EVENT: Please Join Dr. David Pettigrew for “Witnessing Exhumations on the Drina Fifteen years after the Dayton Peace Accords”
Please join Dr. David Pettigrew; Professor of Philosophy for: “Witnessing Exhumations on the Drina: Fifteen years after the Dayton Peace Accords”
Thank You Letter from the Bosniak-Canadian Community to Honourable Brian Masse, MP
Thank You Letter From the Bosniak-Canadian Community to Honourable Brian Masse, MP
Honourable Brian Masse, MP
Date: October 19, 2021
At this time of overwhelming and conflicting emotions of joy, pride, sadness and happiness mixed together, we would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your selfless efforts in supporting Canadian Bosniaks. Passing of the Motion M-416 and today’s proclamation of Srebrenica Remembrance Day in Canadian Parliament is an enormous moment of pride and time for reflection for many Bosniaks who found their new home in Canada. Read more
Canadian parliament unanimously adopts the Srebrenica genocide resolution
CANADIAN PARLIAMENT UNANIMOUSLY ADOPTS THE SREBRENICA GENOCIDE RESOLUTION
After five years of lobbying by the Canadian – Bosniak community, the Canadian parliament has unanimously adopted the Srebrenica genocide resolution {M-416} recognizing the genocide that happened in Srebrenica, Bosnia and Hercegovina, in 1995.
In light of the recent strides that we have made, we would like to inform you about the steps that have led up this important moment. Read more
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: the Srebrenica Remembrance Day Motion Passes the House
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MASSE DECLARES A VICTORY FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AS THE SREBRENICA REMEMBRANCE DAY MOTION PASSES THE HOUSE
Motion achieves unanimous consent in the House of Commons after long campaign
OTTAWA, ON – Today Brian Masse M.P., NDP Industry, Automotive, and Border Critic declared a victory for human rights as the motion he introduced to establish a Srebrenica Remembrance Day in Canada was passed in the House of Commons by unanimous consent after a long campaign which began more than a year ago in his riding and was lead by the Bosnian-Canadian community.
“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, 2022 institutionalizing July 11 as the day of Remembrance for the Srebrenica Genocide. This past March the Serbian parliament passed a resolution recognizing the 1995 massacre in Srebrenica.
“I would like thank and recognize the enormous effort, determination and perseverance of the Bosnian-Canadian community in bringing about this achievement today for Canada. This result in due to the endeavours of thousands of Bosnian-Canadians across the country lead by Emir Ramic, President of the Congress of North American Bosniaks-Canada, Imam Dr. Zijad Delic, Zeljko Milicevic, Chair of Justice for Bosnia Task Force, Senad Alicehajic, President of the Bosnian Club of Windsor, Leila Handanovic, Dina Bajric, and countless others. With this motion, the House of Commons joins Canada with many other countries in doing something that should have been done long ago,” Masse stated.
The motion that passed in the House of Commons today:
“That, in the opinion of the House, the day of July 11 should be recognised as Srebrenica Remembrance Day in memorial of the Srebrenica Massacre of July 1995, in which more than 7,000 Bosniak men and boys were executed, declared an act of genocide by the international Criminal tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the International Court of justice, and 25,000 others were forcibly removed from their homes by Bosnian Serb forces.”
For more information, please contact:
Mohummed Peer, Office of Brian Masse, [email protected]
Open letter of the Bosniak-Canadian community to the Minister of National Defence of Canada
Open letter of the Bosniak-Canadian community to the Minister of National Defence of Canada
WE URGE YOU TO ISSUE AN APOLOGY TO DR. ZIJAD DELIC, TO THE CANADIAN ISLAMIC CONGRESS, TO CANADA’S MUSLIMS Read more
Bosniak - Canadian Community received a new proposal of the resolution on the genocide in Srebrenica {M – 416} by the Government of Canada
EVENT: National Day of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Canada
In partnership with the Institute for Research of Genocide Canada and under the sponsorship of the Congress of North American Bosniaks from November 26th to November 28th, 2010 we present to you a two day conference in Toronto for the Bosnia and Herzegovina National day.
Days of meetings titled:
STATEHOOD OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
the events are as follows:
On Saturday, November 27th, 2010 at 7 pm at the Bosniak Islamic Centre “Gazi Husrev Beg”, a special guest appearance from Prof, Dr. Smail Cekic, the director of the Institute for Research of War Crimes against Human Rights and International Law, University of Sarajevo.
Round table discussion on the topic of: “Bosnia and Bosniaks” on Saturday, November 27th at the Bosnian Islamic Centre “Gazi Husrev Beg”, Toronto.
A training session for all researchers and members of the institute for research of genocide from Canada and the United States on Friday, November 26th and Saturday, November 27th at the Bosnian Islamic Centre “Gazi Husrev beg”, Toronto.
Images of Bosnian Genocide Survivors’ Eyes Mounted on TTC Station Platforms in Toronto, Canada
Images of survivors’ eyes are mounted on TTC station platforms projecting their testimony onto major public landmarks. A hint of their stories is told through the eyes which contain artistically subtle graphics.
In the Sightings Mural of Fadil Kulasic, an 1992 Omarska concentration camp survivor and subsequently two other detention centers (he was held for 202 days), there are silhouettes of two men in his eyes. This can relate to several things that were inflicted upon Fadil.
Fadil mentioned, e.g., that two camp’s captors, who had knew Fadil as they all were the town’s folks, were maybe somewhat lenient to him. Fadil speculated it might be due to his respectful demeanor and attitude toward them in common encounters in the same town, while these two men had been otherwise teased and mocked by majority of the other town’s folks for their physical or other appearances / shortcomings.
However, Fadil has other significant experiences / memories which are much more powerful for the symbolism behind the “silhouettes of two men in his Mural’s eyes” and he is working on his story to accompany his Sightings Mural. Furthermore, Fadil’s Mural prominently refers to his Fragments box number, 492, which is play of “April 1992″. Dundas Station in Toronto is devoted to Bosnia & Herzegovina.
Fragments & Sightings - Presented with the support of the Canadian Centre for International Justice, the works are shown in two related installations: Fragments stands as a collective monument dedicated to the estimated 600,000 Torontonians who have been affected by war crimes and other international human rights violations. Personal items belonging to survivors are displayed in a rowed queue formation. Fragments combines both mundane materials and familiar objects in ways that speak to the vulnerability of each of us, and the emotional residue attached to the things we possess. Sightings: Images of survivors’ eyes are mounted on TTC station platforms projecting their testimony onto public landmarks.
The work also speaks to the potential (and real) encounters between survivors and perpetrators which occur frequently within the GTA, including on mass transit vehicles, and conjures the dread of anticipation many survivors experience long after they settle into a new life in Toronto.
Sightings: Images of survivors’ eyes are mounted on TTC station platforms projecting their testimony onto major public landmarks.
Bosniak - Canadians are recent but active members of communities across Canada. In all provinces and territories Bosniak - Canadians are active participants in civic life with keen interest in domestic as well as foreign policy matters. They still seek message of hope and healing, and common sense approach to issues of the day speaks strongly to the experience of many Bosniaks, who not long ago came to Canada shores in search of a new beginning, while leaving behind a homeland, the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina ravaged by aggression and genocide. They need to be represented by someone who understands the issues that matter to them. This is true in the case of every-day struggles which Bosniak Canadians share today with all working families in Canada. After being subjects of war of aggression, genocide, crimes against humanity, Canada has become a new home. Bosniak - Canadians are ready to do their share of civic duty and help make Canada a better place.
In an effort to contribute to Canada’s multicultural society, the Bosniak - Canadian Community actively seeks to educate and share with Canadians the beauty of Bosniak and Bosnian and Herzgovian culture and history. The Bosniak - Canadian Community has organized numerous lectures, panel discussions and other events. In turn, our efforts have been recognized by organizations and dignitaries from both Bosnia and Herzegovina and Canada.
THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA WOULD SUPPORT A PARLIAMENTARY RESOLUTION RECOGNIZING AND COMMEMORATING THE SREBRENICA GENOCIDE
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CNABC and IRGC on behalf of the Bosniak-Canadian community continue to campaign for the adoption of the motion M- 416 and the Bill C – 533 in the Canadian Parliament
The Congress of North American Bosniaks Canadian Branch (CNABC) and the Institute for Research of Genocide Canada (IRGC), on behalf of the Bosniak-Canadian community continue to campaign for the adoption of the motion M- 416 and the Bill C – 533 in the Canadian Parliament
CNAB and IRGC call on the Canadian Parliament to pass Motion, M – 416 and Bill, C – 533, regarding Srebrenica Genocide and Respecting a Srebrenica Remembrance Day in Canada. Read more
