July 10, 2013

The Honourable Peter Gordon MacKay

Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada

The Honourable John Baird

Minister of Foreign Affairs

The Honourable Chris Alexander

Minister of Citizenship and Immigration

All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Prevention of Genocide and Other Crimes Against Humanity

Canadian Parliament

Policy Centre for Victim Issues

Department of Justice Canada

Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Section

Department of Justice Canada

Respected Excellencies,

This letter is intended to inform and alert you regarding a serious case of a suspected war criminal living in Canada, who lied about his past and his role during the war of aggression on Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1990s. The suspected war criminal's name is Cedomir Kljajic, a former police inspector from Sarajevo, he was also an undersecretary for public security in Vrace and was the third person of authority in the so called Republic Srpska Ministry of Internal Affairs. According to the judgments of international and national courts this criminal organization was responsible for organizing and carrying out of much of the ethnic cleansing campaigns and genocides committed in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Especially in 1992 when 70% of all war crimes were committed against civilian population in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Republic Srpska Ministry of Internal Affairs was responsible for creating the Serbian Crisis Staffs which carried out the orders of Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic in murdering, raping, interring in camps and expelling the rest of the non-Serbian populations in territory they controlled. They were directly responsible for organizing most the war crimes committed against the civilian population of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Republic of Srpska Ministry of Internal Affairs was directly in control of the notorious camps of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Omarska, Keraterm, Trnopolje, Manjaca among numerous others. Mr. Kljajic no doubt played an integral role in establishing these policies and the reign of terror that followed. Mico Stanisic, Minister of Interior of the so-called Republika Srpska and Stojan Zupljanin head of the regional center of security services in Banja Luka, a member of the Crisis Staff and a presidential adviser of the so-called Republika Srpska Internal Affairs Department, were sentenced to 20 years by the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia for operating a joint criminal enterprise with the aim of eliminating Bosniaks in Bosanska Krajina.

Kljajic had a significant role in the creation and execution of policies relating to crimes of aggression and genocide, in relation to joint criminal enterprise.

In addition to lying to the Investigation at the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia, Kljaić lied to Canadian immigration and government about his role in the Bosnian conflict. As a witness at the trial of Radovan Karadzic, he changed his testimony stating that he practiced law for the last 10 years. The International and Canadian legal system must not for one moment tolerate lies of those who participated in a joint criminal enterprise which resulted in mass expulsion and genocide of Bosniaks. This destruction of entire ancient, indigenous, European peoples, Bosniaks took place at the end of the 20th century, in an era of democracy and protection of human rights and freedoms, in the heart of a united Europe.

Even if he has not been convicted or arrested for these crimes (yet) Canada must not be a safe harbor for suspected criminals of his kind who have been linked to some of the gravest crimes committed in the history of mankind. His participation in the aggression on Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and genocide against its citizens, his admission of lying on his application to come to Canada and the very real chance that his victims who were granted asylum in Canada and received the same status as their tormentor, makes it of utmost importance that Canada takes a hard line on him and anyone in the future found to be responsible or at the very least participants in such grave crimes against humanity at best, aggression and genocide at worst.

On behalf of the victims of the aggression against the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and genocide against its citizens, in the name of truth about these crimes and justice for the victims of these crimes please do not sully the reputation of the great Canadian nation by turning your backs and ignoring this war criminal and his crimes. Please do not victimize the victims one more time by allowing this man to remain free one day longer on Canadian soil.

Sincerely,

The signatories:

Professor Dr Francis A. Boyle

Professor of International Law at the University of Illinois College of Law and the General Agent for the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina with Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Powers before the International Court of Justice

Professor Dr David Pettigrew

Professor of Philosophy, Southern Connecticut State University, Steering Committee, Yale University Genocide Studies Program, International Team of Experts Institute for Research of Genocide, Canada, Board Member, Bosnian American Genocide Institute and Education Center, Chicago, IL, USA

Professor Dr Marko Attila Hoare

Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Kingston University, London

Chris Mathieu

Author and writer of Bosnia twenty years later, I love Bosnia

Professor Emir Ramic,

Chair of the Institute for Research of Genocide, Canada

Hamdija Custovic, M.Sc.

President of the Congress of North American Bosniaks

Sanja Seferovic-Drnovsek J.D, Med

Chair of the Bosnian American Genocide Institute and Education Center

Professor Dr Smail Cekic

Chair of the, Institute for Research of Crimes Against Humanity and International Law, University of Sarajevo

Professor Dr Mustafa Ceric

Grand Mufti Emeritus of Bosnia, President of World Bosniak Congress

Professor Dr Senadin Lavic

President, Bosniak Cultural Association, Sarajevo

Professor Dr Ferid Muhic

President of the Boshniaks Academy of Sciences and Arts

Professor Dr Admir Muratovic

Director of the Research Institute of crimes and genocide, University of Novi Pazar, Sandzak, Serbia

Bakira Hasecic

President of the Association Women Victims of War

Murat Tahirovic

President of the Associations of Victims and Witnesses of Genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina