Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization

[Risto the Great]

http://www.unpo.org/

It is a peak organisation whose members are political organisations and governments representing indigenous peoples, occupied nations, minorities and independent states or territories which lack representation internationally.

Any reason why Macedonians in Albania, Bulgaria & Greece are not members of this organisation?

[Soldier of Macedon]

Good question, perhaps the AMHRC know some more about this group?

[Bratot]

I noticed the "Greek minority in Albania" present on the map of this organization, and I see no logical reason for our representatives to not be the members also.

The Macedonians of Greece
Denying Ethnic Identity

By Human Rights Watch, 1994.

This report is based on information gathered by a fact-finding mission in the Macedonian region in northern Greece. In July 1993, organized and co-ordinated by the Minority Rights Group-Greece. The participants were Panayote Dimitras, representing the Minority Rights Group-Greece; Erik Siesby, head of the Danish Helsinki Committee; and Lois Whitman, the Deputy Director of Human Rights Watch/Helsinki. The report was written by Lois Whitman and edited by Jeri Laber, the Executive Director of Human Rights Watch /Helsinki.

The Greek Fogeign Ministry, which initially refused to meet with the three groups making up the fact-finding mission, was subsequently very cooperative with Human Rights Watch / Helsinki in answering questions and providing information. Macedonian rights activists were very helpful in providing interviews and information, sometimes at considerable risk. In many cases activists and others interviewed by the mission requested that their names not be used, for fear of retaliation by authorities.

Here is a small excerpt from the book:

On the basis of the evidence obtained during the fact-finding mission, Human Rights Watch/Helsinki has concluded that:


1.an ethnic Macedonian minority with its own language and culture exists in northern Greece;
2.the Greek government has denied the ethnic identity of the ethnic Macedonian minority in violation of international human rights laws and agreements. This is evidenced by open statements by Greek officials; by the government's denial of the existence of a Macedonian language; by the government's refusal to permit a "Center of Macedonian Culture;" and by the government's refusal in the recent past to permit the performance of Macedonian songs and dances;
3.freedom of expression is restricted for ethnic Macedonians in violation of international human rights laws. Some rights activists have been prosecuted and convicted for the peaceful expression of their views; although some of these charges were eventually dropped due to a recent change in the law, some convictions are still in effect;
4.the Greek government discriminates against the ethnic Macedonian minority in violation of international laws and agreements to which it is a party;
5.ethnic Macedonian political refugees who fled northern Greece after the Greek Civil War, as well as their descendants who define themselves as "Macedonians," are denied permission to regain their citizenship, to resettle, or to visit northern Greece; in contrast, political refugees who define themselves as Greeks are permitted to do so;
6.the teaching of the Macedonian language is not permitted;
7.ethnic Macedonians were discriminated against in employment in the public sector in the past, and may suffer from such discrimination at present; the Greek government should examine its employment practices to determine whether such discrimination exists today;
8.ethnic Macedonians, and particularly Macedonian rights activists, are harassed by the government, followed and threatened by security forces, and subjected to economic and social pressures resulting from government harassment; this has led to a marked climate of fear in which many ethnic Macedonians are reluctant to assert their Macedonian identity or to express their views openly.

If you are asking yourself: "what has changed in these 14 years since the report was published?", I will answer you - NOTHING!

Since 1913, and especially after the World War II, Greece is organizing and implementing a silent ethnic genocide of the entire "non-greek" population, especially in Aegean Macedonia. The name issue is just the tip of this monstrous legacy.

[Bratot]

THE PROGRESSIVE NATURE OF ETHNIC CLEANSING

Gregory Stanton, president of Genocide Watch, has written that ethnic cleansing develops in eight stages that are predictable but not inexorable.
At each stage, he says, preventive measures can stop it.
Drawing liberally from Stanton's presentation (with his permission), the eight stages (and some possible preventive measures at each stage) that he identifies are:

1. Classification. The earliest indication of a potential ethnic cleansing occurs when "us and "them" categories develop: German and Jew, Hutu and Tutsi, etc. Universalistic institutions need to exist that transcend such divisions. The Protestant churches in Germany and the Catholic church in Rwanda might have played this role had they not been riven by the same ethnic and racial cleavages as their societies.

2. Symbolization. Names or symbols are assigned to maligned groups: "Jews" or "Gypsies," for example. When combined with hatred, symbols may be forced upon the maligned group: the yellow star for Jews under Nazi rule, the blue scarf for people from the Eastern zone in Khmer Rouge Cambodia. As a preventive measure, hate symbols such as these can be legally outlawed so that they lose their symbolic effect.

3. Dehumanization. One group denies the humanity of another group. Members of the maligned group are equated with animals, vermin, insects, or diseases. Hate propaganda is often disseminated through controlled media channels. Hate crimes are encouraged, even protected legally. Again, effective legal measures should be instituted to curtail such revolting behavior.

4. Organization. Formal plans for mass killing begins. Governments commit most ethnic cleansings, but it might be a terrorist group or a specially trained militia. Preventive measures might include outlawing militias, denying visas for foreign travel, or perhaps imposing embargoes on governments that are planning an ethnic cleansing.

5. Polarization. Extremists drive the groups apart. Laws may forbid intermarriage or social interaction. Coups d'etat by extremists should be opposed by international sanctions. Physical protection for members of the moderate center may be necessary.

6. Identification. Victims are identified and separated because of their racial, ethnic, or religious identity. Death lists are drawn up. Members of maligned groups are forced to wear identifying symbols, live in ghettoes or concentration camps, or undergo starvation. At this stage, international military intervention is essential, as is humanitarian assistance organized by the U.N. and private relief groups.

7. Extermination. Mass killings begin. Killing becomes sport, and quickly reaches epidemic proportions. At this stage, only rapid armed intervention by the U.N. can stop the killing. Regional and bordering states might also intervene with U.N. authorization.

8. Denial. The perpetrators dig up the mass graves, burn the bodies, cover up evidence, and intimidate witnesses. Leaders of the guilty regimes block investigations of crimes, and often live with impunity, like Pol Pot, or Idi Amin, unless they are captured and a tribunal is established to try them. Punishment by a tribunal or court is essential to send the message to future perpetrators that ethnic cleansing will not be tolerated.

These stages characterize virtually every ethnic cleansing. The early stages always precede the later stages, argues Stanton, though ,earlier stages might continue to operate throughout the progression. The progression may be slow or fast, but rarely is any stage skipped. The important point is that each stage is identifiable, and action at that stage can forestall a potential ethnic cleansing. More information on the eight stages of ethnic cleansing is available on the Internet at www.genocidewatch.org.

Which stages we went through and on what stage we currently rang ourself?

CAN ETHNIC CLEANSING BE STOPPED?

In the mid-nineteenth century, slavery was institutionalized in most parts of the world, and it had been that way for virtually all of recorded history. No one thought that slavery would end. It seemed to be part of the human condition. But slavery did end. Yes, it exists today in a few isolated pockets around the world, but slavery, for the most part, is a thing of the past. Similarly, many would tell us that ethnic cleansing is simply part of the human condition. Humans will never learn to live together, they say, so we must learn to live with periodic outbreaks of mass human destruction. But if slavery could end, why not ethnic cleansing, too?
It will take the committed efforts of individuals, governments, private organizations, and faith groups around the world, but it is a goal worth pursuing. What are some of the things that might be done to achieve this goal?


Efforts on at least two key fronts, taking place simultaneously, will be necessary. First, there must be an ideological movement to end ethnic cleansing. Second, there must be new forms of governmental action, especially on the part of the United Nations, to prevent ethnic cleansing. The movement will attempt to mobilize the world to do whatever is necessary to end ethnic cleansing; governing bodies hopefully will respond by taking specific steps to end ethnic cleansing. Ideally, both fronts will coordinate their efforts to 1) create a global ethos that considers ethnic cleansing to be unacceptable, and 2) put in place effective measures that will make ethnic cleansing difficult, if not impossible.

Several types of activity can contribute to an ideological movement.

Here are some possibilities:

* Awareness Campaign. A major campaign to raise consciousness about ethnic cleansing must emerge. The world must be made aware of the magnitude of the problem. Many persons and organizations have been doing this for some time. Groups like Genocide Watch, Human Rights Watch, The Voice of the Martyrs, Amnesty International, InterReligious Federation for World Peace, World Vision, the Initiative for Conflict Resolution and Ethnicity, the United States Institute of Peace, and others are outstanding organizations that have been active in promoting world peace for decades. More must be done, however. The Stockholm Accords on Ethnic Cleansing are an attempt by a committed group of laypersons to highlight the problem and to enlist partners worldwide in a movement to end ethnic cleansing. The Accords highlight the "urgent need for significant and immediate action by persons, governments, religions, and institutions everywhere to prevent the continued dehumanization and extermination of human life on a massive scale in the twenty-first century." The Accords can be accessed and signed on the Internet by anyone at www.gsrf.org or www.baylor.edu/~Church_State.> * Education Initiative. Alongside a global-wide consciousness raising effort, there needs to be a serious effort to teach the themes of human rights, mutual tolerance and understanding, and interfaith cooperation to students at all levels of formal education. An educated population that looks upon all persons as valuable members of a human family will not tolerate ethnic cleansing.

* Publicity Campaign. Wherever ethnic cleansing seems a possibility, there must be immediate, credible, and widespread coverage of the event. Newspaper, radio, and television coverage can often produce enough pressure upon a perpetrating regime to discourage ethnic cleansing. The Internet can likewise be a valuable tool to disseminate information.

* Organizational linkages. NGOs, religious organizations, and other non-state parties can share information, make contacts with political leaders, lobby for more aggressive action to be taken by the U.N., and generally work in concert to create an intelligence network that can mobilize a worldwide movement to end ethnic cleansing.

* Grassroots Movement. Most importantly, there must emerge a worldwide grassroots movement to end ethnic cleansing in the twenty-first century. Without such a movement, the problem will not draw adequate international attention for government authorities to confront the problem. A massive protest of the Vietnam War in the United States resulted in American withdrawal from the conflict. A similar kind of movement on a worldwide scale is needed to end ethnic cleansing.

While a global-wide ideological movement is essential to the goal of ending ethnic cleansing, no significant progress will made toward that goal unless government authorities, especially the U.N., take meaningful steps to put in place preventive measures. The most needed measures are these:

* Early-Warning System. An effective early-warning system to alert the world and especially the U.N. Security Council to potential ethnic cleansing is desperately needed. A U.N. body, assisted by and linked with some of the world's best human rights and genocide watch organizations, is long overdue.

* Rapid Response Force. Because ethnic cleansing is almost always carried out by a country's own military forces, the usual forces of law and order cannot stop it. International intervention is required. But because the world lacks an adequate rapid response force, little action is typically taken until it is too late. Articles 43-48 of the U.N. Charter authorize the creation of such a rapid response force, but because the commitment of troops is unpopular with most countries, little has been done to create a force of sufficient size to be effective.

* International Criminal Court. An International Criminal Court is needed to prosecute those who commit ethnic cleansing, war crimes, and other crimes against humanity. The current U.N. practice of establishing war crime tribunals to deal with specific conflicts is generally inadequate to result in timely prosecutions of those responsible for ethnic cleansing. The Rome Treaty of 1998 created the possibility for an International Criminal Court, but it must be ratified by at least sixty nations by December 31, 2002 to become operative. Unfortunately, several nations, including the United States, seem disinclined to support the creation of such a court because it might mean a loss of national sovereignty. For more information about the International Criminal Court, see the homepage of the Coalition for an International Criminal Court at www.igc.apc.org/icc.> These two lists describing the essential elements of an ideological move,writ and the requisite governmental action to end ethnic cleansing are not exhaustive, of course. We are limited only by our imaginations in terms of what might be done to stein ethnic cleansing. The important thing is that they be acted upon, rather than just talked about.

V. CONCLUSION

Under the slogan "Never again," prosecutors at Nuremburg tried and convicted the principal members of the Nazi killing machine. Unfortunately, what the world witnessed for the rest of the century was not "Never again," but "Again and again." But this is no reason to give up on the dream of ending the human race's periodic propensity to exterminate its own kind on a massive scale. Slavery ended because millions of people cared enough to work to end an evil and inhumane system. Because of their efforts, an acceptable practice became unacceptable. Similarly, ending ethnic cleansing will take millions of people worldwide working concertedly to end an unacceptable form of human activity. Ethnic cleansing can be stopped. The question is whether we have the will to do it.

COPYRIGHT 2000 J.M. Dawson Studies in Church and State
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning

[julie]

Bratot, that is an interesting post. And so sadly true

[Silver]

http://www.unpo.org/
It is a peak organisation whose members are political organisations and governments representing indigenous peoples, occupied nations, minorities and independent states or territories which lack representation internationally.

Any reason why Macedonians in Albania, Bulgaria & Greece are not members of this organisation?

Nice catch Risto and a great question. As always the 'Greeks' are quick to jump on this stuff and start balling about their supposed ethnic relatives living under oppression while we're asleep as usual.

Things need to change.

[Risto the Great]

Thanks Silver.
I have been meaning to get back to you on other matter and will do so shortly.
The more I think about the UNPO, the more I think we can do the same for Macedonians in Australia. We have some political leaders who feel more than comfortable with "slav" prefixes and we also have institutions who will not readily accept us as simply Macedonians. Until this is rectified, we should register our discontent by joining with the UNPO.

It should be noted that the UNPO completely embraces the idea of secession, self rule and autonomy etc. It may not be a good idea for Macedonia to join.

If we can have "Albanians in Macedonia" and "Greeks in Albania" as members, then Macedonians are simply "slow to catch up". Enough nis enough, we need to open fire on all fronts.

[AMHRC]

Risto,

We wrote to our friends in Vinozhito and OMO and they have replied that they will look into UNPO.

Cheers,

AMHRC.

[Risto the Great]

Thanks AMHRC, Vino & OMO are the most immediately appropriate organisations to come to mind. The Macedonian political party in Albania also comes to mind.

Let us know if the MTO can help in any way.