SHAFAQNA (Shia News Association) – In an exclusive interview with SHAFAQNA reporter, Mr. Zeljko Milicevic, president of Justice for Bosnia Task Force, talks about the participation of Canada in the Bosnia and Herzegovina’s genocide in the past decade. What follows is the first part of the interview with Mr. Zeljko Milicevic.
In the year of 1992 in Bosnia, genocide was started primarily against Bosnian Muslims. It was performed by Christians of primarily Roman in East Orthodox Church and as well as Roman catholic church. The conflict was based on religious hatred that dominated from Zagreb. It happened at a time when the Geneva genocide convention was already a mature document. So for instance there was no Geneva Convention during the Second World War and during the extermination of Jews by the Nazis. When the extermination of Muslims in Bosnia started, Geneva genocide Convention was a valid document. All signatories and the countries who have acceded to Geneva Genocide Convention had obligation to prevent them from punish the criminal genocide; and they didn’t. So whoever let those countries in that time between specially 1992 and 1995, all those people are guilty of complicity to crime genocide as simple as that.
Canada for instance had its troops on the ground throughout the genocide which lasted from February 1992 to November 1995. Over forty thousand soldiers went to Bosnia and they all had in their back pocket, sort to speak, Geneva Genocide Convention and nobody prevented and punished genocide. Also, Canada is guilty as seen, and I know that because I lived in Ottawa, Canada for thirty one years now and I know how the politics are.
Together with Canada and the countries that were at that time members of the Security Council of the United Nations are primarily accomplices to the crown genocide as long as all other countries who have their troops on ground. As a matter of fact whether they did or they did not, they were guilty of complicity, because they did not prevent and punish especially those who had their troops on ground and those are numbers of countries; Russia, United States, Britain, France and so on and so on.
It is unacceptable that in today’s age such crime would be done and it was not just done for the night, it went on for years.
Genocide is still going on today and this is done, for example, by not allowing people to return to their homes; and not allowing people to feel about the genocide that they have gone through. Genocide is continuous today not punishing those who have conducted genocide. Genocide is, also, an establishment of the court of the former Yugoslavia. Establishing the court for former Yugoslavia was nothing but an attempt to take away the sovereignty of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, it’s as simple as that.
Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina was not allowed to defend itself and its population regardless of their religion. So the international community did, at that time, unimaginable things, completely inexcusable and that condition continues even today. Genocide was committed throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina and especially Muslims and comminuted on July the 11th in 1995.
That act shock the whole community, because orderly people became disgusted with the fact that genocide was allowed to continue which created pressure especially for the Western countries. So they acted in stopping genocide at the time when the army of Republic of Bosnia was on its marshal victory of evicting Serbian forces out of Bosnia, so the stoppage of genocide was cosmetic.
It was done to finish off the taking away the sovereignty of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and it was done to save the Serbian side in particular. Serbia, Montenegro as well as Croatia, those three countries decided to cut off Bosnia and Herzegovina, and if it was possible either eliminate Muslims or make them leave. Today we have almost a million refugees still living outside their homes and that is not acceptable, that it genocide itself. Those people live elsewhere for one reason: because they are Muslims. Today, we witness here in North America an elevation of hatred against Muslims and Muslim countries.
Prime Minister Harper has recently declared that word Islamism, that Islamism is the biggest threat to Canada, to national security of Canada. So he has named every single Muslim in Canada and by extension in the United States, a terrorist. What can we question is whether the Prime Minister Harper and his ministers have been elected by Canadians in Canada or by people living in or by people living in Tel Aviv?
So there are things that in out of proportions, there are things that have been done absolutely illegally. One has to question: Why is it that we have all those rights, all those charts of rights and why we have all those laws, why do we have international laws and why the Geneva Genocide convention? Why do we have United Nations and their committees with respect to the rights of children, the right of women, why do we have all that when we are not honoring our own commitments?
When I come to that I know the reason why, because I have lived here in Ottawa thirty one years and I believe in witness that successive governments of Canada have been routinely dishonoring their commitments. It is normal for the government of Canada to say one thing and do another and disregard all rules and regulations.
