military defeat. In 1945, following the war, an opportunity was missed to bring all the Chetnik criminals before the court to answer for their crimes of genocide and culturocide against the Bosniaks and their historical, sacral and cultural monuments. Moreover, many of them were given an opportunity to continue with these crimes in the name of a red Communist star. Therefore, it was not entirely unexpected that such genocidal crimes of the Serb nationalists and Chetniks were once gain perpetrated against the Bosniaks and Croats during the Serb aggression on the Republic of Croatia in 1991 and Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992. However, this time the crimes were more horrific not only because of the number of those killed but also due to the number of those who were displaced and the widespread destruction that was caused by the Serb aggressor. Historical experience shows that the military defeat of the Chetniks clears the way for the return of the majority of the surviving Bosniak population to their destroyed homes. But this is not enough. All the war criminals need to be brought to justice. Until this is done, no lasting peace will settle in these parts and the threat of new conflicts and Chetnik crimes will always exist. The international community must make this their priority unless they wish to bear their share of responsibility for the Chetnik crimes of genocide.

 

The Congress of North American Bosniaks, which represents the interests of 300,000 Canadian and American Bosniaks who strive for the preservation and strengthening of the democratic, integral and independent state of Bosnia and Herzegovina, is appealing to all the citizens of the democratic and free world to raise their voice against the act of awarding the Legion of Merit to Draza Mihailovic. The Congress of North American Bosniaks is especially concerned by the fact that this award comes from the United States of America – the land of democracy and the freedom of thought, and the land which has unselfishly sacrificed itself to assist others and is now rewarding the perpetrators of the most horrific crimes of genocide against the Bosniaks during WWII, whose crimes were only surpassed by the perpetrators of the Holocaust.

 

CANADA – BOSNIA FRIEND PARLIAAMENTARY GROUP

On the behalf of Bosnians living in Canada, and on the behalf of many different cultural organizations of Bosnians in Canada,The Congress of North America Bosniaks, Branch Canada want to create a Canada - Bosnia and Herzegovina Friend Parliamentary Group. We want you to be member of this Friend Parliamentary Group. The task of this group would be to build and to create a truly voice of Bosnian and Herzegovina and Bosnians living in Canada, in Canadian Parliament.The member of this friendly group will be MP and MPP in ridding where Bosnians the most living in Canada.

 

Relatively speaking Bosnians are prosperous, well-educated, highly employable and, well-disposed to Canada. Together with other ethnic and cultural groups in Canada, Bosnians constitute the Canadian worldwide web of ideas and influence - known as Canadian Cultural Mosaic.

 

It is time to take Bosnians seriously. The existence of the Bosnian community in Canada is relevant to a wide range of issues facing this country and needs to be considered. It is also relates to the question of Bosnian national identity, and the face Bosnians show to the world.

It would be appropriate for Canadian institutions, both public and private, to capitalize Bosnian talent and goodwill.

 

Our research indicates that Bosnians can have positive effects on the home country, by influencing trade and investment flows and connecting local organisations to international development. In Canada\'s case, Bosnians is not a first-order economic issue, but it is one that deserves consideration.There are a number of steps Canadian institutions should take. Canadian national leaders should articulate the value of Bosnians living in Canada, and draw them into the mainstream of national life.The Government should also take a more co-ordinate approach to engaging with different cultural community in Canada. The Government should also explore methods of involving overseas citizens more fully in democratic processes in Canada.

 

There are also opportunities for businesses to take advantage of Bosnians international experience, and for non-profit organisations to tap the generosity of the Bosnians.

 

The task now is to build on early steps to create a truly Canada-Bosnia and Herzegovina Friend Parliamentary Group in Canadian Parliament.

In the name of Bosnians and in the name of many Bosnian organisations in Canada, The Congress of North America Bosniaks will appreciate your positive response on this letter.

 

THE NAME BOSNIAK IS A HISTORICAL AND ETHNIC TERM WHICH SYMBOLIZES HISTORY, CULTURE, TRADITION AND LANGUAGE OF BOSNIAKS

The Canadian Press\' journalists continue to use term \"Bosnian Muslims\" in various Canadian Press news publishings. This term is incorrect and discriminatory towards Bosniaks.

 

Bosniaks are one of constituent peoples of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Bosniaks as a unique constitutional nationality in Bosnia and Herzegovina recognised by the Dayton Agreement and by the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, has their proud name - Bosniak. The name of Bosniak is a historical and ethnic term which symbolizes history, culture, tradition, language and religion of Bosniaks. The name of Bosniak was adopted in 1993 as a sign of differentiating of ethnic, cultural, tradition, language and religion identity of Bosniaks from other constituent ethnic groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The name Bosniak was unanimously accepted in 1993 at the second Bosniak Congress - an institution of Bosniak intellectuals and ideologues. So that Bosniaks are definitely reached the goal in their quest for national identity. Bosnia-Herzegovina is made up of three distinct ethnicities: Bosniaks (not \"Bosnian Muslims\" as you refer to us), Bosnian Serbs, and Bosnian Croats.

 

Furthermore, Bosnia and Herzegovina is according to the Dayton Agreement and according to the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina politically organized into two entities Bosniak-Croat Federation (not \"Muslim-Croat Federation\") and Republika Srpska, and district Brcko.

 

You should instruct your journalists to stop using outdated (wrong) terminology and start using correct (official) terminology. The Congress of North American Bosniaks urge you to visit CIA\'s World Fact Book to update your news database with fresh and correct terminology:

 

http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/bk.html

 

The Congress of North American Bosniaks and the Islamic Association of Bosniaks of North America urge The Canadian Press, Reuters and Associated Press to take our letter into serious consideration and start using correct terminology. In this case, so-called \"Muslim-Croat Federation\" should be referred to as Bosniak-Croat Federation. The term \"Bosnian Muslims\" should be referred to as Bosniaks.

 

 

BOSNIAKS ARE PROUD ON YOUR BOSNIAN LANGUAGE

 

Bosnian language is the most powerful, most readily available tool Bosniaks have for representing the world to themselves and themselves to the world.

Recognizing Bosnian language as heritage language is fundamental to the multicultural nature of Canadian society. Canadian educational system which values the cultural diversity of its students and makes Bosnian language as heritage language learning accessible enhances multiculturalism is very important for the Canadian Cultural Mosaic. This educational system makes Bosniaks aware of the personal and social value of Bosnian language. It emphasizes to all Bosniaks living in Canada that Canada is strengthened culturally and economically by the linguistic diversity of its population. When Bosnian language as heritage language is taught through the regular educational system, Bosniaks receive a powerful message about the value and worth of heritage languages in Canadian society. The study of Bosnian language as heritage language allows Bosniaks to develop communication skills in the language being studied, to develop sensitivity to the culture, and to develop skills and attitudes necessary for learning additional languages. Encouraging Bosniaks to take pride in their own cultures promotes respect for members of other cultures.

 

Teaching Bosnian language facilitates individual and societal participation in the global economy. Because Canada\'s economic well-being is dependent on the rest of the world, language learning has an economic value as well as a cultural one.

 

The Congress of North American Bosniaks (CNAB, Cdn. Chapter) represents interests of more than 30,000 Bosniak-Canadians. In light of these facts, the CNAB would like to take this opportunity to discuss some important issues surrounding [or regarding] the recognition of Bosnian language in Canada. The major issue is recognition of Bosnian language in Canada in all official documents, particularly in Canadian statistics, as well as in all local, provincial and federal

institutions. Bosnian language is simply ignored and rarely mentioned in any of these documents. Instead, the term \"Serbo-Croatian\" is used, which represents wrong terminology and false reasoning. Bosnian language is one of three official languages of Bosnia-Herzegovina. It is separate from Serbian or Croatian language.

 

Bosnian language is a standard language, which is spoken by more than 2 million people: 1,7 million people in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 250,000 people in Serbia and Montenegro, 100,000 people in Western Europe, 200,000 in North America and, uncertain number of immigrants in Turkey. Bosnian language is the standard written version of the South Slavic language dialectic system. By using the name Bosnian for their language, Bosniaks are maintaining the original name of their language, whose continuity can be followed from the Bosnian medieval times until today.

 

Encouraging and enabling Bosniaks living in Canada to learn and use Bosnian language effectively is certainly one of society\'s most important tasks. Bosnian language forms part of the cultural heritage of all Bosniak-Canadians and is certainly part of cultural heritage of Canada. Primarily the Bosnian language defines our nation, our people, and our pride. It is the manifestation of the Bosniak\'s world view and richness of our culture.

 

The Bosnian language is a reservoir of Bosniak thought, sentiment, and values, and a repository of its arts. It is only by learning and teaching this language that the Bosniak identity may continue to survive in the Canadian Cultural Mosaic. Language is a product of social reality, and as such, the internal logic of cultural discourse must be situated within the field of social practices and relationships.

 

Through independent research of the issues concerning Bosniaks in the Canadian multicultural mosaic, The Congress of North American Bosniaks has come to the conclusion that one of the biggest issues for Bosniaks is maintenance of their identity in multicultural Canadian society. Therefore, we call upon Canadian institutions to recognize our language as Bosnian. We do not speak \"Serbo-Croatian\" language.

 

In an attempt to solve this issue, The Congress of North American Bosniaks is requesting the Government of Canada to:

 

1. Recognize the Bosnian language in Canada as one of World Heritage languages.

 

2. Refer to our language as Bosnian in all official Government of Canada documents,

particularly in Canadian statistics as well as in all local, provincial and federal

institutions.

 

3. Simplify often complicated processes of applying for (and receiving) various

government grants pertaining to the promotion of minority languages (so far, we have

received no financial support from Canadian Government for our cultural activities).

 

4. Encourage study of Bosnian language in Canadian schools as optional course that

enriches Canadian multiculturalism.

 

Because Canadian Bosniaks know you as friend of the Canadian Cultural Mosaic, The

Congress of North American Bosniaks would appreciate your prompt response to this

letter.

 

BOSNIAKS ARE NOT TERRORISTS

 

The sharp words you made use of to complement the awarding of the golden star to Mr. Dragan Cavic – an individual whose involvement in the war against the Bosniak people, against the idea of a cultural Bosnia and Hercegovina, and against global multiculturality in general is of a murky nature – are scurrilous to the descendents of more than a hundered thousand slaughtered Bosniaks, to the Bosniak mothers, sisters, elderly and young women alike, who were innocent victims to more than ten thousand crimes of rape and defilement, to the tens of thousands of tortured souls who fell victim to sadistic concentration camps, and to more than one million Bosniaks who today live in exile.

 

While your golden star shines brightly on a man with a shadowy past, Bosniaks are still being barred from their homelands – territories conquered by genocide, and which are today under the supervision of your golden star award winner; Bosniak children are disallowed from studying on their maternal tounge – the Bosnian language; Bosniak professors are prohibited from returning to their educational posts; Bosniaks are nowhere to be found in legislative and law enforcement organs of the government; Bosniak private, religious, and cultural property still continues to be destroyed and disturbed.

 

Are the above disgraceful facts the criteria upon which you base your decisions to donate the golden star award to highly respectable national leaders and strategists (such as Mr. Cavic) Mr. Kopli?

 

Perhaps, Mr. Kopli, you were not aware of the fact that your golden star prize awards and applauds genocide, ethnocide, ecocide, culture-cide, obliteration of cities and villages…? Or, perchance, you were not aware that your price congratulates the planners and executioners of terror and sadism epitomized by concentration camps, rape and defilement, ethnic cleansing and the elimination of the idea of a unified Bosnia and Hercegovina founded on principles of respect, embracement, acceptance and toleration of all things diverse whether they be cultural, national, or religious in nature. Are you not conscious of the fact that you awarded the existence of the Republic of Srpska and by so doing were approving the destruction of a unified country of Bosnia and Hercegovina jointly acknowledged by both the United Nations and the European Union?

 

Have you ever taken the time, Mr. Kopli, to reflect on whether you have the right, firstly as a man, and secondly as a public servant, to award and applaud such a criminal past?

 

Is one such Republic of Srpska truly a factor of stability in Bosnia and Hercegovina, in the Balkans, in Europe, in the world? No, Mr. Kopli, IT IS NOT!!! That same Republic of Srpska is a dangerous consequence of the Dayton agreement and as such is a serious threat to the stability of Bosnia and Hercegovina and the region in general.

 

The struggle for the three elemental aspects of existence, which is characteristic of all nations without exception, and particularly of the American nation, is a historic progress of the civilized Bosniak man, born at the crossroads of all great civilizations that is today Bosnia and Hercegovina. Therefore, that struggle is not Islamic fundamentalism and radicalism. That struggle is a natural right of every Bosniak to strive for his own elements of character, existence, and progress – in other words religion, nation, and country. This struggle is even more than that. It is a means of strengthening the multidimensional Bosnia and Hercegovina. It is we, the Bosniaks, who always stood for, and continue to demand a multicultural, multiethnic, and multireligious Bosnia and Hercegovina. It is precisely because of our humane wants that we Bosniaks were the victims of foreign aggressions, genocide, culture-cide, ecocide, ethnocide, ethnic cleansing, massacres in concentration camps, rape and defilement, exile, and ironically, all this at the end of the 20th century – an age of democracy and individual rights – before the eyes of a free and cognizant world. All this is witnessed by innumerous killed, raped, exiled, and tortured Bosniaks, not to mention the numerous destroyed religious, cultural, and national objects, as well as the mass graves filled with the cadavers of innocent children.

 

We Bonsiaks, in our struggle for perseverance, existence, and protection of our religion, nation, and country, were concurrently fighting for a multidimensional Bosnia and Hercegovina in which all constituent people would be equal, and in which the Bosniak people would never again be humiliated. This is witnessed by many Serbs, Croats, and many others who decided to support and aid the Bosniaks in realizing such a Bosnia and Hercegovina. The Bosniaks agreed to the unjustly formulized Dayton agreement which legalized the existence of a sadistic Republic of Srpska, only so that we may end the killings, and so that perhaps in peace we would be able to realize the contours of a multidimensional Bosnia and Hercegovina. We did this consciously! The signing of the Dayton agreement is of grave importance which showed to the world that Bosniaks are a civilized nation prepared to struggle for their survival and for the progress of a democratic, free, prosperous, and multidimensional Bosnia and Hercegovina. This struggle has without a shadow of a doubt destroyed all desires, including your own Mr. Kopli, to label the Bosniaks as terrorists. In these postdayton days, by legal and political means, we Bosniaks continue to fight for our own existence and the existence of a multidimensional Bosnia and Hercegovina. Is this terrorism?

 

The Dayton accord may have ended the war but it most certainly stands as a barrier to the realization of a Bosnian state. Natioanl institutions in Bosnia and Hercegovina are not functional. Instead of the latter, we have a functioning High Representative and his machinery, which behave in accordance with the Dayton accord. The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, by establishing free markets and faster privatization, are implementing a strategy of progress for Bosnia and Hercegovina which is oblivious to the political, economic, and cultural factors which exist in Bosnia and Hercegovina. Needless to say, this strategy of progress has condemned Bosnia and Hercegovina to a foreseeable failure.

 

In spirit of one Bosnian poet who said: truly we Bosniaks are not a joke, we Bosniaks are also NOT TERRORISTS!!! History, brought about by the will of the Almighty Creator, given to us Bosniaks just as to every other great civilization, continues to struggle for the preservation of our religion, nation, and country; continues to strive for a multicultural, multireligious, and multiethnic world, and continues to persevere and exist in its own sovereign realm. That history, Mr. Kopli, cannot be, under any circumstances, labeled as terrorist in nature, despite how fervently some forces might try to make it out as such.

 

WE BOSNIAKS ARE NOT TERRORISTS. WE ARE A CIVILIZED EUROPEAN NATION JUST LIKE EVERY OTHER CIVILIZED NATION WHO WISHES TO DEFEND ITS FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENTS OF EXISTENCE; ITS RELIGION, NATION, AND COUNTRY.

 

Dear Professor Ramic:

 

I am in receipt of your letter, but disagree strongly with your exceptionally biased remarks.

 

The Award made to President Cavic should be one which deserves the respect of all moderate people of Bosnia-Herzegovina because Pres. Cavic has been one of the few leaders of the region to work strongly toward communal tolerance. 

 

Your approach, and that of the other messages which you sent to our organization, seems to indicate that you are committed to communal division and hatred, and that you oppose all Serbs and the existence of Republica Srpska. You ignore the fact that it was the Bosnian Serbs who lost the most territory in the civil war, and the Muslim population which gained it: a reversal of historic property dispersal in the area. You ignore the ethnic cleansing of massive numbers of Serbs.

 

Mr Ramic, our organization covered the fighting on the ground in the area during the 1990s, and we have first-hand evidence of the violence and injustice which has been perpetrated by all sides against all sides in the civil war. Your lack of respect for the realities of history and your attempt to incite hatred does not serve the Bosnian Muslim cause at all. 

Yours truly

G. R. Copley

President, ISSA

 

ANTI – WAR PEACE RESOLUTION

PREAMBLE: If humans are to survive on this planet we must break the cycle of violence, and human and economic devastation created by war. War is not the solution. War is never a path to the true peace. CONGRESS of NORTH AMERICAN BOSNIAKS advocates non-violent peaceful alternatives to war and to the current threat of war against the Iraqi people. All Bosniaks organizations in America and Canada have adopted resolutions against a war on Iraq. As the current US and British administrations prepare for war, we the members of Congress of North American Bosniaks join with millions of citizens around the world to say, “ No to war” The Congress of North American Bosniakcks works in solidarity American and Canadian peace groups; we are anti-war, not anti-American.

 

WHEREAS: The war against Iraq endangers the Peace and Security, and Democracy of all Nations, including the SAD and Canada; and

 

WHEREAS: The un Assembly in Resolution A/RES/39/159 demands that all “ states take no actions aimed at military intervention and occupation, forcible change in or undermining of the socio-political system of states, destabilization and overthrow of governments and, in particular, initiate no military action to that and under any pretext whatsoever and cease forthwith any such action already in progress” , and

 

WHEREAS: The UN Inspection Teams are proving effective by finding and ordering the destruction of weapons that fall outside of the parameters established by UN Resolution # 1441; and

 

WHEREAS: The majority of Americans and Canadians polled and the vast majority of the international community oppose war against Iraq; and

 

 

WHEREAS: sanctions have caused the deaths if 1.5 million people in Iraq, including 750,000 children over the past 12 years; and as there is a need to lift economic sanctions against the people of Iraq, to end the on – going bombing, and to increase humanitarian aid and diplomatic support to the Iraqi people;

 

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT: THE CONGRESS OF NORTH AMERICAN BOSNIAKS call on the Federal Government of the SAD and Canada to strongly oppose any act of aggression and/or war towards Iraq and to use every diplomatic measure necessary to convince the US government to use alternative peaceful measures fo conflict resolution;

 

AND BE IT FUTHER RESOLVED THAT: THE CONGRESS OF NORTH AMERICAN BOSNIAKS call on the American and Canadian governments to fully support the UN Inspection Teams in Iraq, to allow them sufficient time to complete their mandated mission

 

DISINFORMATION CANADA'S FORMER AMBASSADOR TO YUGOSLAVIA

Reference is being made to the article authored by James Bissett, Canada’s former ambassador to Yugoslavia, published in your Friday, June 27, 2008, edition, titled “Don’t forget all the victims of Srebrenica.”

The disinformation imbued in that article certainly calls for a rebuttal and presentation of facts, free of nuances, half-truths, omissions as well as deviations from the judicial process of the highest legal authority in the world, The International Court of Justice, which, in its Ruling on February 27, 2007, publicly declared that genocide against Bosniaks was committed by the Serbs in Srebrenica and surrounding areas. Mass graves of over than 8,000 Muslim men and boys are still being located and documented. It is an international effort. Canada’s public is ill served in that it is not apprised of that first-hand documentation of unearthing of the evidence of a crime, to the likes of which, the Europe and the world of the post-World-War-Two exclaimed: ”Never again!” As a matter of fact, genocide against the Bosniaks in their homeland of Bosnia and Herzegovina, was not limited to just Srebrenica, it was widespread and in the end, some 220,000 civilians were murdered, with well over 90% of them being of Muslim faith.

Mr. Bissett claims that Naser Oric committed war crimes. The facts do not support that claim. On July 2, 2008 a U.N. appeals court overturned the war crimes conviction of Naser Oric. While Serbian perpetrators of war crimes are still at large, the Bosnian government and public faces its alleged war crimes. The commander of the Bosnian Serb Army, Gen. Ratko Mladic - charged with genocide for the Srebrenica killings - is still in hiding and is believed to be in Serbia. Radovan Karadzic, who is responsible for mass murders and rapes, at a holocaust level, is still in hiding too.

It is regrettable that Mr. Bissett conveys the message that he was sent to be Canada’s ambassador to Yugoslavia holding a clearly pro-Serbia bias, although he does call Croats to support his misinterpretation of the historical facts. He, unfortunately, is not the only official representative of Canada who was sent to Belgrade, Serbia, or to Bosnia and Herzegovina for that matter, and who ended up denying and defending the indefensible - crimes against humanity, crimes of genocide and the crime of being a willing and ready accomplice to the crime of genocide.

We invite your Editorial Board to convey a meeting with members of the Bosniak community as we feel that it takes an effort to build and maintain a rapport, to serve as a basis for building a community of peoples of all religions - religious differences being the slant which Mr. Bissett attached to his article. In order to achieve that rapport, it takes honesty and willingness to learn and understand the plight of the people who were killed, raped, or brutally thrown out of their homes because they are of Muslim faith.

While we cherish and respect our welcome here, in Canada, we live here because of the genocide committed against us in our own homeland, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Surely, James Bissett does not have more knowledge and understanding of our own predicament and history than hundreds of thousands of Bosnians who live on this continent. Most of us arrived here by way of force - being thrown out of our own country because we are Bosniaks, an island of Islam in the heart of Europe. That is the undeniable fact.

We invite you to help stop the cycle of blame. We invite you to help bridge the imposed divides of differences. We all, after all, are the believers in the One and the Only, our Lord Almighty, the only Creator. We cherish the one and same Divine Being. The Councils of Florence had been held in order to bridge the imposed divide of belief. It was bridged then. We need to bridge it now, again.

In the end, let us not forget that Mr. Bissett’s comment was made and published just two weeks before the 13th anniversary of the Srebrenica genocide - July 11, 1995. As such, it is, regrettably, rather inflammatory. We need and deserve better in Canada. All of us.

Vijesti: