MHRMC Criticism of US State Department Report on Greece
From Bill Nicholov
April 7, 2003
Source: Macedonian Human Rights Movement of
Canada
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this page in Macedonian
The Macedonian Human Rights Movement of Canada (MHRMC)
is appalled by the US State Department’s continued misrepresentation
of the Macedonian
minority in Greece in its “Country Reports on Human Rights Practices
– 2002: Greece”. Despite numerous appeals by the MHRMC and other international
NGOs, (see the Greek
Helsinki Monitor’s press release of March 18, 2002) the US State
Department continues to make erroneous statements regarding this minority
in what can only be seen as an attempt to appease
Greek sensitivities to the Macedonian issue.
For example, when referring to the Macedonian minority, the US State
Department places the term Macedonian in quotation marks. This gives
the impression that the US State Department agrees with the official
Greek position that this minority is illegitimate. The Macedonian minority
and language are internationally recognized as such but the US State
Department questions its legitimacy throughout this report by referring
to it as “Slavo-Macedonian”, “Slavic dialect” and by making statements
such as:
“Northwestern Greece is home to an indeterminate number
of citizens who speak a Slavic dialect at home, particularly in Florina
province.
Estimates ranged widely, from under 10,000 to 50,000. A small number
identified themselves as belonging to a distinct ethnic group and asserted
their right to 'Macedonian' minority status."
Most estimates place the Macedonian minority at well over the numbers
stated above. Macedonians live throughout the region of Aegean Macedonia,
not just in the Lerin/Florina district. Furthermore, a large number
identify as ethnic Macedonians, not an insignificant segment of the
population as this report indicates.
The following statement gives the impression that the US State Department
is an apologist for the Greek government’s continued repression of
the Macedonian minority:
“The Government was concerned that members of the
'Macedonian' minority may have separatist aspirations. The Government’s
dispute with the
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia over that name heightened this
sensitivity.”
As the Greek Helsinki Monitor stated in its press release of 2002:
“[The US State Department report] does not mention though the repeated
denials of such allegations by all activists. In fact, as there has
never been even one such statement, the mere mention in the report
of the Greek government’s defamatory allegation cannot but do service
to the government. Such impression is strengthened by the absence of
any reference to the case of the non-registration of the Home of Macedonian
Civilization (and of the Rousali association), in both the 2000 and
2001 reports.”
The US State Department also chose to ignore the repeated cases of
ethnic Macedonians being denied entry into Greece, the continued persecution
of Macedonian priest, Father Nikodim Tsarknias, who was verbally attacked,
slandered and even arrested on live Greek television, the refusal to
register two Macedonian cultural organizations, and the general refusal
by Greek society to engage in any debate on the Macedonian issue, much
less its recognition.
Several local and international NGOs, including local Macedonian activists
in Greece, have repeatedly contacted the US State Department in order
to provide information about the human rights abuses suffered by the
Macedonian minority. The US State Department selectively chooses which
information to use which gives credit to the argument that its main
agenda is to pursue its own interests, not the achievement of human
rights for oppressed minorities. The Greek Helsinki Monitor ended its
2002 press release by stating:
“[The US State Department’s] attitude towards Macedonians in Greece,
as reflected in the annual reports, cannot therefore be considered
an oversight, or a result of lack of information; on the contrary it
is a sustained and deliberate policy of complacency towards Greek authorities
on the most sensitive human rights issue in Greece. Such complacency
is not shown towards Bulgarian authorities that have a similar sensitivity
for Macedonians, whose problems are mentioned in the relevant chapter.”
The MHRMC calls on the US State Department
to correct its past errors and issue an immediate press
release to rectify its erroneous statements
about the Macedonian minority in Greece.
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