Responding To: “LONGING FOR CIRCASSIA–A LAND WITHOUT HER PEOPLE”
By: Adel Bashqawi
4, February, 2015
The above mentioned article was posted on the “Internet” by its author “Afsheen Sharifzadeh” (https://borderlessblogger.wordpress.com/2014/12/10/circassia-a-land-without-a-people/), which has denoted several positive items in regard to the Circassian issues, but regrettably, it did not give the “Circassian Genocide” a proper concern!
The effort given to present this “information”, has intended to mention reliable sources to prove a point of view, but with all respect, it failed short of calling things with their proper names. The strange trend appeared by mentioning the expression of: “Ethnic Cleansing”, while insisting to relay a message that there was no “Genocide”, and even questioning the matter!
Resolution 260 (III) A of the U.N. General Assembly on 9, December, 1948. Entered into force: 12, January, 1951, describes Genocide as:
{Article II: In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:
(a) Killing members of the group;
(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;
(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.} (http://www.preventgenocide.org/law/convention/text.htm).
In addition to the mentioned above, the “article”:
1- Ignored Georgia’s recognition of the Circassian Genocide (http://www.eurasianet.org/node/63530), which was achieved (http://www.parliament.ge/files/1544_32742_536746_genocidi-en.pdf) after gathering information, documents, testimonies and facts.
2- Neglected Oliver Bullough’s book, “Let Our Fame Be Great”, which describes what happened to the Circassians by the Russian invaders, where an article in the “Independent” says: “Bullough takes us to a village near the Black Sea resort of Sochi where the Winter Olympics will be held in 2014, and observes that on this spot in 1864 the Russian army completed its genocide of the local Circassian tribe.” (http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/let-our-fame-be-great-by-oliver-bullough-1927476.html).
3- Overlooked Walter Richmond’s book: “The Circassian Genocide (Genocide, Political Violence, Human Rights)” (http://www.amazon.com/Circassian-Genocide-Political-Violence-Rights/dp/0813560675), which Walter Richmond gave the following briefing about the book and what is concludes: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64vqojH3lRc).
4- Apparently, reflected the fact, that documents in several languages were not considered, for standing orders issued by Russian political and military leadership that included evidence, and proves the policy of evacuating the Circassian citizens from their homeland, which presented the correct vision on how the Tsarist Russian Empire’s forces had dealt with, and how they treated Circassians when Circassia was invaded and eventually was entirely occupied.
The clear picture that is reflected in the documents shows details of occupation consequences that included but not limited to murder, genocide operations, destruction, intimidation, ill-treatment, displacement and deportation (http://www.circassian-genocide.com/).
The following article in the title of: “The Circassian Question” has mentioned many actualities of the different issues of the Circassian plight, and lists references of concern: (http://justicefornorthcaucasus.info/?p=1251672710).
