Date: August 19, 1992
Author: Valentina Krčmar, Mothers for Peace – Bedem Ljubavi (Toronto Chapter)
Addressed to: Senator Al Gore, United States Senate, Washington, D.C.
View the Original Letter: krcmar book 2_Part29.pdf
About This Letter
This letter, sent to Senator Al Gore in August 1992, is one of Valentina Krčmar’s most scathing indictments of international hypocrisy and bureaucratic denial during the wars in Croatia and Bosnia. In it, she recounts months of failed attempts to alert world leaders and humanitarian institutions to the existence of concentration camps, long before they were publicly acknowledged.
Krčmar details her personal efforts: she hand-delivered documentation about the camps to Sir David Hannay on January 10, 1992, spoke directly with Cyrus Vance on January 17, and sent the same information to the Canadian Red Cross, Senator Robert Dole, and UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali by April of that year. Despite this, the world remained silent.
“No one did anything. The Red Cross claims that lives would be endangered if they had spoken. Dr. Boutros-Ghali denies knowing until June. It’s mind-boggling — and we Croatians believe this is a world cover-up.”
Her appeal to Senator Gore is not merely informational but moral — a plea for exposure and accountability.
“Our dead have no one to speak for them, if you don’t. Please expose them all.”
Krčmar copies the letter to ABC journalist Sam Donaldson, underscoring her awareness that truth often depends on the courage of the media as much as of politicians.
Attached is also a letter from the Office of the Prime Minister of Canada, acknowledging Mothers for Peace’s earlier correspondence to Brian Mulroney and forwarding their concerns to Barbara McDougall, Canada’s Secretary of State for External Affairs.
This correspondence exemplifies Krčmar’s relentless advocacy — confronting governments and global institutions alike for their failure to act, while demanding justice for victims whose suffering was hidden behind diplomatic language.
