Krónika, 1985 (11. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

1985-01-01 / 1. szám

Why Should We Demonstrate for Human Rights in Ottawa — in Hungarian 1985 The author is a Canadian born young man of Hungarian-Austrian origin. He was educated in Toronto. He is a staff writer at a magazine. His father sent him to visit Hungary when he was 19 years of age. In Debrecen he got along extremely well with his limited Hungarian vocabulary and made many friends there. Through his father he became aware of the many in­justices of the Hungarian minorities living in Transylvania and Czechoslovakia. He has learned a lot more of their problems while he stayed in Hungary. Ever since his return he became an active participant in Hungarian Human Rights issues. E cikk írója egy magyar-osztrák származású fiatalember. Torontóban nevelkedett. Jelenleg egy magazinnak a munkatársa. Az apja 19 éves korában elküldte Magyarországra látogatóba. Debrecenben nagyon jól megértette magát kevés nyelvtudásával és sok barátot szerzett ottani tartózkodása idején. Az apja oltotta belé a sok igazságtalanság tudatát, amelyek az Erdélyben és Csehszlovákiában élő magyar kisebbségeknek jutottak osztályrészül. — Ezek miatt az okok miatt lett a magyar emberi jogok érvényesítésének aktív munkása. “We are strong, numerous and we mean business.” Those were the words of Ignác Kazella, co-president of the American Hungarian Federation before the march in Washington May 31 to protest Romania’s mistreatment of Transylvanian Hungarians. Unfortunately — very unfortunetely — he was wrong. They were not strong because another major Hungarian-American group and a Canadian group did not support their march. They were not numerous because only 1000 Hungarians showed up. Not a large figure considering that in 1976 5000 Hungarians staged a similar protest in Washington. And finally, though they meant business, their efforts to push House Resolution 147 through Congress failed. (House Resolution 147 was designed to pressure U.S. President Ronald Reagan to discuss the Transylvanian crisis with Romania.) It was a tragic situation — a failure that should have been a success. Uncooperation like this must never happen again. Hungarians did not suffer through two world wars and a bloody revolution to end up fighting among themselves. Now we have a great opportunity to give Hungarians a better image and protect the millions of oppressed Hungarians in Transylvania and Slovakia. In May, the International Congress of Human Rights meets in Ottawa. Present will be all the major countries, including those from the Eastern Block. The Canadian branch of the Hungarian Human Rights Foundation — along with the support of its American counterpart headed by László Hamos — is organizing a massive dem­onstration in Ottawa outside the Czechoslovakian and Romanian embassies. But a demonstration by itself, despite perhaps looking very impressive, has little chance of changing the situa­tion. It will be simply used as a tool. Another tool being used is a collective petition addressed to Prime Minister Brian Mulroney about the problems facing Hungarians in Slovakia and Transylvania. This petition is being circulated across Canada. Other methods being used are: •Proposed legislation in the House of Commons asking the Canadian government to investigate the situation; •creating media awareness of the situation by sending press releases to newspapers, magazines, radio and TV stations; • asking Hungarian groups around the world to repeat our actions, thus causing a worldwide pressure. To our knowledge, this is the first concentrated world­wide pressure ever organized by an ethnic group. If suc­cessful, it could pave the way for other oppressed minorities. A flyer will be published and sent across the country in January outlining the details of the demonstration. In the meantime, all petitions must be handed back to the Hungarian Human Rights Foundation—Canadian Branch (2857 Derry Rd. East, Suite 606, Mississauga, Ont., L4T 1A6) by the end of January. In February, they will be handed to the government through a meeting with External Affairs Minister Joe Clark. The demonstration in Ottawa will take a day of your time. Signing the petition takes just a few seconds. These are two important tools to reach our goal — a fair deal for Hungarians in Romania and Czechoslovakia. Remember, for years people have been asking, “How can we help? How can we help?” Now you know. Hungarian Human Rights Foundation — Canadian Branch 1985. JANUÁR KRÓNIKA 7

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