Macedonian Human Rights Movement International (MHRMI)

[George S.]

No excuse for this guy but to resign.I think the liberal party should disendorse this racist clown.We should all email the liberal party in canada expressing our deep dissapointment.
Either that a petition would be good.

[Mr Brandy]

MHRMI - thank you for the updated report on this issue. We need to keep the pressure on this knuckle-dragging neandrethal. He is a well known embarrasment to the House of Commons.

[Makedonska_Kafana]

MHRMI - thank you for the updated report on this issue. We need to keep the pressure on this knuckle-dragging neandrethal. He is a well known embarrasment to the House of Commons.

You, strike me as a person missing a few loonies and change like the wind. Stick to what you do best - drinking, and defending the UMD at all costs.

Are you a MHRMI member?

[MHRMI]

We sent out the press release through Marketwire and it got picked up by several media outlets, including Reuters.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/11/idUS249330+11-May-2011+MW20110511

http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/macedonians-demand-resignation-of-liberal-mp-jim-karygiannis-1513361.htm

[Makedonska_Kafana]

we sent out the press release through marketwire and it got picked up by several media outlets, including reuters.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/11/idus249330+11-may-2011+mw20110511

http://www.marketwire.com/press-rele...is-1513361.htm

excellent job!

[Mr Brandy]

You, strike me as a person missing a few loonies and change like the wind. Stick to what you do best - drinking, and defending the UMD at all costs.

Are you a MHRMI member?

Whatever..

[Makedonska_Kafana]

Whatever..

when you put the UMD (USA) and politics ahead of friendships you will find yourself standing alone in the end.

[Pelister]

We need this campaign.

The Macedonian government has to do more, much more to guard against a weakening of their internal strength and viability as a State. Something more needs to be done to rescue the Macedonian State from the brink of political extinction - and to get the Macedonians politicians to return the issue of our admission to the U.N back to the U.N. This business of moving it out of the United Nations, and into the hands of individual politicians, as I have said elsewhere, has left us exposed in a reckless way to our enemies. We are under a very great threat at the moment, while it continues. That is why we must end the negotiations immediately, and pursue out rights within the framework of the U.N institution, not outside of it. Equally troubling is the failure of Gruevski to invest in traditional nation building activities - how else are we to guard ourselves against the territorial ambitions of our Albanian neighbors, if we do not build up Christian Macedonian areas in this region? Building homes to plant an extra 50,000 Christian Macedonians in these areas would effectively undermine our enemies (growing) legal and moral rights to seize and annex the land, as well as adding more Macedonian members to the parliament, as well as nullifying the effects of the Framework Agreement in these areas. It is the best long term solution (a real soluation, with tangible results) to many of our current problems.

[Risto the Great]

Since then we have seen the Macedonian DPmNE government slide further into some bizarre form of despotism which, as a matter of priority, has completely abandoned the Macedonian people.

[makedonin]

We are winning. We have the power to end this. Stop negotiating our own name

I like that, well said...

[MHRMI]

OMO “IILINDEN” PIRIN, AMHRC, MHRMI Welcome Visit of UN Expert to Bulgaria

OMO “IILINDEN” PIRIN, AMHRC, MHRMI WELCOME VISIT OF UNITED NATIONS INDEPENDENT EXPERT ON MINORITY ISSUES TO BULGARIA

7 July 2011
Blagoevgrad, Melbourne, and Toronto

OMO “Ilinden” PIRIN, the political party of the Macedonian minority in Bulgaria, the Australian Macedonian Human Rights Committee (AMHRC) and Macedonian Human Rights Movement International (MHRMI) welcome this week’s visit of the Independent Expert on Minority Issues, Gay McDougall, to Bulgaria.

Today, the Independent Expert met with representatives of the Macedonian minority in the country. The delegation comprised of: Stojko Stojkov, Co-President of OMO “Ilinden” PIRIN and Stahil Tupalski, Central Council Member of OMO “Ilinden” PIRIN; Stojan Gerasimov from the Society of Repressed Macedonians; and Georgi Hristov, the Chief Editor of the pro-Macedonian newspaper, Narodna Volja.

The meeting gave the Macedonian organisations the opportunity to provide the Independent Expert with a first hand, documented account of the problems facing the Macedonian population in Bulgaria. Many questions were asked by Ms McDougall who, according to the Macedonian representatives, demonstrated a good understanding of the issues facing the Macedonian minority.

On behalf of OMO “Ilinden” PIRIN, Stojko Stojkov presented the Independent Expert with a report on the status of the Macedonian minority in Bulgaria, as well as a document outlining the irregularities carried out in the recent census together with the text of the declaration issued by Macedonian organisations in Bulgaria in which they announce that they will not recognise the census results.

At present the Bulgarian state does not recognise the existence of a distinct Macedonian ethnic group and has actively pursued policies to suppress individuals and organisations expressing such an identity. One such organisation is OMO “Ilinden” PIRIN, a political party founded on 28 February 1998 and based in south-west Bulgaria, in the Pirin region. On 29 February 2000 the Bulgarian Constitutional Court declared the party unconstitutional and dissolved it. However in 2005 the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the ban was in violation of the European Convention on Human Rights and ordered the immediate re-registration of the party. Since that judgement, the party has tried on no less than three separate occasions to reconstitute itself, however all applications have been rejected by Bulgarian authorities. This denial of the right to freedom of association has been noted by the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee as well as several international human rights bodies such as the Council of Europe, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe and by the European Parliament.

AMHRC/MHRMI have consistently demanded that Bulgaria re-register OMO “Ilinden” PIRIN and recognise the Macedonian minority in the country. We have also repeatedly called on the international community to ensure that Bulgaria fulfils its human right commitments and in this connection, we hope that the visit of the Independent Expert will lead to a change in the policy of the Bulgarian government. Namely, Bulgaria must afford equal recognition to Macedonians, and other minorities, in accordance with international standards, such as the UN Declaration on the Rights of Person belonging to Minorities and the Council of Europe’s Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities.

At today’s meeting, the Macedonian minority organisations recommended, inter alia, to the Independent Expert that:

· Bulgaria officially recognise the existence of a distinct Macedonian identity, Macedonian language and grant full minority status to the Macedonians of Bulgaria.

· Bulgaria extends the legal scope of application of the Framework Convention for the Protection for National Minorities to also include the Macedonian minority.

· Bulgaria fully execute the judgement of the European Court of Human Rights in the case of OMO "Ilinden" PIRIN and Others against Bulgaria, judgment of 20/10/2005, final on 20/01/2006 and re-register OMO "Ilinden" PIRIN as required under the European Convention on Human Rights.

· The Bulgarian government forms an independent commission to investigate allegations of discrimination, harassment and persecution of members of the Macedonian minority in Bulgaria.

OMO “Ilinden” PIRIN, AMHRC and MHRMI demand that the Bulgarian government engage constructively with the UN Independent Expert and work with the Macedonian minority organizations to implement the recommendations which will be presented to the UN Human Rights Council by the end of the year.

###

OMO “Ilinden” PIRIN is a political party supporting the rights of the Macedonian minority in Bulgaria. It has been banned since 2000, despite a 2005 European Court of Human Rights Judgement ruling that the decision was a violation of the Euroepan Convention on Human Rights. For more information please visit www.omoilindenpirin.org.

Established in 1984 the Australian Macedonian Human Rights Committee (AMHRC) is a non governmental organisation that advocates before governments, international institutions and broader communities about combating discrimination and promoting basic human rights. Our aspiration is to ensure that Macedonian communities and other excluded groups throughout the world are recognised, respected and afforded equitable treatment. For more information please visit www.macedonianhr.org.au, or contact AMHRC by email [email protected] or via +61 3 93298960.

Macedonian Human Rights Movement International (MHRMI) has been active on human and national rights issues for Macedonians and other oppressed peoples since 1986. For more information: www.mhrmi.org, twitter.com/mhrmi, facebook, [email protected], 416-850-7125.

[Soldier of Macedon]

It is always great to see the Macedonians in Pirin and Bulgaria assert their right to self-determination given the racist policies in place which deny their existence. The continued support they receive from long-standing groups like AMHRC and MHRMI should come as no suprise, like usual, they are always there to carry the torch of the Macedonian struggle for human rights. But with regard to Gay McDougall, although exposure is always good, what positives were achieved after a similar mission was carried out in the Macedonian part of Greece? How effective was it?

[Grotius]

Thankfully there are people like Stojko willing to stand up for the Macedonians in that shithole. Can't wait to see McDougall's 'findings' and of course appropriate recommendations.

[Soldier of Macedon]

Grotius, do we know how influental McDougall's recommendations were after the visit to Greece? Did they have any sort of impact?

[Pelister]

Thankfully there are people like Stojko willing to stand up for the Macedonians in that shithole. Can't wait to see McDougall's 'findings' and of course appropriate recommendations.

I don't think the Macedonians there will ever give up. We are lucky to have them and we are lucky to have AMHRC and MHRI working with the Macedonians in Bulgarian occupied Macedonia. Grotius, I wanted to ask you was there any reason why you chose that name in particular?