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TITLE: MACEDONIA HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES, 1993
DATE: JANUARY 31, 1994
AUTHOR: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
MACEDONIA*
Macedonia, which became independent following the breakup of
the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, is a
parliamentary democracy. The Parliament was elected in free
and fair elections in 1990 and voted for Kiro Gligorov as
President in January 1991. The Government, a broad-based
coalition of Social Democrats, Socialists, Liberals, and ethnic
Albanians completed a year in power in September 1993. In
August Parliament began consideration of new electoral laws,
including a proposal for direct, popular election of the
president. Divisions, even within the coalition, however, have
delayed action on this and other important pieces of
legislation. New elections are scheduled for November 1994 at
the latest.
The Ministry of Interior oversees a security apparatus,
including uniformed police, border police, and the domestic and
foreign intelligence services. By law, the Ministry is under
the control of a civilian minister and the civilian
Government. A standing parliamentary commission oversees
operations. Charges of excessive use of force in connection
with the handling of an early 1993 demonstration and public
disturbances in late 1992 led to a formal parliamentary review
and debate.
Historically, Macedonia was the poorest of the former Yugoslav
republics. Its economy, based on agriculture, mining, and
light industry, was closely tied to those of the other
republics, especially Serbia. Conflict in the region and the
imposition of international sanctions against Serbia/
Montenegro, coupled with dislocations caused by the transition
to a market economy, have severely disrupted the economy.
Unemployment stands at approximately 36 percent, production has
fallen some 50 percent, and the Government estimates the cost
of sanctions to the Macedonian economy at $1.8 billion.
Fundamental human rights are provided for in the Constitution
and are generally respected, but there continue to be credible
reports of police abuse of detainees and prisoners.
* Macedonia has proclaimed independent statehood but has not
been formally recognized by the United States as a state.
There has been a dispute regarding the name under which it
should be recognized. We use "Macedonia" in this report
informally for convenience; its use is not intended to have
international or diplomatic significance.
Minorities, including Albanians, Turks, and Serbs, have raised
various credible allegations of human rights infringements and
discrimination at the hands of the ethnic Macedonian
population. Ethnic Macedonians predominate beyond their
apparent percentage of the population in civil administration,
education, the court system, the armed forces, and police.
Ethnic Albanians, who dispute official 1991 census figures that
credit them with 22 percent of the population, claim to
constitute at least one-third of the population. They hold far
fewer than 10 percent of positions in government employment and
are particularly underrepresented at senior levels. They also
charge economic discrimination and incommensurate political
rights, particularly inadequate representation in local
administration. They continue to demand increased
Albanian-language instruction, greater representation in public
sector jobs, and enhanced media access. In a positive
development, the Government reached agreement with
representatives of the Serbian community on similar issues.
Due to change in the leadership of the Serbian community, that
agreement has been called into question.
A striking example of interethnic tension occurred in a
February clash between ethnic Macedonians and Bosnian Muslim
refugees at a camp in Skopje in which a number of people were
injured (see Section 5). In June the Council for Interethnic
Relations was established. The Constitution assigns the
Council a broad range of responsibilities, including appraisal
of interethnic issues and recommendations of solutions, which
the Parliament is obliged to consider for implementation.
RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including
Freedom from:
a. Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing
There were no reports of political killings during 1993. An
Albanian national implicated in the "All-Albanian Army"
conspiracy, died while undergoing interrogation. Although the
autopsy reported the cause of death as a heart attack, credible
persistent rumors circulated that the heart attack may have
been caused by the stress associated with a beating. A
parliamentary commission that investigated the November 1992
riot in Skopje exonerated the police involved.
b. Disappearance
There were no reported disappearances in 1993.
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment
The Constitution prohibits such treatment and punishment.
Early in the year, a number of ethnic Albanian prisoners
claimed mistreatment was occurring at the Idrizovo prison near
Skopje. The monitoring mission of the Conference on Security
and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) investigated, and conditions
improved. Informed independent sources describe prison
mistreatment as rare. Government sources stated that 37 cases
brought against police officers for exceeding their authority
resulted in disciplinary action; 28 officers were fined and 9
were dismissed.
One of the ethnic Albanians arrested for alleged involvement in
a separatist plot claimed he was mistreated at first but not
after being transferred to Skopje.
On New Year's Day, ethnic Serbs clashed with Macedonian police
in a village with a Serbian majority, and Serbs charged that
police used excessive force. Macedonian authorities alleged
that a Serbian guard had provoked the police by hurling stones.
The indigenous Forum for Human Rights successfully intervened
with the Government to obtain separate detention for juvenile
offenders after receiving reports that juvenile detainees were
raped by adult inmates.
d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile
There were no confirmed reports of arbitrary arrest in 1993.
Some ethnic Albanians continued to report instances of
unprovoked harassment such as the June 25 detention of a number
of Albanians for approximately 4 hours. Police explained the
incident as a "sweep" for unregistered and illegal devices in
an apartment building. There appears to be little or no
systematic use of detention as a form of nonjudicial
punishment. Incommunicado detention is not practiced in
Macedonia.
The Constitution states that a person must be arraigned in
court within 24 hours of arrest and sets the maximum duration
of detention pending trial at 90 days. The accused must be
informed of his or her legal rights and of the reasons for
arrest and detention. The accused is entitled to contact a
lawyer at the time of arrest and to have a lawyer present
during police and court proceedings. The Constitution also
provides that a person illegally detained has the right to
compensation. Judges issue warrants at the request of
prosecutors. Practice generally appears to conform to the
law. Exile, internal or external, is not used as a form of
punishment.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial
Constitutionally, the courts are "autonomous and independent."
The court system is three-tiered: municipal, district, and the
Supreme Court. The Constitutional Court deals exclusively with
matters of constitutional interpretation. Although some
progress has been made in establishing the system envisioned
under the Constitution, parliamentary deadlock has stalled the
election of new judges and the implementation of the proposed
system. As such, the mandates of most, if not all, of the
country's judges, who were appointed prior to independence,
expired in 1992. Judges continued to exercise their judicial
authority pending legislative action on the judicial reform
program.
There were no known trials on purely political charges in 1993,
and no political prisoners are known to be held. The
Government said that the 10 political prisoners noted in the
Department of State's report for 1992 were released with a
finding that they had been improperly incarcerated.
The Constitutional Court has a mandate to protect the human
rights of citizens, but it has not yet taken any action in this
area. Parliament has not passed the necessary implementing law
to establish a people's ombudsman to defend citizens'
constitutional and legal rights.
f. Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or
Correspondence
The right to privacy of person, home, and correspondence is
provided in the Constitution. Although no instances of abuse
were substantiated, officials of the Internal Macedonian
Revolutionary Organization (VMRO) opposition party charged that
their telephones were tapped and the privacy of communications
not respected.
Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press
The Constitution forbids censorship and guarantees freedom of
speech, public access, public information, and freedom to
establish institutions for public information. These freedoms
are generally respected.
There are several daily newspapers in Skopje and numerous
weekly political and other publications. An Albanian and a
Turkish newspaper are also published nationally and are
directly subsidized by the Government. Other cities publish
their own dailies or have them printed in Skopje. Some critics
complain that the Government, through the powerful national
daily Nova Makedonija and affiliates, monopolizes local press
coverage. The Government's ability to present its views
through this influential medium has led to the criticism that
it manages the news. Nove Makedonija receives income from its
near monopoly on printing, rental space, and kiosks.
Macedonian Radio-Television (MRT) in Skopje, which is state
owned, transmits programs in the Macedonian, Rom, Turkish,
Albanian, Serbian, and Vlach languages. There are currently
three television and four radio stations under MRT's control.
In addition, there are several private radio and television
broadcasters throughout the country. Towards the end of the
year, a private radio station with an all-Albanian format
reportedly began broadcasting in Skopje. The Albanian minority
has complained of insufficient Albanian-language broadcasting
on state television, only some 5 hours per week. VMRO
complained of unequal access to the media. However, several
journalists claimed that VMRO does not understand that a free
press has editorial freedom.
There are no legal barriers to setting up independent media
outlets, although the country's difficult economic conditions
and the coalition's inability to pass required legislation to
facilitate the move to a market economy complicate such
initiatives.
Foreign books and publications are freely available,
principally in larger cities. Academic freedom appeared to be
respected despite the fact that the university relied upon the
Government for funding. Reportedly, there was no government
interference with professorial latitude in research or
publishing.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association
The Constitution provides for these rights. Groups and
political parties may not advocate the forcible overthrow of
the constitutional order, encourage the commission of military
aggression, or promote national, racial, or religious hatred or
intolerance. Advance notification for an assembly is required
to ensure adequate security, but such provisions do not appear
to have been abused.
Political parties and nongovernmental organizations are
required to register with the Interior Ministry in compliance
with a comprehensive political party registration law. Over 50
political parties and associations are registered, including
two major ethnic Albanian political parties, a political party
of Serbs, and a pro-Bulgarian party. An ethnic Albanian party
was denied registration. Although the denial was supposedly
based on the similarity of its proposed name to that of an
existing entity and because it was not an indigenous
organization, critics charged the denial constituted
harassment. In October the Ministry of Interior announced
plans to seek the deregistration of two parties for advocating
the "forcible change of the constitutional order and/or
promoting ethnic or religious intolerance." One of the parties
involved opposes independence and supports reintegration with
Yugoslavia. The other allegedly espouses the establishment of
a fundamentalist Islamic state.
c. Freedom of Religion
Freedom of religion is guaranteed, and there is no governmental
interference with the practice of religion. The dominant
faiths are Eastern Orthodox and Muslim, but many others are
active. Although the Macedonian Orthodox Church is
specifically named in the Constitution, it does not enjoy any
special legal status. That church and all other religious
communities and groups are separate from the State and equal
under the law. They are free to establish religious schools
and social and philanthropic organizations.
There is some sense among non-Orthodox believers that the
Orthodox Church benefits informally from its position as first
among equals. According to some observers, it appears easier
for the Orthodox than for the others to obtain prime property
for construction and building permits. In a positive
development, the "agreed minutes" negotiated between the
Government and representatives of the ethnic Serbian community
provided for treatment for the Serbian Orthodox Church equal to
with accorded to other faiths. Relations between the
Macedonian and Serbian Orthodox Churches were badly strained
because the latter does not recognize either Macedonia's
independence or the separateness of the Macedonian Orthodox
Church.
The Muslim community continued to complain over the placement
of crosses on the facades of public buildings in some towns, as
well as to criticize the reproduction on the national currency
of cultural monuments, such as churches with crosses. The
currency also portrays monuments from the period of Ottoman
rule on some denominations.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign
Travel, Emigration, and Repatriation
Citizens are permitted free movement within the country as well
as the right to leave and return. These rights may be
restricted for security, public health, and safety reasons.
In August the Government began requiring citizens of
Serbia/Montenegro to show a passport when seeking to enter
Macedonia. Previously, citizens of both countries could cross
the border on the basis of identity cards. Ethnic Albanians
criticized this change, claiming that the group most seriously
affected are Albanians from Kosovo, already pressured and
isolated within Serbia. Consequently, they considered it
discriminatory. The Government suggested it would consider
special arrangements to accommodate inhabitants of immediate
border areas, which would require the cooperation of the
Serbian authorities.
Macedonia has accepted a number of refugees from the crisis in
Bosnia. Since the summer of 1992, however, the Government has
restricted the entry of additional refugees, and it is openly
concerned that a rising refugee flow from Kosovo, in the event
of a crisis in that region, could destroy Macedonia's ethnic
identity and its fragile economy.
Section 3 Respect for Political Rights: The Right of Citizens
to Change Their Government
The citizens of Macedonia chose their Government in 1990 by
secret ballot in free, fair, multiparty, and multicandidate
elections. The parliamentary term is 4 years. The
Constitution allows citizens who are at least 18 years of age
to vote. There are no formal restrictions on the participation
of women in political activities. Approximately 3 percent of
the seats in Parliament are held by women. Although two women
serve as ministers in the coalition Government, most of the
senior government and party positions are held by men.
Albanians participated in the 1992 elections, and the major
ethnic Albanian political party is a member of the ruling
coalition. They hold about 20 percent of parliamentary seats
and have one deputy Prime Minister, a minister without
portfolio, and three ministerial posts in the Government.
A unicameral parliament of 120 members, called the Assembly,
governs the country. The Prime Minister, who is the Head of
Government, is the candidate of the party or parties that are
in the majority in the Assembly. The Prime Minister and the
other ministers do not have to be members of the Assembly. The
Prime Minister is appointed by the President and confirmed by
the Assembly. The Constitution provides for legislation by
initiative and referendum. Although the Assembly elected the
sitting President, current legislative proposals, when enacted,
will result in direct popular election of the Head of State.
In addition to being the Head of State, the President is also
the chairman of the Security Council and the commander in chief
of the armed forces.
The Government, formed in September 1992, is a broad-based
coalition that unites the Social Democratic Alliance, the
Liberal Party, the Party for Democratic Prosperity (Albanian),
and a number of other small parties. The Prime Minister,
Branko Crvenkovski, is a member of the Social Democratic
Alliance.
The main political party of the Roma is the Party for the
Complete Emancipation of Romanies in Macedonia (PSERM), which
claims 36,000 members and has local branches throughout the
country. Its president is also a member of the Macedonian
Parliament, representing the predominantly Romany town of Suto
Orizari, located on the outskirts of Skopje. PSERM was
instrumental in securing rights for the Roma and successfully
campaigned for Romany-language instruction in elementary
schools, the establishment of Romany studies at the university,
and daily television and radio news and current affairs
programs in Romany.
Section 4 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations
of Human Rights
Human rights groups and ethnic community representatives meet
frequently with foreign representatives without government
interference. The Forum for Human Rights was established in
1990 by a group predominantly made up of academics to propagate
a culture of respect for human rights. While their effort is
primarily educational, they work with the Government and
institutions to improve protection of human rights.
The Government did not oppose visits or investigations by
international human rights groups. It has cooperated fully
with the CSCE "spillover" monitor mission operating in Skopje.
The mediator on ethnic groups of the International Conference
on the Former Yugoslavia visited Macedonia frequently to
negotiate "agreed minutes" between the Serbs and the Government
and between the Albanians and the Government.
Section 5 Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion,
Disability, Language, or Social Status
Women
Women possess the same legal rights as men. Little is known of
the extent to which violence against women, including domestic
violence, occurs. Macedonian society, both in the Christian
and Muslim communities, is traditionally patriarchal, and the
advancement of women into nontraditional roles is still
limited. In 1993 a few fledgling women's advocacy or support
groups began to organize.
Children
Macedonia's commitment to children's rights and welfare is
limited by its resources. The State does have social welfare
programs to support children, but the current economic crisis
brought on by the sanctions against Serbia have rendered many
inoperative. For example, allowances to parents whose
employers have gone bankrupt are at least 5 months in arrears.
Despite the State's financial limitations, it undertook a
children's vaccination program in the spring of 1993 that
reportedly covered at least 95 percent of the country's
children. There is no pattern of societal abuse against
children.
National/Racial/Ethnic Minorities
The population of about 2.2 million is composed of a variety of
national and ethnic groups--Macedonians, Albanians, Turks,
Romas (Gypsies), Serbs, Greeks, and Vlachs (Aromanians). All
citizens are equal under the law. The Constitution provides
for the protection of the ethnic, cultural, linguistic, and
religious identity of minorities. However, ethnic tension and
suspicion are evident within the population, and popular
prejudices exist. The Government appears committed to a policy
of trying to address nationality concerns without provoking an
extremist, nationalist backlash.
Representatives of the Albanian community are the most vocal in
alleging discrimination. Expressing concern about
undercounting, the Albanian community refused to participate in
the 1991 census. As a result, there are no authoritative
figures on its percentage of the population. According to the
1981 census, Macedonians comprised 67 percent of the
population, Albanians 20 percent, Turks 5 percent, and Serbs 2
percent. Most observers estimate that Albanians now account
for at least 30 percent of the population, while some Albanians
claim 40 percent.
Albanians also boycotted the 1991 independence referendum
because of objections to several articles in the Constitution,
which referred to them as a minority rather than as a separate
national group. Much of the Macedonian population considers
the Albanian desire to be recognized as a nation responsible
for its own affairs, rather than as a minority, as an assault
on the unitary nature of the State and a step toward secession.
Albanians point out that there is a minimum amount of
Albanian-language broadcasts on state radio and television,
some 5 hours per week of television broadcasts. They contend
there is inadequate schooling in the Albanian language and
charge patterns of employment discrimination. Albanian
advocacy groups and political parties have specifically charged
that Albanians are underrepresented in both the military and
the police forces.
The Government has acknowledged underrepresentation in the
military and police, and the Ministries of Defense and Interior
have instituted moderate measures to respond to the imbalance,
including special competitions for midlevel positions open only
to members of ethnic minorities and quotas for the induction of
ethnic minorities into the military college and the police
academy. Following the most recent conscription, the army,
some 16,000 troops, is now 26.5-percent Albanian, and the
police, 7,000 strong, are to reach 15 percent within 2 years,
according to the Minister of Interior.
The State defends its record on access to television time. It
notes that one of the state-owned stations broadcasts
international programming which is either in English, French,
or German. The remaining stations carry programming not only
in Macedonian and Albanian but also in the languages of other
ethnic groups. On the question of Albanian education, the
State notes that primary and secondary education are provided,
as well as Albanian-language courses at the college level to
prepare primary and secondary schoolteachers.
Ethnic Turks, who comprise almost 5 percent of the population,
have complained of governmental, societal, and cultural
discrimination. Their main complaints concern insufficient
Turkish-language education, exclusion from Macedonian political
life, inadequate media access, and incommensurate representation
in the state bureaucracy. For instance, they cited an
inability to obtain primary and secondary education in Turkish
for their children, but in many cases the children did not
speak Turkish. The State has refused to offer instruction in a
language the children do not speak. Citizens have begun to
teach their children Turkish in the hopes of reversing the
decision.
In the past Serbs, who comprise 2 percent of the population,
have also complained of discrimination. The constitution at
the time of independence enumerated only substantial minority
groups. Sespite the fact that Serbian minority rights have
generally been observed, Serbs have demanded explicit
constitutional recognition as a guarantee that they would have
equal minority rights. An August 27 agreement between the
Government and the ethnic Serbian community provided the latter
equal rights with other minorities and specified an 18-month
time frame for amending the Constitution. After Serbia/
Montenegro criticized the agreement, a new Serbian leadership
emerged and abrogated the agreement.
Popularly held prejudices were manifested in mid-February
during a demonstration in the Gjorche Petrov suburb of Skopje
against the construction of a refugee camp for Bosnian Muslims
in the neighborhood. Police intervened to disperse
demonstrators, and in the ensuing Macedonian-Bosnian Muslim
melee 14 people, including 8 policemen, were injured.
Parliament investigated police actions in the incident and
exonerated the police of wrongdoing.
Roma comprise at least 3 percent of the population. and some
estimates put their percentage as high as 10. President
Gligorov has repeatedly and explicitly recognized Roma as full
and equal citizens. There is a commendable lack of tension
between the Romany population and the majority of Macedonian
Slavs. There has been progress on concrete issues. For
instance, educational issues are the paramount concern of the
Roma in Macedonia, and there are frequent contacts and open
communication between the Romany community and the Ministry of
Education. A Romany primer has been prepared and will be
printed shortly for use in schools. The Ministry and leading
Romany educational experts have prepared a Romany educational
program that would reportedly include 2 hours a week of
instruction in the Romany language in grades one through
eight. It is awaiting government approval. A 40,000-word
Macedonian-Romany dictionary is under preparation, using the
most widely spoken of the three main Romany dialects in the
country. MRT provides some daily programming in the Romany
language, offering instruction, news, and music.
The 13-member Council on Interethnic Relations, established in
1992 in accordance with the Constitution, is comprised of the
President of the Assembly and two representatives each from six
national and ethnic groups (Macedonians, Albanians, Turks,
Serbs, Roma, and Vlach). The Council has not yet, however,
demonstrated an ability to engage itself usefully in resolving
ethnic conflicts.
People with Disabilities
Social programs to meet the needs of the disabled exist in
Macedonia to the extent that government resources allow.
Discrimination on the basis of disability is illegal. So far
as is known, there is no law or regulation mandating
accessibility for disabled persons.
Section 6 Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association
The 1991 Constitution guarantees citizens the right to form
trade unions. There are restrictions on that right for
military personnel, police, and government workers. However,
the Government still has not enacted the required laws to
implement the constitutional guarantees.
The Council of Trade Unions of Macedonia (SSSM) is the labor
confederation that is the successor organization to the old
Communist labor confederation. It continues to maintain the
assets of the Communist group and remains the Government's main
negotiating partner. An active observer of labor issues has
termed it "independent of the Government and not associated
with any party." The Union of Independent and Autonomous Trade
Unions was formed in 1992. Perhaps as much as 80 percent of
Macedonia's work force is unionized, though this situation is a
result of the recent Socialist past. The absence of the
necessary legal framework, combined with difficult economic
conditions, have restricted labor activism.
The Constitution guarantees the right to strike. Strikes were
common in 1993 because of difficult economic conditions as a
result of the collapse of markets and limitations on access to
raw materials, further aggravated by the strengthening of
international sanctions against Serbia. During 1993 only one
strike was declared illegal, and that action is to be
challenged in the courts.
Trade unions are free to join international trade union
organizations.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively
The Constitution implicitly recognizes employees' right to
bargain collectively. Collective bargaining, however, is still
in its formative stages. Formerly, public employee official
unions, which encompassed the majority of unionized workers,
established so-called collective agreements with the
Government, which set minimum wages and various other
standards. How this system is to be amended is still not
resolved. As such, collective agreements are still common, and
they have virtually the status of law. Parliament has not yet
approved legislation defining collective bargaining rights or
prohibiting antiunion discrimination, but in practice, such
discrimination has not been observed.
There are no export processing zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor
Legal prohibitions against forced labor are effectively
enforced by the Ministries of Interior and Labor.
d. Minimum Age for Employment of Children
The constitutional minimum age for employment of children is
15. Younger children, however, are often observed peddling
items such as cigarettes, especially in the capital. Children
may not legally work nights nor earn more leave than adults.
They are permitted to work 42-hour weeks. Education is
compulsory through grade eight. The ministries of labor and
interior are responsible for enforcing laws regulating the
employment of children.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work
The minimum wage, set in March, is approximately $50 (denars
1,500) per month. Negotiations involving the Government,
employers, and labor organizations to increase this figure were
under way in 1993, but agreement is proving elusive due in part
to the serious economic conditions facing the country. Unions
demanded an increase to $67 (denars 2,000). By law, in light
of the fact that the average wage in July was denars 3,837, it
should be raised to $76 (denars 2,302). Even if raised to the
latter figure, however, the cost of living far exceeds the
minimum wage.
Yugoslavia had extensive laws concerning acceptable conditions
of work, including an official 42-hour workweek with a 24-hour
rest period and generous vacation and sick leave benefits.
Macedonia adopted many of these provisions, including
specifically the workweek and rest period.
The Constitution guarantees safe working conditions, temporary
disability compensation, and leave benefits. Although
Macedonia has laws and regulations on worker safety remaining
from the Yugoslav era, credible reports suggest they are not
strictly enforced. The Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare is
responsible for enforcing regulations pertaining to working
conditions.
[end of document]
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