ZAVNOBIH RESTORED THE STATEHOOD OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

The Institute for Research of Genocide of Canada (IGC) would like to recognize and commemorate Bosnian Statehood Day on November 25, 2011.
On 25th November 1943, in Varcar Vakuf (Mrkonjić Grad), at the Founding Assembly the State Antifascist Council of the National Liberation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ZAVNOBiH) was elected as the highest political representative of the (antifascist) Peoples Liberation movement in Bosnia and Herzegovina. ZAVNOBiH worked in its three sessions: 25-26 November 1943 in Mrkonjić Grad; 30 June, 1-2 July 1944 in Sanski Most, and 26-28 April 1945 in Sarajevo. The Presidency carried out its functions between the sessions, as the highest authority in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Establishment of ZAVNOBiH was initiated by the Conclusion of the First Session of AVNOJ (Antifascist Council of the Peoples Liberation of Yugoslavia), as the highest political authority of Peoples Liberation war, held on 26-27 November 1942 in Bihać, to establish national (state) antifascist councils of Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and its establishment by building the network of peoples liberation boards, which by that moment covered more than 2/3 of the BiH territory. By the Resolution of the AVNOJ Founding Assembly, it was announced that AVNOJ was established as the highest representative body, expression of unity in the combat for final liberation and the full freedom and equality. The Proclamation talked about “free national units” in the Yugoslav state, which specifically mentioned Bosnia and Herzegovina and three nations “Serbs, Croats, and Muslims”.
ZAVNOBiH and its activity, from 1943 to April 1945, is the most important event in the history of Bosnia and Herzegovina. With its Resolution at the Founding Assembly and the Proclamation to Peoples in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the night 25/26 November 1943, ZAVNOBiH, after 480 years, restored the statehood of Bosnia and Herzegovina, confirmed its historic and political and state-legal individuality and it established the federal Bosnia and Herzegovina (practically a state), which is the most relevant legacy of the antifascist war. This is a historic date – Day of statehood of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
By not wanting to go back and reaffirming the platform of the Peoples Liberation movement, ZAVNOBiH Resolution condemned the Government of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in exile and their cooperation with the aggressors,* and the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina denied every right of that Government and the King to represent them, and asked the Allies** to withhold any support to King and the Government, and expressed their will to rearrange the Yugoslavia as the state of equal nations and ethnicities and create a new democratic federative Yugoslavia, which will guarantee full equality to all its peoples, especially that the liberated Bosnia and Herzegovina become free and unified in which the full equality is guaranteed to Serbs, Muslims/Bosniacs, and Croats. On that occasion, it was stated that peoples in Bosnia and Herzegovina “wanted their country, which is neither Serb, nor Croat, nor Muslim but rather Serb and Croat and Muslim country, to be free and unified in which the full equality of Serbs, Muslims, and Croats will be secured”, and that peoples in Bosnia and Herzegovina will equally participate with other peoples in building of the federative Yugoslavia.

Declaration on the rights of citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina falls in the group of the highest degree documents in the world, preceded by three years Universal Declaration on Human Rights

At the Second ZAVNOBiH, 1 July 1944, the session adopted Declaration on the rights of citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which falls in the group of the highest degree documents in the world. Declaration from Sanski Most, preceded by three years Universal Declaration on Human Rights, and it was on the same level. Decisions and other documents adopted at the Second ZAVNOBiH session had far-reaching effect for the building of statehood of Bosnia and Herzegovina and further building of peoples authorities. ZAVNOBiH was established as the highest legislative and executive authority, the highest authority of the state authority, as the only representative of the peoples sovereignty. It was decided that ZAVNOBiH Presidency has executive powers. Second ZAVNOBiH session declared Bosnia and Herzegovina a federal unit in the Democratic Federative Yugoslavia. ZAVNOBiH authorities became the holders of the Bosnia and Herzegovina statehood.

Building of Bosnia and Herzegovina statehood, intensified after the Second ZAVNOBiH session, entered a higher level of organization in early 1945. The expedited development of Bosnia and Herzegovina as the federal unit within Democratic Federative Yugoslavia took place especially after the liberation of Sarajevo, 6 April 1945, where the main seat was of the ZAVNOBiH Presidency and other state authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina. At the Third, Sarajevo session, ZAVNOBiH grew into the Peoples Assembly of federal Bosnia and Herzegovina, as the highest legislative and representative authority of peoples in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and it established the Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as the highest executive and the commanding authority. With the establishment of Peoples Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Government of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the declaration of peoples boards, as territorial authorities, the federal Bosnia and Herzegovina got its full organization required for the peacetime living conditions.

ZAVNOBiH is a proof that the common living is not only possible but also logical in Bosnia and Herzegovina

ZAVNOBiH Resolution and the emerging of Bosnia and Herzegovina constitute key date in the recent history of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the basis which facilitates the complete independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina. ZAVNOBiH is a proof that the common living is not only possible but also logical in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and that their common state can only function for the good of all and as such it can provide good results. Thus, ZAVNOBiH as of 1943 is the most important date in our history, the date which confirms millennium long history of Bosnia and it serves as a model for the development of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which secures full equality and freedom to all its peoples. Independence of Bosnia and Herzegovina (1992) is only a logical consequence and the result of what the history of Bosnia and Herzegovina presented, and for what ZAVNOBiH secured essential political and constitutional prerequisites. The legacy of Peoples Liberation war and antifascist war in the WWII were important foundation of the defensive war 1992-1995 against fascism, aimed at preservation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Aggression against the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the genocide against Bosniacs are the essence of the joint criminal enterprise of Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia

Aggression against the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the genocide against Bosniacs are the essence of the joint criminal enterprise of the state Federal Republic of Yugoslavia – Serbia and Montenegro from September 1991 to the end of 1995, and the state of the Republic of Croatia, from the end of 1991 to the 18th March 1994, their state, military, and police
leaderships, their fifth column, collaborationists and mercenaries in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Intention of that criminal act was to conquer, divide and destroy the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina as the state – and “final solution” of the Muslim issues – extermination of Bosniacs or their downsizing to insignificant ethnic group. All the relevant sources confirm that prior to the aggression against the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the genocide against Bosniacs, there was a well designed intention to commit all these forms of crimes.
During the defensive war, the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina defended itself from brutal great-Serbian and great-Croatian aggression, which included as allies or collaborationists numerous members of all its three nations, to justify aggression and crimes, which is anyway the practice of all fascistic regimes. The defensive war was conducted primarily with the local forces and resources, in conditions of multifold stronger aggressor and in the situation when Bosnia and Herzegovina was imposed illegitimate arms embargo, imposed by UNSC upon the request of the Serbian leadership and Slobodan Milošević in person in 1991, though it was a recognized, independent state and a member of the UN, which practically prevented the state to defend its territorial integrity and safety of its citizens from the aggression and this right was guaranteed in the UN Charter.
In this unjust war, Europe, United Nations and international community risked the survival of Bosnia and Bosniacs with this arms embargo (UN admitted this mistake in their Report on the fall of Srebrenica dated 15 November 1999.). Even in those conditions, Bosniacs, using own forces and in unjust fight, while defending multiethnic Bosnia and Herzegovina and themselves from biological extermination, defended Europe and the world from fascism, giving in this way a huge contribution to combating this evil, which caused huge human and material losses to the world. Today, unfortunately, it is forgotten that Bosniacs defended the entire Bosnia and Herzegovina and the freedom of all its citizens, irrespective of their national, ethnic, religious or political background. Yet, they are proud of it.
Unfortunately, aggressor in cooperation with the collaborationists perpetrated grave violations of international humanitarian law against Bosniacs and Bosnia and Herzegovina, including genocide. Mass graves anyway testify of this, and they are identified almost every day, although the criminals tried to systematically destroy the traces of their crimes.
Bosniacs, thanks to the international independence and sovereignty and the courageous resistance of the patriots and antifascists stopped the aggression, defended and preserved Bosnia and Herzegovina and its multiethnic character. They survived biologically and became aware of its strength and historic role in fighting for its survival and sustainability of Bosnia. In conditions of the worst aggression, Bosniacs fought for the universal values: human rights and freedoms, democracy, multiethnic, multicultural and multi-religious society.

Dayton Accord rewarded the aggressors who destroyed Bosnia and Herzegovina and committed genocide against Bosniacs

Unfortunately, USA and the leading (West) European forces (Great Britain, France, Germany, and Russia), while manipulating the international politics and institutions, without adequate moral authority, were not ready to accept the fact on the genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is confirmed by the lack of political will to, due to the national, ethnic, and religious background of the genocide victims (Bosnian, European Muslims), timely, adequately, and efficiently react and stop the genocide; reduced and minimized the crime of genocide committed against the peaceful, unarmed, helpless Bosniacs, autochthones European nation.
They observed the crime indifferently and rewarded the Serbian aggression by dividing the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which pre se is almost a crime.
By the Dayton Accord, they rewarded the aggressors, their collaborationists and national-socialists, who destroyed Bosnia and Herzegovina and committed genocide against Bosniacs, unlike WWII when they defeated militarily the occupant armies and their collaborationists.
The Dayton Bosnia and Herzegovina is made of two entities –one of which is Republika Srpska or the Serb entity, genocidal creation of the great-Serbian Nazism, built on grave violations of the international humanitarian law, marked and soaked mainly in Bosniac blood, surrounded by numerous hidden mass graves and concentration camps in which legally operate fascistic organizations. This genocidal creation was legalized by the so-called international community as the constitutional category. Political leadership and other structures of the entity Republika Srpska, in accordance with the great-Serbian genocidal ideology, politics, and practice, conceal, minimize, relativize and deny the genocide against Bosniacs; permanently and continuously equalize genocide victims and the executors of crimes; deny historic, political, legal and the statehood continuity of Bosnia and Herzegovina; obstruct in all possible ways the strengthening of Bosnia and Herzegovina and they constantly pursue the secession and destruction of Bosnia and Herzegovina by denying the possibility of sustainability and development of the quality of common living and thus they undermine the universal human values, freedoms and rights, civilization and cultural legacy. The entity Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, whose foundation lies in the Washington Agreement (18 March 1994), basically functions as two separate entities, in one of which the forces of the collaborationist creation of Croatian Community of Herzeg-Bosnia fully operate, although its leadership is currently in trial (joint criminal enterprise) before the ICTY, and their political supporters together with the leadership of Republika Srpska, publicly advocate for such a criminal creation in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

IGC is dedicated to a unified Bosnia and Herzegovina

To enhance democracy and multi-ethnicity in Bosnia and Herzegovina, IGC is working tirelessly to educate the Canadian public about Bosnian history, heritage and tradition. IRGC has also initiated the Srebrenica Genocide Resolution and Srebrenica Genocide Bill in the Canadian Parliament. Proven through its history, Bosnia and Herzegovina has been a country of unity and tolerance, and a safe haven for multi-ethnicity. IGC is dedicated to such a unified Bosnia and Herzegovina. IGC call to unify and actively engage all the democratic forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina in maintaining and building of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a state of all its citizens and ethnicities. IGC call to unify and actively engage all the democratic forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina in maintaining and building of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a state of all its citizens and ethnicities. Coming from the fact that Bosnia and Herzegovina is not a state on the basis of Dayton, in spite of Dayton’s unconstitutional, illegal hoax, we should initiate for
1. A Sovereign, unified, and single state of Bosnia and Herzegovina based on the International Law and the UN Charter. They should demand for a civil state with three levels of government-federal, regional and municipal that is based on European standards of local self-governance, where regions are not states but rather they are a union of municipalities, based on geographic, transportation, economic and historical criteria, in which citizens of different ethnic backgrounds live.
2.Such a state should provide: the right to work, peace and prosperity for future generations to all loyal citizens and ethnic groups; equal rights and freedom in the whole territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina; the right for everyone to return to their hometowns; full membership in Euro-Atlantic integration; the protection of the natural beauty and resources of the country; the protection of individuals and families as the basis of a healthy and functioning society; respect for different opinions and protecting the interests of various ethnic and religious groups.
3. Bosnia and Herzegovina is a country for all its citizens who make up the Bosnian and Herzegovinian nation regardless of ethnicity, religion, race, gender and age
4. A Civil, open and free society, based on a universal concept of citizenship, where every person is an individual and the subject of public/social processes. In other words, Bosnian and Herzegovinian citizenship identity and status based on the International Law.

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Numerous relevant references were consulted during the drafting of this press release, including the Archive of the Institute for Research of Genocide of Canada, and
Prof. dr Smail Cekic: “Bosnia and Herzegovina – Historic Facts”, the Institute for Research of Crimes Against Humanity and International Law of the Sarajevo University,
Prof. dr. Omer Ibrahimagic: “Constitutional Development of Bosnia and Herzegovina”, a Short Survey, Faculty of Political Science, University of Sarajevo, Constitutional Development of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a Short Survey

Emir Ramic
Institute for Research of Genocide, Canada