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All
30 editions of the Macedonian Human Rights Review (MHR Review) are now
available in the Pollitecon Free Ebooks Library. The MHR Review was
founded by the Australian Macedonian Human Rights Committee (AMHRC)
and as it grew most editions were published jointly by the AMHRC and
the Macedonian Human Rights Movement International. The Review was published
from December 2009 to July 2018. Former president of the AMHRC and MHR
Review editor, George Vlahov, said the 30 editions document all of the
AMHRC's achievements and activities from 2009 to 2018. The Reviews contains
many hundreds of human rights related articles by a wide range of Australian
and international writers, activists and academics. They record, analyze
and comment on politics and policies, court cases, reports and publications,
demonstrations, and other key human rights events in Greece, Bulgaria,
Albania, Macedonia, Australia and other places and by organizations
including the UN and EU. The 30 editions are 
The
book Macedonia 2013 - 100 Years After the Treaty of Bucharest is now
available in the Pollitecon Free Ebooks Library. The book was edited
by Dr Natasha Garrett and published by the United Macedonia Diaspora
to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Balkan Wars and the genocidal
conquest and division of Macedonia by Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia. The
488 page book is a collection of 32 papers by academics and writers
from Macedonia, United States, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Serbia and
Romania. The papers cover the Balkan Wars including event analyses and
war tactics; the Treaty of Bucharest and its repercussions and effects
in contemporary politics; and contemporary society and government in
the Republic of Macedonia. Among the papers are: The National, Cultural
and Physical Genocide Against the Macedonians (1913 – 2013), Macedonia
and the Macedonians in the Balkan Wars, The Impact of the Balkan Wars
on the Territory and Population in Macedonia, New Perspectives on Ilinden
Based on Greek and Turkish Archival Sources, The 1913 Bucharest Peace
Treaty and Genocidal Policies Towards the Macedonian Nation, and Minority
Rights in the Republic of Macedonia and the Rights of the Macedonian
Minorities in the Neighboring Countries, among many more papers. The
book is 
A
new book by Victor Sinadinoski, Defining the Macedonians: Western Perspectives
on the Macedonian Identity in the Early 20th Century, is also available
as a free ebook. The book looks at the effects of the propaganda campaigns
by Bulgaria, Greece and Serbia that used priests, teachers, and armed
bands to convince the Macedonians that they were really Bulgarian, Greek
or Serbian. Sinadinoski says that when Westerners arrived, they encountered
a people who had been subjected to propaganda and abuse, and they struggled
to understand why and how the Macedonians were being defined and labeled
in certain ways. The Westerners tried to paint a picture of the Macedonian
situation and many published books about their experiences and observations
which usually differed from the narratives by Macedonia's neighbours.
Sinadinoski explores these Western books and demonstrates that the vast
majority of impartial and objective visitors to Macedonia considered
the Macedonians to be a separate people. The Free ebook is 
In
2020 the Institute of National History in Macedonia published a collection
of papers to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the ending of the Greek
Civil War, and this is now available in the Pollitecon Free Ebooks Library.
Glasnik: Makedonija: Istorija, Jazik, Kultura - 70 Godini od Zavrshuvanjeto
na Gragjanskata Vojna vo Grcija (1949-2019)/ Messenger - Macedonia:
History, Language, Culture - 70 Years After the End of the Civil War
in Greece (1949-2019) has 10 papers that explore this theme. While most
of the papers are in Macedonian, the abstracts are also in English,
which is useful to alert readers to articles of interest. One paper
that is completely in English is Macedonian Women: the Struggles of
the Greek Civil War and 70 Years of Its Ending by Macedonian-Australian
Stefani Taskova Miteva. The paper discusses the different roles of Macedonian
women in the Civil War and the very difficult issue of sexual violence
against Macedonian women by Greek soldiers. She agrees with the academic
Riki Van Boeschoten that "we will most likely ‘never know how many women
were raped during the Greek Civil War'." The author says one of her
aims is to give Macedonian women a nuanced platform for their voice.
Glasnik is 
Author
Victor Sinadinoski says "The Macedonian Political Organization (MPO)
(presently known as the Macedonian Patriotic Organization) is perhaps
one of the most controversial Macedonian Diaspora organizations. On
one hand, its official stance has always been the realization of a ‘Macedonia
for the Macedonians'; its members and followers promote the Macedonian
culture; and they call themselves Macedonians. On the other hand, the
MPO leadership has often negated the existence of ethnic Macedonians
and a Macedonian language." Sinadinoski explores this conundrum in his
book The Uncomfortable Truth about the Macedonian Political Organization.
He says "most regular MPO members and function attendees knew little
or nothing about its leadership's ties to fascist Bulgaria. They were
repeatedly informed that the MPO was working for Macedonia's independence
and against other forces (such as Communists and the Serbian and Greek
governments) that sought to keep Macedonia divided." He says the book
"examines how the MPO walked the line between being ‘pro-Bulgarian'
and ‘pro-Macedonia'. The ebook is 
The
period of the Macedonian national resurgence that began in meaningful
form in the 1870s was extraordinarily burdensome and grueling, and "These
last four decades of Turkish rule in Macedonia can likely be categorized
as the bloodiest and most chaotic years of Macedonia's existence," says
Victor Sinadinoski in his book Anarchy in Macedonia - Life under the
Ottomans, 1878-1912. The book looks this period in detail under the
headings The Burden of Taxes, Systems of Injustice and Corruption, The
Crimes of the Turkish Army and Bashibazouks, Brigands and Bandits, and
Macedonia's Neighbors' Deadly Designs. "Unfortunately for the Macedonians,
even after the Turks were evicted as their landlords and executioners,
the ideals of liberty, justice, dignity and equality remained distant
and inaccessible," says Sinadinoski in this extensively researched work.
The ebook is 
Author
Victor Sinadinoski says "the Macedonian liberation movement is filled
with a bottomless trove of characters that make for a fascinating tale"
and many of these are explored in his book The Macedonian Resurrection
- The Story of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization. He
does this under the chapter headings Welcome to Macedonia, IMRO: For
the People, By the People, The Intrusion of SMAC [Supreme Macedonian-Adrianople
Committee], Financing the Revolution, 1903: They Year of the Uprising,
Macedonia Between Left and Right, Aleksandrov and a Divided Macedonia,
and Mihajlov's Reign and IMRO's Demise. The book tells the story of
the struggle for Macedonian independence through its revolutionaries
and their characters, plots and intrigues. It also looks at the pre-IMRO
revolutionaries and pre-Ilinden uprisings. The ebook is 
The
United Macedonian Diaspora's response to the United Nation's call for
a report on the implementation of its 2019 resolution to ensure the
realization of the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic,
Religious and Linguistic Minorities is now in the Pollitecon Free Elibrary.
The response is titled Eliminating ethnic, linguistic, and religious
discrimination of the Macedonian minority in Albania, Bulgaria, and
Greece to ensure the successful implementation of UN Resolution A/RES/74/165.
It looks at Macedonians as an Ethnic Minority, Macedonians as a Linguistic
Minority, Macedonians as a Religious Minority, and makes six key recommendations
to uphold their self-determination. "This report ultimately contends
that the UN Declaration serves to protect all human and minority rights,
it should thus not be any different for Macedonian minorities in Greece
and Bulgaria," it says. The report was written by Catherine Stallsmith,
Lauren Graves, Nick Ligosh, Mary Outow, Stefani Taskova Miteva, and
Vera Sekulovska. The report is 
The
Report by Thomas Hammarberg, Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council
of Europe, following his visit to Greece in December 2008 is now in
the Pollitecon Free Elibrary. The Commissioner reviewed the human rights
of minorities in Greece, and commented on many issues including those
of the Macedonians. He wrote "The European Commission against Racism
and Intolerance (ECRI), having noted that ‘representatives of the Macedonian
community have asked the authorities to recognize their right to self-identification,
as well as the existence of a Macedonian national minority', inter alia,
encouraged the authorities ‘to take further steps toward the recognition
of the freedom of association and expression of members of the Macedonian
and Turkish communities' in Greece." However, to this and other comments
about the Macedonians, the Greek authorities responded under the heading
"Claims on the existence of a so-called "Macedonian" minority in Greece"
and said "There is no ‘Macedonian' minority in Greece. In this regard,
Greece reiterates its position, that any recommendation by UN treaty
bodies and, a fortiori, by other monitoring mechanisms, on the protection
of rights of persons claiming to belong to a "minority" cannot determine
the existence of a minority group or impose on States an obligation
to officially recognize a group as a "minority"." The report is 
A
2012 Executive Summary titled Law Library of Congress: Greece - Status
of Minorities has been added to the Treaties and Legal Cases section
of the Pollitecon web site. In regard to the 'Macedonian Minority',
it says "Minorities exist as a matter of fact and not of law. This principle
was first established by the Permanent Court of International Justice
(PCIJ), the predecessor to the International Court of Justice and upheld
in subsequent court decisions, including those of the ECHR. Greece vehemently
denies that a distinct ethnic or linguistic minority exists within its
borders by the name "Macedonian." However, Greece does recognize an
individual's right to self-identification. Recognition of a "Macedonian
minority" entails complex political ramifications and Greece has refused
to do so, citing public security and public order. The applicants in
the case of Sidiropoulos and Others v. Greece, who established an association
called the Home of Macedonian Civilization, instituted legal proceedings
before the ECHR arguing for their right to self-identify as a "Macedonian
minority" and their right to form associations. The ECHR held that the
aims of the association to maintain its culture and traditions "were
perfectly clear and legitimate." It also dismissed Greece's arguments
and concluded that Greece violated the group's right of association
under article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Another
case involved Ouranio Toxo (Rainbow), a political party that resorted
to the ECHR alleging a violation of the right to association. The ECHR
ruled infavor of Ouranio Toxo." The Summary also says that United Nations
and Council of Europe bodies "have issued reports on the situation of
minorities in Greece, and have called on Greece to cease its restrictive
interpretation of the Treaty of Lausanne and to align its policy with
contemporary international and regional human rights treaties." The
Executive Summary is 
Although
it was written in 1991, the Helsinki Watch report Destroying Ethnic
Identity: Selective Persecution of Macedonians in Bulgaria is as relevant
today as it was then. It says: "In Bulgaria, there are estimated to
be more than one million citizens (out of a population of nine million)
whose ancestors inhabited Macedonia. Although many continue to live
in the Bulgarian Macedonian region, known as Pirin Macedonia, Bulgarians
with Macedonian ties live throughout the country. The ethnic identity
of these people is hotly debated. The official Bulgarian position is
that individuals of Macedonian ancestry who live within Bulgaria are
ethnic Bulgarians. However, a small proportion of these Bulgarian citizens
– perhaps several thousand – call themselves Macedonians and say that
they have a Macedonian consciousness. They claim that their number would
be much higher if the government did not repress their rights. The official
government position has created substantial human rights problems for
them. One Macedonian explained to Helsinki Watch: "I have suffered all
my life. I was in prison twice, fired from my job twelve times, not
allowed to have a private home, cannot practice my profession as a teacher,
and live knowing that my children have been fired from their jobs on
account of my activities." Another said: "For the past 45 years, Macedonians
have been assimilated." Members of two unofficial Bulgarian organizations
that defend the rights of Macedonians "have experienced numerous human
rights violations, including restrictions on petition gathering, inability
to hold a congress, confiscation of their passports, and intimidation
by State Security (the secret police). Their organizations have been
denied registration by Bulgarian courts." The Report is 
Human
Rights Abuses Against Macedonians in Greece in a 20 page report by the
Aegean Macedonian Association of Australia. The report discusses: -
Amnesty International Report- Greece: Violations Of The Right To Freedom
Of Expression - Summons For The Arrest Of Hristos Sideropoulos and Tasos
Boulis - Amnesty International Report- Violations Of The Right To Freedom
Of Expression: Further Cases Of Concern - Statement By Archimandrite
Nikodemos Tsarknias - Summons For Archimandrite Nikodemos Tsarknias
and Photios Tzelepis - Translation of a newspaper article containing
a "Top Secret" Information Bulletin Of The Greek Secret Service - Justice
For The Child Refugees - A classified report from the Office of Security
in Salonika, Service for National Security, Greek Ministry of Public
Order - Manifest For Macedonian Human Rights Although the Report was
published in 1993, it is still very relevant today. The report is 
The
book Macedonia and its Questions: Origins, Margins, Ruptures and Continuity
is a collection of 11 academic papers by leading scholars and is edited
by Victor Friedman, Goran Janev and George Vlahov. The papers cover
linguistics, political science, sociology, history and law. The book
challenges the idea that some nations and ethnicities in some way constitute
a "question" while others do not. In reviewing the book, Christina Kramer
from the University of Toronto says "the papers push back against the
notion of the Macedonian question, and instead posit a wide range of
questions that assume the legitimacy of Macedonia, its language, and
its history. By reframing the debate, the authors provide insight into
contemporary and historical issues recentred on the Macedonians themselves."
The authors are Grace Fielder, Dimitar Ljorovski Vamvakovski and Donche
Tasev, Victor Friedman, Jim Hlavac, Akis Gavrilidis, Andrew Rossos,
Katerina Kolozova, Stojko Stojkov, George Vasilev, Vasko Nastevski and
George Vlahov. The 378 page book is published by Peter Lang of Berlin
and is available 
A
reminder that Canadian Macedonian Books has a great selection of Macedonian
books in English from around the world. These include non-fiction, fiction,
children's and cook books. Canadian Macedonian Books is run by Virginia
Evans, a former co-president of the Canadian Macedonian Historical Society
and founder of the Macedonian Film Festival in Toronto. Canadian Macedonian
Books is
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