December 07, 2013

Dear Ms. Lauren Kleinman,

As the voice of the victims and witnesses of aggression against the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and genocide against its citizens, in the name of truth about the crimes against Bosnia and Herzegovina, and in the name of justice for the victims and witnesses of these crimes, Institute for Research of Genocide, Canada {IGC} is writing to you in regards to the upcoming showing of “Ravna Gora” at E Street Cinema on December 11, 2013.

Numerous relevant sources of different provenance reliably suggest the two initial and basic, essential fundamental assumptions and provisions for the contemporary events and episodes in the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina at the end of XX century:

First, a classic armed aggression was conducted against the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, that is, it was crime against peace and safety of mankind which is according to the basic understanding and definition an international armed conflict and

Second, the gravest crime – crime of genocide was committed in the occupied territory of the independent and universally recognized Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a member of the United Nations, as well as towns under siege, and against Bosniaks.

The International Criminal Tribunal at the Hague proved at least five times that the Bosnian war was not a ‘civil war’ but an international armed conflict involving Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia. Presently, there are four legal judgments in which genocide was proven to have happened in Bosnia and Herzegovina, other than Srebrenica.

The Bosnian Genocide was the brutal Serbian – Chetnik campaign in which Bosniaks were displaced, permanently removed from their ancestral land, innocent Bosniak civilians and soldiers killed. The Bosnian Genocide was characterized by the policy of systematic rapes of Bosniak women and girls, horrific and prolonged siege and shelling of Bosniak cities, starvation and terrorization of Bosniak population in the besieged enclaves and targeted destruction of Bosniak culture and history.

These are the crimes, created on the foundation of the fascist ideology, genocidal policies, great-state project, joint criminal enterprise, and nationalistic movement, aggressive and genocidal strategie. Such fascist ideology, policy and practice of genocidal character had one objective – formation of great-Serbian state on the account of independent and sovereign, historically permanent and clearly defined state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The objective of this ideologie, policie, and practice was the conquering war for territories, “living space”, occupying somebody else’s, and Bosnia and Herzegovina territory.

As victims and survivors of aggression on Republic of Bosni and Herzegovina and genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina, we are very alarmed that the respectable E Street Cinema will be showing this particular series because it deems to revise historical facts and is being used to glorify the Chetnik movement in the former Yugoslavia.

The Chetnik Ravna Gora Movement is a well known ideological movement, with the aim of spreading racist propaganda, ethnic hatred, and inciting terrorist activities against non-Serbs in former Yugoslavian states. Recent efforts to rehabilitate the Chetnik movement are especially evident through building of monuments to Draza Mihajlovic, a war criminal and general from the Second World War. The movement celebrates specific dates and acts of atrocities committed against the non-Serbs in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Throughout the Second World War, the Chetnik movement collaborated with the Axis, and the Chetniks ended up fighting the Partisans instead of the occupation forces, and started cooperating with the Axis in their struggle to destroy the resistance, receiving assistance from German forces.

On December 20, 1941, the Chetnik supreme commander at the time, Draza Mihajlovic issued instructions to his commanders. Some significant parts of those instructions include the following language:

•	The creation of Greater Yugoslavia, and within it Greater Serbia, ethnically clean within the borders of Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Srem, Banat, and Backa;

•	The cleansing of all national minorities and anti-state elements from state territory;

•	The creation of direct common borders between Serbia and Montenegro, as well as Serbia and Slovenia by cleansing the Bosniak population from Sandžak, and the Bosniak and Croat populations from Bosnia and Herzegovina;

•	The punishment of all Croats and Bosniaks;

•	The settlement of the areas cleansed of national minorities and anti-state elements by Serbs and Montenegrins (to be considered are poor, nationally patriotic, and honest families).

Out of 150,000 Bosniaks who lost their lives in World War II, some 100,000 were murdered by Chetniks.

The Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an internationally recognized state and member of the United Nations, had suffered heavy losses during the aggression 1991-1995: some 200,000 killed mainly Bosniaks, and a lot more wounded. Over 200,000 men, women and children were kept in several hundreds of concentration camps and prisons. Over 20,000 civilians did not survive these camps, over 20,000 women and girls systematically raped and over 2 million innocent civilians displaced. Emigration to third countries was the condition for a large number of survivors to stay alive at all. Around 1200 objects of sacral architecture were demolished or systematically destroyed.

During the 1990′s wars in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia, Serb paramilitaries often self-identified as Chetniks. Vojislav Šešelj’s Serbian Radical Party formed the White Eagles which was identified as Chetniks and committed numerous atrocities in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia. Many countries have banned their gathering and organizing. Moreover, and to our and the civilized world’s utter dismay, the above goals proclaimed by the Chetniks before and during World War II, were quite successfully completed by Serbian forces which ethnically cleansed parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina during their aggression from 1992-1995. You will agree that this situation is untenable.

IGC is warning that in the heart of Europe, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where the genocide and atrocities have been committed against Bosniaks, a Serbian neo-Nazi and fascist movement is gathering strength. We must not let this happen. As much as Bosniaks stood side by the side of the allies fighting Nazis during WWII and fighting the terrorist threat in Europe during recent years, so the western world and democracies, especially the United States of America must fight the rise of neo-fascist movements such as the Ravna Gora Chetnik. The United States of America and Europa owe it to Bosnia and Herzegovina, and especially to future generations, to prevent the falsifying of history and to ensure our civilized society is built on strong foundations.

The Chetniks - a Serb nationalist movement - infamous for using terror tactics against the non-Serb populations in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Balkans was responsible for aggression, genocide, ethnic cleansing of the non-Serb population and the ideology of creating a "Greater Serbia." This same ideology was adopted by Slobodan Milosevic, a war criminal and the former President of Serbia. The Balkan region saw a revival of the Chetnik movement during the 1990's Yugoslav wars where in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Currently, the region is still grappling with widespread genocide denial and this screening is an insult to the hundreds of thousands of innocent victims that lost their lives at the hands of such extremists and an insult to the survivors that to this day have not received proper justice.

As the voice of the victims and witnesses of aggression against the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and genocide against its citizens and a proud citizen of the United States of America and Canada, IGC asks you to cancel the showing of the series “Ravna Gora” at the E Street Cinema - a series that promotes nationalism, deems to revise history and glorifies the terrorist Chetnik movement. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Professor Emir Ramic

Director of the Institute for Research of Genocide, Canada