December 30, 2013
U ime sjevernoameriÄkih Bošnjaka, žrtava i svijedoka agresije na Republiku Bosnu i Hercegovina i genocida protiv njenih graÄ‘ana šaljemo vam zvaniÄan protest protiv komentara vašeg aktiviste Effraima Zuroffa u kome negira genocid u Srebrenici i Bosni i Hercegovini.
Srpske “Nezavisne novine” su prije tri dana prenijele izjavu gospodina Zuroff-a u kojoj je javno negirao genocid u Bosni i Hercegovini. Ako su navodi u spomenutim novinama, taÄni onda nažalost moramo konstatovati da i gospodin Zuroff nažalost spada u grupu onih koji negiraju sudski dokazani genocid nad Bosnjacima u Bosni i Hercegovini za vrijeme srpsko – crnogorske agresije.
(link: http://www.nezavisne.com/novosti/bih/Zurof-U-BiH-nije-bilo-genocida-224134.html).
Nerazumljivo je da neko ko radi za tako važnu medjunarodnu organizaciju, Äija je glavna misija istraživanje i sjećanje na Holokaust, može sebi dozvoliti da bude iskorišten od strane onih koji pokušavaju po ko zna koji put poturiti revizionizam i mitologiju potkrepljenu lažima Äitavom svijetu vezano za genocid i rat u BiH. Naime, šokantno je, škodljivo, i sramotno, da žrtve genocida i njihove familije opet moraju da trpe nemjerljiv bol, bol koji uzrokuje negiranje genocida, ne samo od onih koji su uÄestvovali i pomagali u grozotama i ideologiji mržnje nego i sad od onih koji trebaju da upotrebe lekcije Holokausta da zaštite i unaprijede ljudska prava, slobodu i dostojanstvo te da se genocid više nikada i nikome ne ponovi. Genocid u Srebrenici je pravna, sudska, historijska i nauÄno istraživacka Äinjenica, dokazana od dva meÄ‘unarodna i više nacionalna suda, u kojim su uÄestovali i osobe koje su preživjele Holokaust, koji su zakljuÄili da je udruženo zloÄinaÄko sistematsko, organizovano ubijanje vise od 8,000 pripadnika bošnjackog stanovništva u Srebrenici je nepobitan dokaz genocida.
Sudija Theodor Meron (koji je preživio holokaust) predsjedavao je u žalbenom predmetu Radislava Krstića kada je MeÄ‘unarodni kriviÄni sud za bivšu Jugoslaviju donio jednoglasnu presudu:
“Kao jedan od najtežih zloÄina koje ovaj MeÄ‘unarodni sud ima nadležnost da kažnjava, zloÄin genocida se izdvaja po tome što je posebno sramotan i zaslužuje posebnu osudu… Težina genocida ogleda se u strogim zahtjevima koji se moraju zadovoljiti prije no što se donese osuÄ‘ujuća presuda za to kriviÄno djelo. Ti zahtjevi – uslov postojanja dokaza posebne namjere i pokazatelja da je cijela grupa, ili njen znatan dio, bila odreÄ‘ena za uništenje – Äuvaju od opasnosti da se osuda za to kriviÄno djelo izrekne olako. Kada se, meÄ‘utim, zadovolje ovi uslovi, pravda se ne smije skanjivati da poÄinjeni zloÄin nazove njegovim pravim imenom. Nastojeći eliminirati dio bosanskih Muslimana, snage bosanskih Srba su poÄinile genocid. Oni su odredili za uništenje Äetrdeset hiljada [40.000] Muslimana stanovnika Srebrenice, koji su kao grupa predstavljali bosanske Muslimane uopšte. Oni su svim zarobljenim muškarcima Muslimanima, i vojnicima i civilima, starim i mladim, oduzeli njihove liÄne stvari i dokumente te ih smišljeno i metodiÄno ubijali iskljuÄivo na osnovu njihove pripadnosti. Snage bosanskih Srba su bile svjesne, kada su se upustile u svoj genocidni poduhvat, da će bosanskim Muslimanima zlo koje su im nanijele donijeti trajne nevolje. Žalbeno vijeće s potpunim uvjerenjem izjavljuje da pravda osuÄ‘uje, odgovarajućim formulacijama, ogromnu i trajnu štetu koja je nanesena i pokolj u Srebrenici naziva njegovim pravim imenom: genocid. Odgovorni će nositi ovu stigmu, i ona će služiti kao upozorenje za budućnost svima onima koji pomisle da poÄine takvo gnusno djelo.”
Za vrijeme srpsko-crnogorske agresije i genocida u Bosni i Hercegovini, Simon Wiesenthal je lobirao za Bošnjake koji su bili žrtve ove agresije.
Pogledajte link http://bosniakandjewishfriendship.wordpress.com/2011/02/27/nazi-hunter-simon-wiesenthal-demands-weapons-for-bosnian-muslims/
Mozemo konstatovati da je gospodin Wiesenthal danas živ sigurno bi se stidio izjava i postupaka nekog ko radi za centar koji nosi njegovo ime, a negira upotrebu termina genocide da opiše zloÄine koji su poÄinjeni nad bošnjaÄkim civilima.
IzriÄito zahtjevamo da se vaš institut izvine za izjave gospodina Zuroff-a, kao i da se i distancirate od srpskih nacionalista koji pokušavaju praviti revizionisticku historiju koja se zasniva na negiranju genocida. Ako navedene izjave nisu izjave gospodina Zuroff-a zahtjevamo javni demantij istih. U vjeri da ćete naše iskrene namjere shvatiti ozbiljno i da će gospodin Zuroff ipak reagovati ispravno, a ako ne onda snositi posljedice vašeg uvaženog instituta. Mi se nadamo da ćete ovo pitanje shvatiti ozbiljnim, jer mislimo da Älanovi vašeg instituta razumiju posljedice holokausta i genocida i negiranje istih.
Sa poštovanjem,
Prof. Emir Ramić
Direktor Instituta za istraživanje genocida Kanada
Mr. Hamdija Čustović
Predsjednik Kongresa Bošnjaka Sjeverne Amerike
Prof. dr. Dawid Pettigrew
Profesor Filozofije, Southern Connecticut State University,
ÄŒlan, Upravnog odbora, Yale University za Genocid studije program,
ÄŒlan MeÄ‘unarodnog tima struÄnjaka Instituta za istraživanje genocida Kanada,
ÄŒlan Odbora, Bosanskog ameriÄkog instituta za genocid i obrazovanje, Chicago
Prof. dr. Smail Čekić
Direktor Instituta za istraživanje zloÄina protiv ÄovjeÄnosti i meÄ‘unarodnog prava Univerziteta u Sarajevu
Prof. dr. Senadin Lavić
Predsjednik BošnjaÄke Zajednice Kulture “Preporod”, Sarajevo
Mr. Sanja Seferović Drnovšek
Direktor, Bosansko ameriÄkog instituta za genocid i edikacijskog centra
Prof. dr. Francis A. Boyle
Profesor meÄ‘unarodnog prava na Univerzitetu Illinois, nekadašnji agent BiH pred MeÄ‘unarodnim sudom pravde
Mr. Marjan Hajnal
Magistar politiÄkih nauka, nezavisan analitiÄar i publicist, živi u Izraelu od 23. 06. 1993.
December 30, 2013
On behalf of Bosniaks in the U.S. and Canada and survivors of the Bosnian genocide, we protest the comments made by one of your activists Effraim Zuroff denying the genocide in Srebrenica and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Serb nationalist newspapers reported today that Mr. Zuroff publicly denied that genocide took place in Bosnia-Herzegovina. According to their media, he stated there was no genocide in Bosnia-Herzegovina, thus reducing himself to a genocide denier (link: http://www.nezavisne.com/novosti/bih/Zurof-U-BiH-nije-bilo-genocida-224134.html)
It is incomprehensible that someone who works for such an important international organization whose mission includes remembrance of the lessons of the Holocaust, would allow themselves to be used by the Serb nationalists to openly deny genocide against Bosniaks during the war from 1992-1995. In fact, it is shocking, hurtful, and disgraceful that the victims of genocide and their families must again suffer the anguish of genocide denial, not only by those who participated and supported the atrocities and the ideology of hatred, but now by those who are supposed to apply the lessons of Holocaust to promote human rights and dignity, and ensure genocide never happens to anyone anywhere. Srebrenica Genocide is a legal fact, established by two international courts; both presided by Jewish holocaust survivors, who concluded that systematic executions of 8,000 Bosniak men and boys in Srebrenica alone constituted genocide.
In the Krstic judgement by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, presiding Judge Theodor Meron, a Polish-American Jew and a holocaust survivor, concluded that Srebrenica was Genocide (numerous other judgments found the same reasoning, including the highest World Court): “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.”
During Serb-led genocide policies in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Simon Wiesenthal himself lobbied on behalf of Bosniaks who were the victims of this aggression.
If Mr. Wiesenthal were alive today, we can only imagine how he would have felt to learn that one of the activists of the organization bearing his name, reportedly, denies the use of the term genocide to refer to the heinous crimes committed against Bosniak civilians.
We respectfully demand that your institute apologizes for the hurtful comments reportedly made by your activist Effraim Zuroff, and thus distance yourself from extreme Serbian nationalists who are now perpetuating revisionist history based on genocide denial. If these reports are somehow incorrect, then we ask for a public explanation from Mr. Zuroff and the Simon Wiesenthal center. We hope that you will take this matter very seriously as we believe the members of your institute understand the ultimate ramifications of holocaust and genocide denial.
Respectfully,
Professor Emir Ramic, Chair
The Institute for Research of Genocide, Canada
Hamdija Custovic, MBA, President
The Congress of North American Bosniaks
David Pettigrew, Ph.D., Professor of Philosophy, Southern Connecticut State University,
Member, Steering Committee, Yale University Genocide Studies Program,
International Team of Experts Institute for Research of Genocide Canada,
Board Member, Bosnian American Genocide Institute and Education Center, Chicago, IL
Professor Smail Cekic, PhD
Director, Institute for Research of Crimes against Humanity and International Law, University of Sarajevo
Professor Senadin Lavic, PhD
President, Bosniak Cultural Association, Sarajevo
Sanja Seferovic-Drnovsek J.D, MEd, Chair
Bosnian American Genocide Institute and Education Center
Marjan Hajnal, M.Sc.
Master of political sciences, independent analyst and publicist, living in Israel since 23. 06. 1993.
Professor Francis A. Boyle, PhD
Professor of International law at the University of Illinois, a former agent of Bosnia and Herzegovina before the International Court of Justice
Marko Attila Hoare, PhD
Professor Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Kingston University, London