Macedonian Human Rights Movement of Canada

Press Release

August 28, 2003

For more information please see the Conference Invitation and Registration Form

In order to coordinate the activities of all Macedonian human rights organizations and activists, the Macedonian Human Rights Movement of Canada and the United Macedonians Organization of Canada, as defenders of the human rights of ethnic Macedonians living in Macedonia, the wider Balkan peninsula and throughout the world, initiated the First Macedonian World Human Rights Conference which was held 25-26 August 2001 in Skopje, the Republic of Macedonia. The second Conference was held 31 August 2002, in Kolarovo, Pirin part of Macedonia (Republic of Bulgaria). The goal of the first two conferences was to bring together the Macedonian human rights organizations and their activists from the Balkans so that they can learn about each other’s human rights conditions and chart a course of joint action towards securing the implementation of all international human rights standards in their given countries.

The purpose of this year’s conference is to inform the relevant international players, in order to find an integral solution to the Macedonian question, which, at the beginning of the last century (1912-1913) was the cause of a Balkan war. Besides aiming to internationalize the Macedonian question, this year’s Conference will be a success if it can answer the following question:

“When countries like Greece and Bulgaria simply do not recognize the existence of ethnic minorities within their borders, how is a minority supposed and expected to struggle to attain its minority rights?”

We also ask this question to the members of the international organizations, especially the international governmental organizations, who have instruments at their disposal that can enforce the implementation of the human and ethnic rights of oppressed minorities.

Conference Goals:

1. Presentation of the current level of respect for Macedonian human and national rights in Macedonia, the wider Balkan Peninsula where ethnic Macedonians live, as well as the Macedonian Diaspora;

2. Development of greater acquaintance with the international human rights agreements (dealing with ethnic, linguistic, cultural, religious and other rights) and the mechanisms that ensure their implementation;

3. Internationalization of the problems that Macedonians face, through the involvement at the Conference of international governmental organizations (UN, OSCE, Council of Europe, European Union, European Parliament) and non-governmental organizations (Helsinki committees, European Bureau of Lesser Used Languages, European Federation for National Minorities), government representatives of the Balkan states and representatives of influential countries (foreign diplomatic representatives in Athens, Salonika, Sofia, Skopje, Bitola, Tirana, Belgrade and Pristina);

4. Compilation of all presentations and papers at the Conference in printed form, in the English language, as a way of continued internationalization of the Macedonian question on the world scene.

For more information please see the Conference Invitation and Registration Form

Dragi Stojkovski
Macedonian Human Rights Movement of Canada
Address: P.O. Box 44532, 2376 Eglinton Ave. East, Toronto, Canada M1K 5K3
Tel: 416-493-9555 Fax: 416-412-3385
e-mail: mail@mhrmc.ca website: www.mhrmc.ca