Press Release | 9 July 2002 | UCCLA

The Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association (UCCLA) has called for an official Commission of Inquiry on Soviet and Communist War Criminals in Canada, and, if the evidence merits it, for the denaturalization and deportation of those who lied about their criminal activities upon entering Canada.

This request comes in light of recent evidence of individuals now living in Canada who were members of SMERSH, a Soviet formation responsible for the executions of Red Army soldiers and of thousands of anti-Communist civilians in eastern Europe. One of the most well known victims of SMERSH was Raoul Wallenberg, a Swedish diplomat who saved Hungarian Jews during the Second World War.

"We are calling on the Canadian government to determine how many of these alleged Soviet war criminals and collaborators are in Canada, how they came to be here, and why they continue to enjoy the privileges of Canadian citizenship," said Dr Lubomyr Luciuk, director of research for UCCLA. "We are also calling for their denaturalization and deportation, if the evidence warrants it. There are people in Canada today who have publicly admitted to having committed atrocities while serving with SMERSH and the murderous Soviet secret police, the NKVD. Some have even written books, in English, boasting of their roles in liquidating anti-Soviet Lithuanians and Ukrainians."

Canada's Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes Section has not taken any known action against alleged communist war criminals in Canada, despite several requests by UCCLA.

"UCCLA urges the federal government to establish a Commission of Inquiry on Soviet and Communist War Criminals in Canada. The ethnic, religious or racial origins, or the place or period when these persons may have committed crimes against humanity and war crimes, are irrelevant. They should be given exactly the same opportunity to explain their behaviour as were those accused of collaborating with the Nazi occupation in eastern Europe during the Second World War. Justice must not be selective."

For more information please contact:
Dr Lubomyr Luciuk, UCCLA, Director of Research
tel: (613) 546-8364
http://www.uccla.ca/