A THREAT TO "STABILITY"

Human Rights Violations in Macedonia

Human Rights Watch/Helsinki
Human Rights Watch

Copyright © June 1996 by Human Rights Watch.
All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.
ISBN: 1-56432-170-3
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 96-77111
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This report was researched and written by Fred Abrahams, a consultant to Human Rights Watch/Helsinki. It is based primarily on a mission to Macedonia conducted in July and August 1995. During that time, Human Rights Watch/Helsinki spoke with dozens of people from all ethnic groups and political persuasions. Extensive interviews were conducted throughout the country with members of government, leaders of the ethnic communities, human rights activists, diplomats, journalists, lawyers, prison inmates and students. The report was edited by Jeri Laber, Senior Advisor to Human Rights Watch/Helsinki. Anne Kuper provided production assistance.

Human Rights Watch/Helsinki would like to thank the many people in Macedonia and elsewhere who assisted in the preparation of this report, especially those who took the time to read early drafts. Thanks also go to those members of the Macedonian government who helped by organizing a prison visit, providing information or granting lengthy interviews.



I. SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Macedonia faces difficulties on several fronts. As a former member of the Yugoslav federation, the young republic is in a transition from communism in which it must decentralize its economy, construct democratic institutions and revitalize its civil society. These tasks, demanding under any circumstances, have been made more difficult by Macedonia's proximity to the war in Bosnia. Bloody conflict in the former Yugoslavia has severely affected the country by exacerbating inter-ethnic tensions, damaging the economy and threatening stability in the region. United Nations forces have been deployed in Macedonia since 1992 to prevent a spill-over of the war.

Despite these obstacles, Macedonia has taken some important steps toward democratization since declaring its independence four and a half years ago. Substantive reform has opened the door to the European institutions and laid the foundation for a multi-party system based on the rule of law. Human rights are guaranteed in Macedonia's new constitution and most of the relevant legislation.

Nevertheless, some serious problems remain. Although human rights principles are encoded in Macedonian law, their application remains selective and incomplete. This is partially a result of political and economic pressures in the southern Balkans, as well as of the country's communist traditions. But at times, the current Macedonian government has been directly responsible for violating the rights of its citizens.

The main human rights problem is the status of national minorities. Macedonia has a vast number of minority groups, including Albanians, Turks, Roma, Serbs, Macedonian Muslims and Vlachs, all of whom complain of state discrimination. While some of their complaints are politically motivated, the Macedonian government has not done all that it could to provide the minority populations with their basic rights, especially regarding non-discriminatory treatment in state employment and minority language education. The government has addressed some of these problems during the past four years, but the lack of substantial improvement has contributed to a deterioration in inter-ethnic relations. By far the largest and most vocal of Macedonia's ethnic communities is the Albanians, who constitute almost one-quarter of the population, according to official statistics. Despite some improvements, Albanians are still grossly underrepresented in the police force and state administration, even in areas wherethey constitute a majority. A highly restrictive citizenship law has left stateless some ethnic Albanians with long-standing ties and family origins in the country.

A major complaint of the ethnic Albanians concerns higher education in the Albanian language. An attempt in early 1995 to open a private Albanian-language university was deemed illegal by the state and ordered shut down. The initiative continued nonetheless, and an Albanian man was killed when police clashed with Albanians on the first day of classes. The organizers of the university were imprisoned for a brief period after a trial that failed to meet international standards - the second such trial against a group of prominent ethnic Albanians in the past two years.

But minority groups are not the only victims. All citizens of Macedonia suffer from the country's weak democratic institutions, immature political parties and economic hardships. Despite the adoption of democratic legal standards, for example, there are still many violations of due process in Macedonian courts against all citizens regardless of their ethnicity. Defendants are sometimes held in detention for longer than the twenty-four hours allowed by Macedonian law, submitted to physical abuse, denied access to a lawyer or the right to a fair trial.

One fundamental problem is the slow pace of legislative reform. Despite constitutional guarantees, which set time limits for the revision of important legislation, many of Macedonia's laws still date from the communist era. The delay has negatively affected the development of Macedonia's judicial system.

The political opposition has also complained about mistreatment by the state, including phone-tapping and police harassment. The main opposition party VMRO-DPMNU boycotted the second round of parliamentary elections in 1994 to protest what it considered altered voting lists and an outdated electoral law. International monitors from the Council of Europe and European Union reported on these irregularities but declared that they had not been serious enough to invalidate the election.

Another problem in Macedonia involves freedom of the press. The state-run company Nova Makadonja still has a virtual monopoly on printing and distribution, which severely limits the possibilities for an independent press. In May 1995, the government closed eighty-eight private radio and television stations, especially some of the more influential minority stations, allegedly for technical reasons. After protests, most were allowed to broadcast again.

These human rights problems in Macedonia are intensified by the country's tenuous economic situation. The little industry that was based in Yugoslav Macedonia has mostly ground to a halt. United Nations sanctions against Yugoslavia, in force from May 1993 until December 1995, and an eighteen-month embargo imposed by Greece cost the economy an estimated U.S. $4 billion dollarsin lost revenue. This difficult economic situation places further strains on social relations within the country, especially between ethnic communities.

The international politics of the southern Balkans have also taken their toll on the young country. Macedonia's neighbors, known in Macedonia as "the four wolves," have exhibited behavior ranging from inhospitable to aggressive. Minority populations, irredentist movements and hostile neighboring governments all threaten the very sovereignty of the country. An active nationalist opposition at home further limits the government's maneuvering room

The international community has recognized these threats to Macedonia's stability. A United Nations Preventive Deployment Force (UNPREDEP) and an Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) monitoring mission are in Macedonia to observe and report on the internal and external threats to the country. In addition to U.N. patrols along the borders, both organizations attempt to assist the government with the process of democratization and occasionally mediate between various political forces, and especially ethnic communities.

The work of these two organizations reflects the international community's main policy goal in Macedonia: stability. Both the United States and Europe fear a spread of the war to Macedonia since the conflict could draw in Greece and possibly Turkey, both members of NATO, as well as Albania, Serbia and Bulgaria. In the name of stability, however, both the U.N. and the OSCE tend to defend the status quo in Macedonia and downplay human rights violations within the country. Only gentle criticism is directed against a friendly government that is seen as a stabilizing force.

Indeed, stability in Macedonia is critical for the Balkans. Already the starting point of two Balkan wars in this century, a war in Macedonia would have devastating effects for the region and beyond. But human rights are an integral part of establishing long-term stability. A lasting peace will only be secured when a democratic system is in place that guarantees full rights for all citizens.

Despite the difficult circumstances in which it finds itself, the Macedonian government is ultimately responsible to respect the fundamental human rights of all its citizens. Clearly, there are individuals within the government who are trying to achieve this. But there are still many instances in which the Macedonian government has not respected individual human rights, as is required by both Macedonian and international law.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Human Rights Watch/Helsinki calls on the government of Macedonia to:

· Guarantee all citizens the right to a fair trial. Macedonian law requires that defendants be informed of the reason for their arrest within forty-eight hours of their detention and have access to a lawyer.

· Expedite the process of legislative reform, as is required under the Macedonian constitution. Of particular need are new versions of the penal code and laws on civil, criminal and executive procedure.

· Investigate allegations of police abuse and improper treatment of those in detention. The government should prosecute to the fullest extent of the law all officials found to have used excessive force.

· Establish a permanent structure through which citizens may file complaints of police misconduct.

· Guarantee that prisoners' rights are respected in accordance with international law. This includes the right to be free from torture, cruel or inhuman treatment.

· Assure that members of minority groups are granted equal rights without discrimination, in accordance with Macedonian and international law.

· Respect the constitutional right of minority groups freely to express, foster and develop their identity and national attributes.

· Allow the formation of private educational institutions on all levels. This includes adopting the necessary laws and regulations for the accreditation of private schools.

· Adopt an affirmative action plan to recruit more minorities into government positions.

· Continue and expand programs to enlist police from among Macedonia's ethnic minorities.

· Guarantee that the Council on Inter-Ethnic Relations address the problems of national minorities in good faith. Parliament should consider all of the council's proposals, as is required by law.

· Adopt liberal criteria for citizenship applicants who lived in Macedonia and considered it their primary community while it was still part of the former Yugoslavia. The norms set out in the current citizenship law might more reasonably be applied to those citizenship applicants who have never resided in former Yugoslavia or were never citizens of the state.

· Assure that the Law on Citizenship is applied in a non-discriminatory manner. Avoid arbitrary deprivation or denial of citizenship and work actively to minimize statelessness in Macedonia.

· Provide a right of appeal for those denied citizenship by establishing an impartial, non-partisan and multi-ethnic review commission.

· Guarantee that diverse viewpoints are given appropriate access to the state-run media (publications of the Nova Makedonja company and the state-run television and radio).

· Pass a broadcast law to regulate the use of radio and television frequencies by private senders. Licences to private television and radio broadcasters should be distributed in a non-discriminatory manner without regard to political content. Private broadcasters should have access to the state's network of transmitters.

· In the absence of a law on radio broadcasting, the government should allow all private radio and television stations currently holding licences from the Ministry of Information to operate freely.

II. BACKGROUND

HISTORY

The term Macedonia refers to a large area of land that stretches today across four European countries. The heart of Alexander the Great's empire, Macedonia extended roughly from the highlands of Albania in the west to the mountains in central Bulgaria, and from southern Serbia and Kosovo to the Aegean Sea in Greece.

Following Alexander's death in 323 B.C., the region fell prey to a host of foreign invaders. The Romans, Byzantines and then the Slavs all occupied this strategic piece of land that offered control of the important Balkan trade routes, both East-West and North-South. Bulgarian and Serbian medieval empires controlled the region successively until the fourteenth century when it was absorbed into the Ottoman Empire, under whose control it remained for more than 500 years.

A Macedonian identity began to take form in the late nineteenth century, mostly among intellectuals. In 1903, a revolt against Ottoman forces led to the creation of the Republic of Krushevo, which was crushed after ten days. At the same time, Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia denied the existence of a Macedonian nation and laid claim to large portions of Macedonia. By 1890, all three were supporting guerrilla movements to gain control of the region.

The Turks were expelled from Macedonia after the Balkan Wars of 1912 and 1913, and the region was divided up among the three victorious states - Bulgaria, Serbia and Greece. Each state began aggressive campaigns to assimilate the populations within their respective territories.

During World War Two, Yugoslavia was occupied by the Germans, who granted large sections of what is now Macedonia to both the Bulgarians and the Albanians. Both were expelled in 1945 when the partisan leader Josip Broz Tito established the Socialist Republic of Macedonia as the southernmost part of the Yugoslav federation.

The official recognition of the Macedonian identity was a strategic move by Tito to integrate Macedonia into the new Yugoslavia. He purposefully fostered a distinct Macedonian language and culture to delegitimize the territorial claims of Macedonia's neighbors, as well as to differentiate Macedonians from Serbs, who he feared might dominate the new federation. As a result, Greeks and Bulgariansnow claim that the Macedonian identity is nothing more than an artificial communist creation.

The establishment of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia also left large Macedonian minorities in Greece, Bulgaria and, to a lesser extent, Albania. Both Bulgaria and Greece denied, and continue to deny, that any significant Macedonian minority exists in their countries. An estimated 40,000 (Greek government figure) to 250,000 (Macedonian government figure) ethnic Macedonians still live in Greece today and are denied their basic rights, such as freedom of expression and religion. Ethnic Macedonian refugees who fled northern Greece after the Greek Civil War of 1946-49, as well as their descendants who identify themselves as Macedonians, are denied permission to regain their citizenship or to visit northern Greece.1

During the communist period, Macedonia was the poorest of the six Yugoslav republics, contributing only 5-7 percent of the national gross domestic product.2 Landlocked and without significant natural resources, it relied heavily on transfers from Croatia and Slovenia, and economic cooperation with the other republics, especially Serbia. Remittances from Macedonians living abroad provided a major source of income to individual families.

The republic was, and still is, a multi-ethnic region inhabited by Macedonians, Albanians, Turks, Roma, Serbs, Macedonian Muslims and Vlachs, among others. The 1974 Yugoslav constitution granted minority groups some basic rights with regard to education, religion and language use. The Albanians, for example, had a university in Prishtina, the capital of Kosovo, and were allowed to speak Albanian in the local governments where they constituted a majority. But minority rights were by no means complete, and any political activism along ethnic lines was punishable by long-term imprisonment. Albanians, in particular, were severely punished for expressions of national identity.

Following the lead of Slovenia and Croatia, Macedonian citizens voted for independence from Yugoslavia in a national referendum on September 8, 1991. Only 72 percent of the registered voters took part in the referendum, but, of thosewho voted, 95 percent were in favor of independence.3 On November 11, 1991, the independent republic held its first multi-party elections. The nationalist party Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization - Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity (VMRO-DPMNU) won 37 of the 120 seats, and parliament elected Kiro Gligorov, a former member of the Yugoslav Presidency, as Macedonian President.

The first government, known as a non-party government of experts, fell to a vote of no-confidence in July 1992. As the political party with the most seats in parliament, VMRO-DPMNU was charged with assembling a new government. It failed in this task, and a new government was formed by a coalition called the Alliance of Macedonia made up of the Social Democratic Union (successors to the communists), Liberal Party and the (ethnic Albanian) Party for Democratic Prosperity. The coalition lacked a two-thirds majority, however, and was unable to proceed with fundamental reform. Ethnic Albanian and VMRO deputies often boycotted sessions, leaving parliament without a quorum.

Despite this, parliament did succeed in approving a new constitution that declared Macedonia a "sovereign and independent state, as well as a civil and democratic one." The twenty-five ethnic Albanian members of parliament abstained from the vote, claiming that certain articles were discriminatory against non-ethnic Macedonians in the country. Of particular concern to them was the constitution's preamble, which declares Macedonia "a national state of the Macedonian people," with "full equality" for other nationalities. Ethnic Albanians, as well as the other minority groups, saw this as the first step in the establishment of a Macedonian national state in which minority groups would be second-class citizens. For many ethnic Macedonians, the Albanians' abstentions called into question their loyalty to the young Macedonian state.

The second parliamentary elections, held in October 1994, helped the Alliance for Macedonia consolidate power, but not without controversy. Kiro Gligorov's party, the Social Democrats (SDS), gained a majority of the votes in the first round, while the opposition VMRO-DPMNU did worse than expected. Claiming electoral fraud, VMRO-DPMNU boycotted the second round of theelections and is not represented in the parliament today.4 Council of Europe monitors admitted that there were voting irregularities, but did not consider them serious enough to affect the outcome of the elections. After the second round of voting, the SDS secured 58 seats, the Liberal Party 29 and the PDP 10. With a clear two-thirds majority, the new coalition has been able to pass some key pieces of legislation, including a restructuring of the courts, education system and local government.

Much of the new government's energy has been directed toward earning international recognition for Macedonia. Despite meeting all the requirements outlined by the European Community, Macedonia was slow in gaining international recognition, due primarily to protests from Greece.5 In April 1993, Macedonia was accepted into the United Nations under the name "Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" (FYROM). After an accord signed with Greece in September 1995, Macedonia was accepted into the Council of Europe and Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and the United States established full diplomatic relations. The border with Greece was opened, and both sides have set up diplomatic representations.

On October 3, 1995, President Gligorov was seriously injured in a terrorist attack on a Skopje street. He returned to office three months later, but the assassination attempt underlined the country's tenuous stability. The government blamed an international company operating in a neighboring country, but has not named the people it considers responsible.

In February 1996 the ruling coalition split, primarily over differences on privatization policy. The SDS and PDP restructured the government without the participation of the Liberal Party.

DEMOGRAPHICS

Macedonia is a small, mountainous country with a population of about two million. The largest ethnic group is the Macedonians, although, like mostcountries in the Balkans, there is a large number of ethnic minorities. The precise size of Macedonia's ethnic communities is a matter of great debate. Throughout history, each group has tried to inflate its numbers to support territorial claims. Census figures have also been subject to political manipulation due to the complexity of Macedonia's ethnic make-up and the lability of national identity.

For example, Macedonian Muslims have historically been under pressure from various political forces to declare themselves as either ethnic Turks or Albanians. Human Rights Watch/Helsinki also encountered some individuals, mostly ethnic Roma, who declared themselves as ethnic Albanians or Macedonians to avoid discrimination.

In the past five years, there have been two censuses taken in Macedonia. The first, in 1991, was boycotted by ethnic Albanians, who claimed that it was discriminatory. As a result primarily of ethnic Albanian pressure, the international community funded and monitored a second census in 1994. The official results are:6

Macedonians 1,288,330 66.5%

Albanians 443,914 22.9%

Turks 77,252 4.00%

Roma 43,732 2.30%

Serbs 39,260 2.00%

Muslims - -

Bulgarians - -

Montenegrins - -

Croatians - -

Didn't state 1,962 0.10%

Yugoslavs - -

Unknown - -

Others 34,960 1.80%

TOTAL 1,936,877 100%

The European Union declared the census to be accurate and fair, but every ethnic group complained that it had been under-counted. One of the major concerns was that the census only counted those individuals who had Macedonian citizenship at the time. Since a highly restrictive citizenship law was passed in1992, many ethnic minorities with long-standing ties to Macedonia were left without citizenship. (See chapter on citizenship.)

Most ethnic Albanians and Turks live in the rural areas of the country's western and northern region, although there is also a large population of both groups in Skopje. Ethnic Serbs are predominantly in the north near the border with Serbia, while ethnic Roma are dispersed throughout the country in both the cities and rural areas, very often in isolated, ghetto-like areas. Macedonian Muslims live predominantly in the west.

While there are mixed neighborhoods in Skopje and even some multi-ethnic villages, the different ethnic communities mostly live separate lives, especially Albanians and Macedonians. Different schools, religions and work environments keep the ethnic communities apart from one another. Macedonia has been a place of peaceful co-habitation but has relatively little inter-ethnic communication. As the economic situation deteriorates and political lines harden, the communications gap is becoming larger, especially between Muslim Albanians and Orthodox Christian Macedonians.

ECONOMIC SITUATION

Already the poorest republic in the former Yugoslavia, Macedonia's economic status has further declined since its independence in 1991. This is partly a result of Macedonia's difficult transition to a market economy. The closure of inefficient state firms has hurt production and caused a sudden rise in unemployment, something largely unknown during communism.7 The government must also balance the budget, repay its foreign debt and restructure the antiquated banking system.

But it is the geopolitics of the southern Balkans that have had the most catastrophic effect on the country's economic development. First, the United Nations sanctions against Yugoslavia, imposed from mid-1992 until the end of 1995, cut Macedonia off from Serbia, previously its most important trading partner. Trading in violation of the sanctions was very common, but the flow of goods was still lower than the normal level of trade would have been with open borders.8

In the south, Greece imposed an embargo in April 1994 that lasted eighteen months to protest Macedonia's name, flag and articles in its constitution that, Greece claimed, implied territorial claims on the Greek province of the same name. On September 14, 1995, with the assistance of American mediators, Greece and Macedonia came to an interim agreement that involved a lifting of the embargo in return for a changing of the flag.9 The issue of the name remains to be resolved.

Despite this positive development, the embargo had already caused considerable damage to Macedonia by denying it access to the major port of the region, Thessoloniki. Greece's objections to Macedonia's name also delayed the country's entrance into major international organizations, such as the OSCE and Council of Europe. The lack of international recognition made it more difficult to obtain international credit and assistance from international monetary agencies like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. Altogether, the United Nations estimates that the embargo and sanctions cost Macedonia U.S. $4 billion in lost income.10

As a result of these conditions, economic production has dropped sharply. The government claims that gross social product per capita fell from U.S. $1,419 in 1987 to U.S. $720 in 1993. While it is in the government's interest to over-emphasize the effects of the embargo and sanctions, there is no question that the economy has deteriorated greatly during the past four years. Social tension has increased as a result, especially between the different ethnic communities.11

DOMESTIC POLITICS

Since establishing a two-thirds majority in parliament in 1994, the Alliance for Macedonia has initiated reform in a number of key areas, such as the judiciary and education. Its biggest challenge, however, has been balancing the many competing forces that exert pressure on Macedonia, both at home and abroad.

Of primary importance on the domestic scene has been maintaining a balance between Macedonian nationalists on the one side, and Albanian extremists on the other. Nationalist parties like VMRO-DPMNU have criticized the government for granting too many concessions to ethnic Albanians who they believe have intentions to break away from the state and form a greater Albania. Ethnic Albanians, however, complain that their condition continues to deteriorate. They place particular blame on the Albanian members of the ruling coalition, the Party for Democratic Prosperity, who many ethnic Albanians believe have betrayed the Albanian cause.

Nationalist attacks have also been directed against the government's policy toward Greece. The nationalists see the decision to change the national flag in return for an end to the Greek embargo as a Macedonian defeat. They took their complaint to the constitutional court, which ruled that the interim accord with Greece was constitutional.

In February 1996 the ruling coalition began to break apart. Disagreements over domestic policy, primarily privatization, led to the Liberal Party leaving the coalition. A new government was named comprised only of the SDS and PDP.

Since 1991, the government has also maintained very close ties to the west, especially the United States, which established full diplomatic relations with Macedonia after the recent agreement with Greece. Military cooperation between the two sides has increased steadily with Macedonia becoming a member of NATO's Partnership for Peace in November 1995.

In general, the political scene is afflicted with many of the post-communist traumas familiar throughout the region, such as irresponsible politicians and a poorly informed electorate. Political party structures are still weak, and politicians have a low level of accountability to the public. A weak media and nongovernmental sector hinder the free flow of information.

INTERNATIONAL POLITICS

The bi-polar politics of the Cold War effectively quelled centuries-old tensions in the southern Balkans. But the collapse of communism and the destruction of Yugoslavia have unleashed an array of conflicting forces, many of which threaten the stability and security of the young Macedonian state.

Relations with Albania

Macedonia's sizable Albanian minority is the main point of contention between Macedonia and Albania. Since coming to power in 1992, Albanian President Sali Berisha has voiced concern for the rights of ethnic Albanians in Macedonia, sometimes drawing criticism for interfering in Macedonia's internal affairs, but generally maintaining a moderate position.

The most controversial incident occurred in early 1994 when leaders of the ruling Democratic Party helped precipitate a split in the Party for Democratic Prosperity. Two factions emerged, and Berisha supported the more radical group while criticizing the remaining members of the PDP for collaborating with the Macedonian government. Berisha toned down his comments after heavy criticism from Skopje and, more importantly, from the United States.

In early 1995, the Tirana government expressed concern about the closing of the private Albanian-language university in Tetovo. The foreign ministry released strong statements in defense of the initiative, which prompted a Macedonian response that Albania was meddling in its domestic affairs.

At other times, however, relations between the two countries have been good. When Greece imposed the embargo, Albania opened up its port in Durres for Macedonian use. Albania was also one of the first countries to recognize Macedonia and, after initial objections, supported its entrance into the OSCE. In October 1994, Albania, Macedonia and Bulgaria signed an agreement on mutual cooperation which focused on trade and communications.

Relations with Greece

Relations with Greece have been highly strained since the day of Macedonia's independence. Greek objections to Macedonia centered on the choice of its name, which Greece believes implies territorial ambitions toward the Greek province also called Macedonia. In addition, Greece objected to Macedonia's flag, the Star of Vergina, which it considers an ancient Hellenic symbol, and to articles in Macedonia's constitution that call for the protection of all ethnic Macedonians outside the country's borders. Because of these objections, Greece blocked Macedonia's acceptance into international organizations and forced the use of thename "Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" (FYROM), which is how Macedonia is currently recognized at the United Nations and other international bodies.

In April 1994 Greece imposed an embargo on Macedonia that blocked all trade with the exception of humanitarian goods. The embargo was lifted on October 3, 1995, after Macedonia changed its flag. Macedonia had already amended is constitution to guarantee its respect for the inviolability of international borders and pledged not to interfere in the internal affairs of neighboring states. Shortly thereafter, Macedonia was accepted into the Council of Europe and the OSCE. As of April 1996, negotiations on the name of the country were continuing.

Another on-going dispute between the two countries involves the Macedonian minority living in Greece, some of whom identify themselves as Greek. The Greek government refuses to recognize that any minority populations are living in the country and refer to the Macedonians as "Slavo-phone Greeks." Increasingly, Macedonian human rights activists in Greece are calling for recognition as a minority and an end to discriminatory treatment along ethnic lines, particularly in the realm of education and employment.12 In addition, representatives of at least 80,000 Macedonians who fled Greece after the Greek civil war and are still not allowed back into the country, even to visit families or attend funerals, are asking Greece for an end to these restrictions.

Relations with Serbia

Macedonia is the only former Yugoslav republic to gain independence without bloodshed. In early 1992, the Yugoslav National Army (JNA), dominated by Serbia, withdrew peacefully from Macedonia, although it took with it every possible piece of military equipment.

Since then, relations have been tense but stable. Some nationalist Serbs regard Macedonia as South Serbia, and for a long time the Belgrade government refused to recognize the independent Macedonian state. Belgrade has also expressed concern for the Serb minority living in Macedonia, although it has not taken as aggressive a stance on this issue as it did in other parts of the former Yugoslavia. Many Macedonians are concerned nonetheless, since the status of Serb minorities in Croatia and Bosnia were used by Belgrade to incite war.

Since 1991 there have been a number of incidents along the common Macedonian-Serbian border, which was previously an unmarked internal boundary. Both sides have different interpretations of where the border really lies, and the U.N. has had to intervene on occasion to avoid possible conflict.

Relations between the two sides improved at the end of 1995 following the signing of the Dayton Accord on Bosnia. On April 8, 1996, the two countries signed a treaty of mutual recognition in which both sides agreed to "respect the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence" of its neighbor. The agreement infuriated the Greek government, which had maintained close ties with Serbia since the breakup of Yugoslavia.

Relations with Kosovo

The Macedonian government is very concerned about the situation in the predominantly Albanian region of Kosovo for a number of reasons.13 First, any open conflict between Albanians and Serbs is very likely to spill over into Macedonia, which would certainly affect the country's delicate ethnic balance. An influx of Albanian refugees could be used as a pretext for interventions by both Serbia and Albania.

Even without such a conflict, the fates of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo and Macedonia are intimately tied. Many leaders of the Albanian community in Macedonia were educated in Kosovo. At the very least, many Albanians in Macedonia are strongly supportive of the Kosovar Albanians' struggle against Serb oppression.

For many ethnic Macedonians, Serbia is a potential aggressor which threatens to destabilize the country. At the same time, there are some ethnic Macedonians who would like to see Macedonia rejoin a Yugoslav federation. Usually this is related to a common suspicion of Albanians, whom they believe are posing a "threat" in both Kosovo and Western Macedonia.

Relations with Bulgaria

Bulgaria was one of the first countries to recognize the Macedonian state, but it still refuses to recognize the Macedonian people. This is due to strong opinion in Bulgaria that the Macedonian identity was an artificial creation of Tito's. The Macedonian language, they claim, is a dialect of Bulgarian. The conflict hasprohibited the two countries from signing some declarations of cooperation because they were not able to agree on the language.

Despite this, there has been some cooperation between the two countries, especially during and after the Greek embargo. In general, the Bulgarian government has taken a moderate stance toward the young state. Still, there are some political forces in Bulgaria with irredentist aspirations. Their desires find some support among a small sector of pro-Bulgarians in Macedonia.

Relations with the International Community

Since declaring its independence, Macedonia has continuously struggled for international recognition, impeded mostly by barriers imposed by Greece. Acceptance into the major international institutions was blocked until Greece's complaints had been addressed.

In late 1991, the European Community (EC) announced the conditions under which it would recognize the newly independent countries of the former Yugoslavia. These included the new state's promise to respect minority rights, relinquish territorial claims and assure that it would not engage in hostile acts against another state.14

In early 1993, the EC announced that, of the four former Yugoslav republics seeking recognition, only Macedonia and Slovenia fulfilled all of the requirements. Despite this, on January 15, 1993, the EC extended formal recognition only to Slovenia and Croatia. Bosnia-Hercegovina was recognized three months later.

Macedonia was recognized in May 1993, but under the name "Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" (FYROM). A similar arrangement had been made the previous month with the United Nations.

Since then, better relations with Greece have opened the door to the international community. Following the Macedonian-Greek interim accord on October 3, 1995, Macedonia was admitted into the Council of Europe, OSCE and the Partnership for Peace. Today, the country cooperates with all of these institutions on a variety of levels.

III. MINORITY RIGHTS

Since 1991, the Macedonian government has taken some steps to guarantee the rights of the country's ethnic groups. Minority groups may be educated on the primary and secondary level in their native language and, according to a new law on local government, minority languages are used together with Macedonian in municipalities with a minority population greater than 50 percent.15

Despite these achievements, non-ethnic Macedonians are still discriminated against in some key areas, such as state employment and education. While the government has addressed some of these problems in recent years, the lack of improvement in many areas has contributed to a deterioration in inter-ethnic relations.

The fundamental question is whether Macedonia will become a national or civic state, that is, a state dominated by ethnic Macedonians - as is the trend in the Balkans today - or a state for all citizens regardless of ethnicity. The new constitution has been criticized by Macedonia's different ethnic groups for promoting the former. Its controversial preamble states that:

...Macedonia is established as a national state of the Macedonian people, in which full equality as citizens and permanent co-existence with the Macedonian people is provided for Albanians, Turks, Vlachs, Romanies and other nationalities living in the Republic of Macedonia.16

For non-ethnic Macedonians, this formulation is an indication of the ethnic Macedonians' attempt to create their own state in which non-ethnic Macedonians will be second-class citizens. They view the preamble as an inherent contradiction to other parts of the constitution which proclaim Macedonia as a civic and democratic state that guarantees "human rights, citizens' freedoms and ethnic equality."17

Arben Xhaferi, leader of the Albanian Party for Democratic Prosperity, told Human Rights Watch/Helsinki:

A state that was a common state for Albanians, Macedonians and others has become a Macedonian state. You may notice this everywhere. The television is "Macedonian TV." It's not "TV of Macedonia," but with a predicate. Everything in this country is being identified with this predicate "Macedonian."18

But the Macedonian government and its supporters counter that they are committed to establishing a multi-ethnic, civic state. In no other country in the Balkans, they argue, do minorities enjoy the degree of rights they have in Macedonia. The complaints of discrimination, especially by the Albanians, are seen as a sign of disloyalty to the state. At best, many ethnic Macedonians say, Albanians wish to destabilize the country; at worst, to secede from it.

The world community's delayed recognition of Macedonia has also exacerbated inter-ethnic relations. The ethnic Albanians' demand for increased autonomy and federalization is viewed as an existential threat by most ethnic Macedonians who are hungry for recognition by the world. For Macedonians, national unity is critical as they struggle to assert their national identity on the world market. Instead of complying, however, most Albanians take great pleasure in using the term "FYROM" - Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia - the name under which the country is formally recognized at international bodies.

Indeed, the question of minority rights in Macedonia is dangerously complex. Many of the fine points of debate are political manipulations by both sides. While many of the ethnic communities' complaints are valid, some are exaggerations and misrepresentations. Nevertheless, it is the responsibility of theMacedonian government, under both domestic and international law, to grant full respect for minority rights and avoid discrimination along ethnic lines.

LEGAL GUARANTEES

Domestic Law

The Macedonian constitution grants all citizens their fundamental rights and freedoms, including freedom of expression, religion, assembly and speech. Article 9 of the constitution states:

Citizens of the Republic of Macedonia are equal in their freedoms and rights, regardless of sex, race, colour of skin, national and social origin, political and religious beliefs, property and social status.

All citizens are equal before the constitution.

Article 48 specifically addresses the rights of the country's nationalities. It states:

Members of nationalities have a right freely to express, foster and develop their identity and national attributes.

The Republic guarantees the protection of the ethnic, cultural, linguistic and religious identity of the nationalities.

Members of the nationalities have the right to establish institutions for culture and art, as well as scholarly and other associations for the expression, fostering and development of their identity.

Paragraph 4 of Article 48 deals with education in the languages of minorities. It states:

Members of the nationalities have the right to instruction in their language in primary and secondary education, as determined by law. In schools where education is carried out in the language of a nationality, the Macedonian language is also studied.

Article 8 of the constitution pledges Macedonia to abide by the generally accepted norms of international law.

International Law

International law protects the right of individuals who belong to an ethnic or national minority to express, preserve, and develop their cultural traditions:

In those States in which ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities exist, persons belonging to such minorities shall not be denied the right, in community with the other members of their group, to enjoy their own culture, to profess and practice their own religion, or to use their own language. [International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1976), Article 27.]19

To belong to a national minority is a matter of a person's individual choice and no disadvantage may arise from the exercise of such choice. Persons belonging to national minorities have the right freely to express, preserve and develop their ethnic, cultural, linguistic or religious identity and to maintain and develop their culture in all its aspects, free of any attempts at assimilation against their will. [Document of the Copenhagen Meeting of the Conference on the Human Dimension of the CSCE (1990), Paragraph 32.]20

The participating States...reaffirm that respect for the rights of persons belonging to national minorities as part of universally recognized human rights is an essential factor for peace, justice,stability and democracy in the participating States. [Document of the Copenhagen Meeting of the Conference on the Human Dimension of the CSCE, Paragraph 30.]

International law prohibits states from discriminating on the basis of ethnic or national identity, and requires states to take positive measures to prevent discrimination on these grounds:

All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. [Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), Article 7.]

All persons are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to the equal protection of the law. In this respect, the law shall prohibit any discrimination and guarantee to all persons equal and effective protection against discrimination on any ground such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. [International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 26.]

The participating States will adopt, where necessary, special measures for the purpose of ensuring to persons belonging to national minorities full equality with the other citizens in the exercise and enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms. [Document of the Copenhagen Meeting of the Conference on the Human Dimension of the CSCE, Paragraph 31.]

The participating States...commit themselves to take appropriate and proportionate measures to protect persons or groups who may be subject to threats or acts of discrimination, hostility or violence as a result of their racial, ethnic, cultural, linguistic or religious identity, and to protect their property.... [Document of the Copenhagen Meeting of the Conference on the Human Dimension of the CSCE, Paragraph 40.2.]

International law protects freedom of association, including political association:

Everyone has the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and association. [Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 20.]

[T]he participating States will...respect the right of individuals and groups to establish, in full freedom, their own political parties or other political organizations and provide such political parties and organizations with the necessary legal guarantees to enable them to compete with each other on a basis of equal treatment before the law and by the authorities.... [Document of the Copenhagen Meeting of the Conference on the Human Dimension of the CSCE, Paragraph 7.6.]

The participating States reaffirm that...the right of association will be guaranteed....[This right] will exclude any prior control. [Document of the Copenhagen Meeting of the Conference on the Human Dimension of the CSCE, Paragraph 9.3.]

Every citizen shall have the right and the opportunity [without distinction of any kind, such as race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status]...and without unreasonable restrictions: (a) To take part in the conduct of public affairs, directly or through freely chosen representatives.... [International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 25.]

International law allows parents the right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children:

Everyone has the right to education....Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit....Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children. [Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 26.]21

International law allows states to take special measures (i.e., "affirmative action"), for a limited period of time, to ensure members of all ethnic groups the equal enjoyment and exercise of human rights and fundamental freedoms:

Special measures taken for the sole purpose of securing adequate advancement of certain racial or ethnic groups or individuals requiring such protection as may be necessary in order to ensure such groups or individuals equal enjoyment or exercise of human rights and fundamental freedoms shall not be deemed racial discrimination, provided, however, that such measures do not, as a consequence, lead to the maintenance of separate rights for different racial groups and that they shall not be continued after the objectives for which they were taken have been achieved. [International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (1969), Article 1.]

THE COUNCIL ON INTER-ETHNIC RELATIONS

Article 78 of the Macedonian constitution mandates the creation of a Council on Inter-Ethnic Relations. The council consists of the president of parliament and two members from each of the country's main ethnic groups: Macedonians, Albanians, Turks, Vlachs and Roma, as well as two members from each of the other nationalities. Members of the council are elected by parliament.

The council's task is to consider issues affecting the relationship between the country's many ethnic communities. It makes suggestions directly to the parliament, which, according to the constitution, "is obliged to take into consideration the appraisals and proposals of the council and to make decisions regarding them."22

Since its formation in 1992, however, the council has not played an active role in promoting inter-ethnic dialogue and harmony. Leaders of the ethnic communities complain that they, not parliament, should elect their representatives. In addition, the council's discussions have not had any substantial bearing on parliamentary debate. Erdogan Saraç, president of the Democratic Party of Turks, told Human Rights Watch/Helsinki:

The council has no authority. It only exists theoretically for the outside world as an example of democratic action. Because it has no authorization for decision-making, they can only suggest.23

On occasion, the council has made recommendations to the parliament that were ignored. For example, the council suggested that Serbs be included in the constitution as a minority population, but parliament never considered the proposal. In September 1995, the Serb representative on the council, Bosko Despotovic, resigned in protest.

In a letter to then Minister of Foreign Affairs Stevo Crvenkovski, OSCE High Commissioner for National Minorities Max van der Stoel expressed his concern that the council had not "played an active role since its inauguration." He added:

Regular discussion in the Council can help not only to identify questions of concern to the various nationalities, but also to remove misunderstandings and mutual suspicions. Against this background, it would also be helpful if legislation relevant to the position of the various nationalities were discussed in the council prior to its submission to parliament.24

THE ALBANIAN MINORITY

Background

According to the Yugoslav constitution of 1974, ethnic Albanians were considered a constituent nation. In Macedonia, the Albanian language was spoken in local governments where ethnic Albanians constituted a sizable portion of the population. The predominantly Albanian region of Kosovo - now controlled by Serbia - was an autonomous region with its own local parliament and an Albanian-language university in the capital, Prishtina. Despite this, open expressions of Albanian national identity were not tolerated by the state.

The position of ethnic Albanians in Yugoslavia began to deteriorate in the early 1980s. Albanians were increasingly purged from the communist party, state institutions and many state-run firms. Student demonstrations at the university in Prishtina led to police crack-downs and more severe political repression.

The rights of ethnic Albanians deteriorated sharply with the rise of Slobodon Milo_evi_ to power. With communism failing, Milo_evi_ fostered a growing sense of Serb nationalism, directed primarily against ethnic Albanians. In 1989 Kosovo lost its status as an autonomous region within Yugoslavia. All Albanian institutions were closed, including the parliament and university, and today Albanians in Kosovo are dominated by a violent police state run by Serbs.

In Macedonia, the situation is nowhere near as tragic. But, having been one country up until 1991, the denial of basic rights for ethnic Albanians in Kosovo has a strong impact on the ethnic Albanians in Macedonia. In practical terms, for example, Albanians in Macedonia no longer have an Albanian-language university in Kosovo to attend. In addition, Serb oppression is often viewed as a Slav Orthodox attack against the mostly Muslim Albanian population.

Since 1991, the ethnic Albanians in Macedonia have viewed their new state with suspicion. The Albanian members of Macedonia's parliament boycotted the vote on independence in 1991 and asked their constituents not to participate in the 1992 census. Albanian MPs also did not vote on the new Macedonian constitution in 1991 due to what they claimed was its Macedonian national character.

The major complaint of the Albanian minority is that they are considered a "minority group" in the constitution rather than a "constituent nation" as they were in the 1974 Yugoslav constitution. For ethnic Albanians, "minority status" relegates them to an inferior position vis-a-vis ethnic Macedonians and forms the basis on which a Slav-dominated state may discriminate against them.

Human Rights Watch/Helsinki found that many of the particular details concerning the rights of ethnic Albanians in Macedonia are manipulated by bothsides. In the end, however, ethnic Albanians have been denied many of the basic rights guaranteed them in both Macedonian and international law. In particular, the Macedonian government should take steps to eliminate discrimination in state employment, assure equal political representation and provide a sufficient opportunity for Albanians to protect and preserve their culture, including the right to open private educational institutions.

Demographics

According to the 1994 census, ethnic Albanians make up 22.9 percent of the population. Almost all Albanians, however, dispute the figure claiming that it was reduced for political purposes. Some ethnic Albanian leaders claim the number is as high as 40 percent.

The Albanian population is concentrated in the western part of the country near the border with Albania. A large number, officially 107,000, live in the capital, Skopje. For the most part, Albanians lead a more rural and tradition lifestyle than ethnic Macedonians. This has some bearing when considering their complaints of discrimination in education and employment. The majority of Albanians in Macedonia are Muslim.

Underrepresentation in State Bodies

There are currently nineteen ethnic Albanian deputies in the 120-seat unicameral parliament, fifteen of whom are members of the Party for Democratic Prosperity (PDP) which participates in the ruling coalition. In August 1995, there were four ethnic Albanian ministers in the government and four vice ministers. The formation of a new government in early 1996 increased the number of ethnic Albanian ministers to five.

Aside from this, ethnic Albanians are grossly underrepresented in government and other state bodies. A very small number of Albanians hold appointed positions in the ministries, state or local governments or the police. Etem Aziri, Vice Director of the (ethnic Albanian) National People's Party, told Human Rights Watch/Helsinki:

If you consider there are four [Albanian] ministers in government, there are no Albanians working in the central organs of these ministries. In the administration of the parliament, only four out of 200 workers are Albanians. Inadministrative organs of the state, only 2 percent are Albanians. There has been no improvement in the last two years at all.25

According to the largest ethnic Albanian party, the Party for Democratic Prosperity, in August 1995 only two ethnic Albanians out of 400 people were employed in the Ministries of Labor and Social Policy, Urban Affairs and Finance. The party also claimed that only one ethnic Albanian was working respectively in the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Science, while none were working in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.26 According to Arben Xhaferi, head of the Albanian Party for Democratic Prosperity, ethnic Albanians make up 1.7 percent of the judiciary, 1.7 percent of the officers in the armed forces and 2.0 percent of the state administration.27

Ilir Luma, a member of the presidency of the Party for Democratic Prosperity, told Human Rights Watch/Helsinki:

All leaders of state institution and enterprises are [ethnic] Macedonian. [Ethnic] Albanians apply for these jobs but regularly get hired less, even if the Macedonians are less qualified.

In the hospital where I work [in Tetovo] there are 1,350 employees. Of them, less than 350 are [ethnic] Albanian. It is a fact that [ethnic] Macedonians are only 15-20 percent of the population in Tetovo.28

While the numbers may not be as high as the ethnic Albanian political parties claim, evidence suggests that ethnic Albanians are severelyunderrepresented in government bodies. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, for example, only 4.12 percent of their employees are ethnic Albanians. In the departments of the ministry in the western part of the country, where Albanians predominate, Albanians make up only 8.74 percent of those employed.29

According to former Minister of Internal Affairs Ljubomir Fr...kovski30, approximately 4.5 percent of the police force in Macedonia is ethnic Albanian. This is an improvement from 1.7 percent in 1992, but still far below the proportional number of ethnic Albanians living in the country.31 The under-representation of ethnic Albanians in the police force is even more evident in areas where they form a majority of the population. In the city of Tetovo, where ethnic Albanians comprise approximately 80 percent of the population, only 38 percent of the police are Albanian, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. A similar proportion exists in Gostivar, another predominantly ethnic Albanian city.

Minister Fr...kovski told Human Rights Watch/Helsinki that he recognized the under-representation of ethnic Albanians in his ministry and was trying to rectify the imbalance, but that he would not lower his standards. A new police college was opened in 1994 for 250 students, 25 percent of whom were from minority groups, mostly Albanian. Another six-month course for high-school graduates was opened to train people for simple police duties, such as traffic control, with a minority quota of 50 percent. Still, Minister Fr...kovski recognized that the ministry should do more to achieve a balanced ethnic representation. While still Minister of Internal Affairs, he told Human Rights Watch/Helsinki that his goal was to have minorities comprise 15-20 percent of people working in the ministry.

Political Representation

According to article 22 of the constitution, the right to vote is "equal, universal and direct." In addition, article 18 of the existing electoral law stipulates that voting districts should be formed in order to ensure that approximately thesame number of voters elects one representative. Ethnic Albanian political parties, however, maintain that the current voting districts are left over from the communist era and drawn in such a way as to dilute the Albanian vote. Etem Aziri, told Human Rights Watch/Helsinki:

The electoral law is from communism and is discriminatory. We have cases where 15,000-17,000 people have voted for one [ethnic] Albanian deputy, while 3,000-4,000 people voted for one [ethnic] Macedonian deputy. This is unprecedented. As you can see, the vote of three Albanians is equal to the vote of one Macedonian.32

Arben Xhaferi compared the voting districts in Bitola and Tetovo. He told Human Rights Watch/Helsinki that Bitola, with an 85 percent ethnic Macedonian population, has 96,000 registered voters, while Tetovo, with an 85 percent ethnic Albanian population, has 136,000 registered voters.33 Still, he claimed that both cities elect nine deputies to the national parliament. He also said that the western city of Debar elects only one deputy, even though there are 16,000 registered voters, 90 percent of whom are ethnic Albanian.34

In June 1994, the National People's Party registered a formal complaint with the Constitutional Court about disproportionate voting districts. Party leaders told Human Rights Watch/Helsinki that, as of August 1995, they had still not received a response.35

In the request, the party presented some of the more disproportionate voting districts. These included:36

District 1 (Berovo) with 12,320 voters

District 20 (Gostivar) with 12, 759 voters

District 73 (Tetovo) with 12,356 voters

District 79 (Tetovo) with 14,144 voters

District 80 (Tetovo) with 14,744 voters

District 3 (Bitola) with 6,663 voters

District 11 (Brod) with 6,817 voters

District 37 (Kriva Palanka) with 4,781 voters

District 55 (Prilep) with 5,169 voters

District 60 (Radovish) with 5,848 voters

Since each district elects one representative, the party argued that the voters in the larger districts, primarily ethnic Albanians, had a weaker vote than the voters in smaller districts.

According to a detailed report conducted before the 1994 parliamentary elections by the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), Macedonia's electoral commission has recognized that some electoral districts represent approximately 6,000 voters while others represent as many as 17,000. The IFES report concluded:

Not only are significant numbers of voters over- and underrepresented under the current plan, candidates for election need significantly greater or lesser numbers of votes to be elected simply on the basis of the district in which they run. Although the IFES team was not in a position to investigate the legitimacy of the allegations, concern was expressed on numerous occasions that the deviations negatively impact certainminority groups and dilute their opportunities for equal representation in the Assembly.37

Human Rights Watch/Helsinki was also not able to ascertain whether or not the disproportionality of voting districts negatively affects ethnic Albanians. However, there is clearly a need to revise the electoral law to assure that all voting districts are roughly of equal size. This is necessary in order to comply with Macedonian law and to guarantee individuals the fundamental right of one person-one vote. When considering the division of electoral districts, the government should take into account the special concerns of the minority populations.

Albanian Language Education

A primary complaint of the Albanian community concerns discrimination in Albanian-language education. As stated above, Human Rights Watch/Helsinki does not take a position on the state's obligation to provide education in a minority language. As such, this section presents the complaints of the Albanian community, along with the government's position, without judging whether the government is meeting its obligations under international law.

However, Human Rights Watch unequivocably supports the right to open private schools on all levels, in accordance with minimum standards set by the state, as a right to free expression and association. In the case of minorities, private schools also fall under the right to preserve one's culture. What is more, the way in which the Macedonian government addresses the particular concerns of the Albanian minority regarding education can do much to reduce tensions and foster an atmosphere of tolerance and good faith or, by contrast, foster ethnic hostility and regional instability.

The education system in Macedonia is divided into three parts: primary (grades 1-8), secondary (grades 9-12) and university. Education through grade eight is mandatory. After that, students may elect to proceed through to university or to attend a variety of technical or professional schools.

Although the numbers have increased slightly since 1992, ethnic Albanians still comprise only 12.4 percent of all high-school students in Macedoniaand 6.5 percent of all university students.38 While there are many Albanian schools on the primary and secondary level, the state does not provide university level instruction in the Albanian language, except for the training of Albanian teachers.

During the past four years, the Macedonian government has taken some steps to improve the situation. These include expanded instruction for Albanian teachers, the introduction of a 10 percent minimum quota for minority groups at the university in Skopje and the opening of some new elementary and secondary schools. But many ethnic Albanians believe that these changes have been slow in coming and inadequate.

In fairness, the Macedonian government is fighting deep-seated prejudice against Albanians in some sectors of the ethnic Macedonian population. Conservative forces at the university in Skopje, for example, have resisted changes proposed by the government to improve Albanian language instruction. The Minister of Education has even been taken to the Constitutional Court by a group of citizens for trying to expand Albanian-language classes at the Pedagogical Academy. In September, a group of ethnic Macedonian parents in the northern village of Ognjanci refused to send their children to school because Albanian classes had been started at the local school. The government did not stop the Albanian classes and threatened the parents with prosecution, thereby ending the boycott and making a positive statement about the importance of Albanian-language education.

In addition, Albanians' educational statistics are in part a reflection of their demographic characteristics and socio-economic status. In general, the Albanians in Macedonia are more rural and traditional and place less emphasis on obtaining a higher education. Many ethnic Albanians respond, however, that they would be more interested in obtaining a higher education if they could study in their mother language at an institution that did not discriminate against them.

Primary and Secondary Schools

Schools on the primary and secondary level exist in a number of minority languages, including Albanian, Turkish, Serbian and, most recently, Vlach. Every village with a sizable ethnic Albanian population has its own primary school, while secondary schools are located in more centrally located towns. Albanian students, therefore, can study through the twelfth grade exclusively in Albanian, with theexception of classes in Macedonian as a foreign language. At no point before university do ethnic Albanian and ethnic Macedonian pupils study together.

One common Albanian complaint is that there are not enough primary and secondary schools in all the places where ethnic Albanians need them. In addition, those that do exist, Albanians say, are generally of a lesser quality than the schools for ethnic Macedonians.

The first complaint is vehemently disputed by the Ministry of Education. Havzi Mehmeti, Assistant Minister of Education and an ethnic Albanian, told Human Rights Watch/Helsinki:

Before 1945, 90 percent of the [ethnic] Albanian population was illiterate. Today, wherever Albanians are living, in every village, there is a primary school. There is not a single Albanian child that is not covered with schooling in the Albanian language.39

Human Rights Watch/Helsinki found that there were enough Albanian-language primary schools to cover the needs of the Albanian population, especially when considering the financial constraints on the Ministry of Education.40 However, some Albanian schools, partly because of their rural locations, were more poorly equipped than the schools attended by ethnic Macedonians.

The question of secondary schools, however, is more complicated, since the government decides where to locate the schools, and pupils must pass entrance exams. As with the primary schools, Albanians claim that there are not enough places in the secondary schools to accommodate all those who wish to attend.

According to Milaim Fejziu, President of the Forum for Human Rights in Gostivar, a predominantly ethnic Albanian group:

In the obligatory primary schools there are 80,000 Albanian pupils. From these, about 8,000 finish the eighth grade. But when they want to continue with high school there is discrimination because there is no way for them to be registered. The percentage is 25-30 who go to high school. The reason isthe Ministry of Education sets limits. 96 percent of [ethnic] Macedonians who finish eighth grade go on to high school.41

The government recognizes that ethnic Albanians who finish primary school are less likely than ethnic Macedonians to continue their educations on the secondary level. According to the Ministry of Education, 30.75 percent of the Albanian pupils who completed their eight years of elementary school in 1994 went on to an Albanian secondary school. This percentage rose to 40.12 in 1995. For both years, the corresponding percentage of ethnic Macedonians who continued their education on the secondary level was 94 percent.42

However, the government disputes that this discrepancy is because ethnic Albanian pupils are being denied entrance into secondary schools. Instead, it is because ethnic Albanians are voluntarily choosing not to continue their educations on the secondary level. Former Minister of Education Emilja Simoska43 told Human Rights Watch/Helsinki that all ethnic Albanians pupil can find places in a secondary school if they want. She said:

There was not one [ethnic] Albanian student left out of a secondary school. No one was excluded. And that's the problem because some of them - a big number of them - were accepted with a lower criteria than [ethnic] Macedonians.44

Despite these reassurances, ethnic Albanian leaders in some areas were not satisfied with the availability of an Albanian-language secondary education anddecided to open their own private schools. Each time, the Ministry declared the school illegal, and the police closed it down.45

One such school was in the southwestern village of Ladorisht, near Struga. Organizers of the school told Human Rights Watch/Helsinki that they opened the privately funded secondary school "Hajdar Dushi" in Ladorisht only after a number of Albanian classes had been closed in the regional state school in Struga in 1989.46 According to the private school's organizers, they made formal requests to the Ministry of Education in August and September 1991 asking for permission to open an Albanian-language secondary school, but the government refused. They opened their school in October 1991 regardless with a program that, the directors claim, was based on the republic's curriculum with qualified teachers.

The first director of the school, Mr. Lena, told Human Rights Watch/Helsinki:

Beginning in April 1995 we got an ultimatum from the Ministry of Education to close the school. We asked for discussions with the Ministry of Education in Skopje, but they said if we don't close the school they will intervene with the police. We also spoke with the United Nations.

On April 17, the police blocked the roads around the school and didn't let the pupils in the school. The educational inspector took the school's materials and forcefully entered the office. We asked them why and they said they had orders. For ten days, police were around the school. So, now we make the school in private homes.47

But officials at the Ministry of Education in Skopje have a different story. They claim that the ministry didn't receive an official request from the school's organizers until 1994. Assistant Minister of Education at the time, Zoran Jachev,told Human Rights Watch/Helsinki that Ladorisht did not need an Albanian secondary school since there were Albanian-language classes in nearby Struga. He pointed out that no village in Macedonia has a secondary school of any kind. The school in Ladorisht was ordered to close many times, and finally the police had to be called in. He told Human Rights Watch/Helsinki that, "the closing was to make order in the educational system. It was not an ethnic question."48 As evidence, he pointed out that at least six ethnic Macedonian schools had also been closed over the last three years, either because they were private or because they were not following the Ministry's set curriculum.

Assistant Minister of Education, Havzi Mehmeti, told Human Rights Watch/Helsinki that every ethnic Albanian from the Struga region would be guaranteed a place in a secondary school. He admitted, however, that there had been resistance in the Struga secondary school to open some Albanian classes.

According to Mehmeti, the Ministry of Education is currently planning to open two new schools in the Struga area, one in Frangovo and one in Veleshta. Both will be built with the financial help of the local population. Three other Albanian primary schools should be opened in Kicevo, one in Gostivar and three in Tetovo. Ethnic Albanians, however, question whether these schools will really be opened and contend that the state is not providing adequate possibilities for Albanian-language secondary education.

Despite these disagreements, both ethnic Albanian leaders and the Ministry of Education agree that there are serious problems with the quality of Albanian-language education in the country. Officials at the Ministry of Education readily admit that the Albanian primary and secondary schools generally do not provide as good an education as the Macedonian-language schools. Former Minister of Education Emilja Simoska told Human Rights Watch/Helsinki:

At entrance into the secondary school there is discrimination against [ethnic] Albanians because of the lower quality of their primary education. Most of their schools are in rural areas. We can change the quality by training the teachers.49

To rectify the imbalance, the ministry has initiated a number of changes. First, in the school year 1994-95, one hundred ethnic Albanians applied to the Pedagogical Academy that trains teachers for the primary and secondary schools. All one hundred applicants were accepted, even though officials at the academy did not want to admit them all. Then, in 1995, the two-year Pedagogical Academy was expanded to become a four-year faculty at the university in Skopje. Ethnic Albanians will study there in the Albanian language to become teachers.

Thus far, the Ministry is pleased with the results. In 1990, for example, only 15 percent of ethnic Albanians who finished primary school went on to secondary school. In the school year 1994-1995, however, 41 percent applied to secondary school, and all were accepted. Likewise, in the school year 1992-1993, 91 percent of all secondary school students were ethnic Macedonians, while 8.5 percent were ethnic Albanians. In 1994-1995, 87 percent were ethnic Macedonian and 12.4 percent were ethnic Albanian.50

Higher Education

The biggest controversy over Albanian-language education concerns demands for higher education in the Albanian language. Article 48 of the constitution grants the nationalities the right to primary and secondary education in their mother languages, but does not mention higher education. Recent changes have introduced more Albanian-language instruction into some university departments, especially where students from minority groups are studying to become teachers, but the universities are basically Macedonian-language institutions.

Ethnic Albanian leaders claim that their demand for higher education must be viewed within the context of the former Yugoslavia. Beginning in 1974, they point out, ethnic Albanians from all over Yugoslavia could study most subjects at the Albanian-language university in Prishtina, Kosovo. Today, that university offers instruction only in Serbian and is located on the other side of an international border.51

As with primary and secondary education, Human Rights Watch/Helsinki does not take a position on a government's obligation to provide Albanian-language education on the university level. However, the government does not have the right to forbid the creation and operation of private universities, although the recognition of degrees from such universities may depend on whether the school's curriculum has met the minimum standards set out by the state.

The Macedonian government recognizes that ethnic Albanians are proportionally underrepresented at the university level. According to the Ministry of Education, in the school year 1991-92, ethnic Albanians made up 2.4 percent of all university students. In 1994-95, that number had increased to 6.4 percent, a number still well below the percentage of ethnic Albanians in the total population.52 Official statistics from the University of St. Cyril and Methodus in Skopje vary slightly from the Ministry's, but essentially confirm these numbers.

It should be noted that, in percentages, fewer ethnic Albanians apply for acceptance to the university. In 1994, for example, 6,891 ethnic Macedonians took the entrance exam for St. Cyril and Methodus University, which is 0.5 percent of the total ethnic Macedonian population. In comparison, 775 ethnic Albanians applied, which is 0.17 percent of the total ethnic Albanian population. Leaders of the Albanian community, however, claim that many more ethnic Albanians would apply to the university if it offered better possibilities to study in the Albanian language.

The lower number of ethnic Albanian applicants to the university is also partially explained by the socio-economic make-up of the Albanian population. The mostly rural and more traditional Albanian communities tend to place less emphasis on higher education, primarily for economic reasons. Most ethnic Albanians are involved in business, abroad or in Macedonia, and derive less of a financial benefit from a university degree.

Another factor is that many of the ethnic Albanians who do apply to the university do not pass the entrance exam. Records at the university in Skopje show that, in 1994, ethnic Macedonians had a passing rate of 82.8 percent, compared to 51 percent for ethnic Albanians.53

Some leaders of the Albanian community claim that the university purposefully fails ethnic Albanians on account of their ethnicity. However, HumanRights Watch/Helsinki found no evidence to support this claim. Entrance exams are graded anonymously, and students seem to be accepted based on their academic qualifications.54

Human Rights Watch/Helsinki, however, does find credible Albanian complaints that the university entrance exam is administered only in the Macedonian language. Former Minister Simoska denied that this would negatively effect ethnic Albanian students, but it seems plausible that the exam would be more difficult for an ethnic Albanians who, up until that point, had only studied and taken exams in the Albanian language.

The primary reason for ethnic Albanians' poorer test results, however, is the lower quality of Albanian-language primary and secondary schools. Former Minister of Education Emilja Simoska told Human Rights Watch/Helsinki:

The quality of education in the [Albanian] secondary schools, which is a precondition for acceptance in the university, is lower... The real problem is the quality of students. When they raise their level, they will get into the university because there is really no political discrimination.55

Since 1994, the Ministry of Education has undertaken a number of initiatives to improve the level of Albanian education. As mentioned above, the focus has been on improving the quality of ethnic Albanian teachers. Despite resistance, the Pedagogical Academy was expanded from two years to four and made into a regular faculty at the university. In addition, in the school year 1994-95, the university established a 10 percent minimum quota for first year students from the ethnic minorities.

The Private University in Tetovo

Despite these positive developments, ethnic Albanians still view improvements in their access to higher education as slow and disingenuous. Many ethnic Albanians point out that they had been demanding improvements in thePedagogical Academy beginning in 1991. Despite numerous governmental promises, nothing was changed until 1995.

In late 1994, a group of ethnic Albanians formally presented their demand for a university in Tetovo in the Albanian language. The legality of their demand was ambiguous. Article 48 of the constitution makes no mention of higher education in languages other than Macedonian. Article 45, however, states that "citizens have a right to establish private schools at all levels of education, with the exception of primary education, under conditions determined by law."56

Human Rights Watch/Helsinki believes that all Macedonian citizens should have the right to open private schools, a right that is apparently guaranteed in Article 45 of Macedonia's constitution. Clearly, private schools on any level must fulfill the academic criteria established by the state. The government should, therefore, take steps to establish guidelines for private schools, which would allow Article 45 of the constitution to be applied.

Despite this, the government rejected the request and declared that any attempt to open a private university would be unconstitutional. The government and many ethnic Macedonians expressed the belief that the university was a political initiative rather than a genuine attempt to improve education for ethnic Albanians. Many also feared that a separate university would lead to increased demands for Albanian autonomy. Former Education Minister Simoska told Human Rights Watch/Helsinki:

The problem with that self-proclaimed university is not only from the constitutional point of view. Let's say we had a provision that allowed a university in Albanian, we wouldn't just go and say this building from today is a building of the university. This is a professor of history, a professor of math. I mean, there are standards in all countries.57

A group of ethnic Albanians continued to organize the university despite warnings by the government that it would be illegal. They argued that, while article 48 of the constitution did not specifically allow an Albanian university, italso did not forbid it. In addition, they said, Albanians from Macedonia and abroad were willing to finance the project themselves.

According to organizers of the initiative, the police repeatedly attempted to hinder their work. Fadil Sulejmani, rector of the university project, told Human Rights Watch/Helsinki:

On November 9, 1994, the police arrested me and my colleagues. They asked us so-called informational questions. They said they will arrest me and use all means of the police and army to stop the university. I spent one day and a night in prison and was let go.

On December 14, the Macedonian government with the police broke in to the university's office and confiscated our documents, telephone and fax. They blocked the door. A university building where we wanted to put the science faculty was destroyed by bulldozer.58

On December 17, the organizers formally declared the founding of the "University of Tetovo" in a meeting at the headquarters of the Party for Democratic Prosperity. A journalist from TV ART in Tetovo filmed the proceedings, but was later detained by the police, who confiscated the tape. (See chapter on freedom of the press.)

The academic school year in Tetovo officially began on February 15, 1995, without police interference. But tension was very high and police were monitoring the roads going in and out of Tetovo.

On February 17, classes were held in two areas near Tetovo, Male Recica and Poloj. In Male Recica, riot police clashed with large numbers of ethnic Albanians, resulting in numerous injuries to demonstrators and police and the shooting death of one ethnic Albanian, Abduselam Emini. An autopsy conducted by the state did not reveal with certainty who had fired the fatal shot, but an investigation by the OSCE established that the bullet had been fired from a Kalishnikov used by the police, although, the OSCE concluded, the shot was probably not deliberate. Witnesses present in Male Recica told Human Rights Watch/Helsinki that the police were poorly organized and used force beyond theamount necessary to bring the situation under control. (See chapter on abuses by law enforcement officials.)

All together, approximately twenty individuals were hurt in the fighting, including at least twelve policemen. A number of people, including children, were indiscriminately beaten by the police.59 A journalist, Branko Gerovski, was also severely beaten, requiring hospitalization for two weeks. (See chapter on freedom of the press.)

That evening, five ethnic Albanians were arrested, either for hindering the work of the police or inciting the crowd to violence. They included: Fadil Sulejmani, Milaim Fejziu, Arben Rusi, Musli Halimi and Nevzat Halili. Some of them complained that they were verbally mistreated by police and denied access to a lawyer. (See section in this chapter on violations of the right to a fair trial.)

Sulejmani was later sentenced to two and a half years in prison for inciting the crowds to resistance. Within one month, however, he and the other four defendants were released after paying bail.60

In November 1995 the Tetovo university resumed with classes. Sulejmani claims that the university currently has 1,259 student and 150 lecturers in six faculties.61 The government continues to call the university illegal, but, as of May 1996, had not taken any action against it.62 The Ministry of Education has made clear, however, that it will not recognize the students' degrees.

While Human Rights Watch/Helsinki does not a take position on a state's obligation to provide minority-language higher education, the response to the university in Tetovo raises a number of concerns. First, Human Rights Watch/Helsinki objects to prohibitions on private education as an infringement on free expression and association. This is especially true when dealing with a minority group, which has a guaranteed right to protect and preserve it's culture, including its language.

Secondly, while the university in Tetovo may have been a provocative political initiative, rather than a genuine attempt to improve the education of ethnic Albanians, it appears that the university came about as a result of the government's unwillingness to address the legitimate concerns of the Albanian community. While the recent expansion of the Pedagogical Academy and the introduction of a 10 percent minimum quota for minority students at the university are positive changes, we note that they were introduced only after the university in Tetovo had become a full-scale political concern that threatened the country's fragile inter-ethnic balance. The implicit message to ethnic Albanians, therefore, is that they should use provocative methods to achieve their aims.

Lastly, Human Rights Watch/Helsinki is deeply concerned about the excessive use of force by the police on the first day of classes. According to witnesses, the police used violence beyond the amount necessary to bring the situation under control. The state has a duty to investigate the matter and hold legally responsible all those found to have used excessive force, including both the police and the demonstrators.

Violations of the Right to a Fair Trial

In the past two years there have been two prominent trials of ethnic Albanians in Macedonia. Both of them violated domestic and international law by denying the defendants the right to a fair trial before an independent and objective tribunal. The violations in these trials are symptomatic of an underdeveloped legal system that equally affects all citizens of Macedonia regardless of ethnicity. Still, these cases were directed in a very public manner against two groups of prominent ethnic Albanians and, therefore, must also be considered in an ethnic context.

The Albanian Paramilitary Case

In November 1993, ten ethnic Albanians, including then Vice-Minister of Defense Hisan Haskaj, were arrested and charged with forming an Albanian paramilitary group to overthrow the constitutional order.63 By August 1, 1995, all ten of the defendants had been released, either by means of a government amnesty or on a conditional sentence. The case, however, from their day of arrest through the appeals process, was riddled with due process violations that prohibited thedefendants from obtaining a fair trial, as is guaranteed in Macedonian law.64 These violations suggest that there were political motivations for their arrest and conviction.

According to the OSCE Monitoring Mission in Macedonia, which monitored the case, the defendants' rights were violated in the following ways:65

· Upon apprehension, the accused were not immediately informed of the reasons for their arrest.

· The accused were kept in police custody longer than the 24 hours allowed by law and forced to sign a confession.

· The accused were denied access to a lawyer during detention.

· The accused were in pre-trial detention longer than the ninety days from the day of arrest allowed by law.

· Some of the accused were allegedly physically mistreated by the police after their arrest, a violation of Macedonia's constitution, Article 11, which prohibits any form of torture, inhuman or humiliating treatment.

The trial, which began on June 3, 1994, contained numerous violations. First, statements made by the defendants during the period of investigation were leaked to the press and published in Ve...er, a government sponsored newspaper. During the trial, which was open to the press and public, the judge arbitrarily rejected requests of the defense, such as calls for further witnesses and requests to allow weapons allegedly collected by the defendants to be examined by experts. The court also refused a proposal by the defense to exclude statements made by the defendants at the beginning of the investigation period when, it was alleged, they were under shock due to mistreatment by the police.

Lawyers for the defense and observers of the trial told Human Rights Watch/Helsinki that the court failed to meet the burden of proof. Savo Kocarev, a lawyer for some of the defendants, told Human Rights Watch/Helsinki:

[Mitat] Emini was convicted as commander of a para-military group, but that was never proven by the court. The only proof was that one of the ten defendants said that he had heard Eminiwas the commander. Also, all of the defendants were in prison more than 90 days which is against the constitution.66

An appeals court in January 1995 reduced the sentences of all ten defendant by two years. By August 1, 1995, all of them had been released, eight of them for having completed one third of their sentences with good behavior. The other two, Mitat Emini and Hasan Agushi, were granted an amnesty.

Machmut Jusufi, the attorney for two of the defendants, told Human Rights Watch/Helsinki about police efforts to hinder his work during the trial. He said:

At 2:00 a.m. the police arrived and said they had come to search my house. I asked for the warrant, and they said, "we don't need it so we order you to let us in." They searched my house and frightened my child. They were a special anti-terrorist brigade with bullet proof vests and automatic weapons.

They said we must go to search my office, but I told them they must have special permission to search my office. Even someone from the lawyers' association must be present during the search.67 They said, "We need nothing!"

We went to Skopje later by car. I stayed at the police station until 5:00 p.m. the next day without sleep. They interrogated me about the trial. They asked me why I am in the Human RightsForum and why I am in contact with Mazowiecki.68 They said my activities in the trial had damaged the image of Macedonia.69

The University of Tetovo Case

On February 17, 1995, five ethnic Albanians were arrested in connection with their activities to promote the private Albanian-language university in the town of Tetovo. All five were later convicted, primarily for hindering the work of the police, and sentenced to between six months and two and a half years of imprisonment. Their trials contained numerous due process violations. On May 30, 1995, all of them were released on bail.

Fadil Sulejmani, rector of the university, was arrested on the evening of February 17 and charged with "inciting the Albanian population in Macedonia to resistance and civil disobedience" by organizing the university initiative and calling on Albanians to defend it. The four other defendants70 were charged with hindering the work of the police who had intervened to stop the university's first day of classes on February 17, 1995.

Fadil Sulejmani told Human Rights Watch/Helsinki:

In the night at 6:30 [on February 17], they arrested me and took me to Skopje. In detention, which lasted 34 hours, they didn't treat me well. They cursed me and threatened that they will beat me and I'll die in prison. I had no access to a lawyer that night. On the 19th I first contacted my lawyer. I didn't know the charges. For one week I received no newspaper. Afterwards, I got Flaka [Albanian-language newspaper] and Nova Makedonja [Macedonian-language newspaper]. After five days I got somefood and clothing from my family. A real visit came after ten days.71

In a public statement issued on February 20, the Macedonian Helsinki Committee, a local human rights group, pointed out similar violations:

Our sources claim that the first two detainees [Fadil Sulejmani and Arben Rusi] were not allowed to contact an attorney despite their requests and that all four of them were brought before the Justice of the Peace after a 29-hour detention, which is five hours longer than the legally envisaged period of detention.72

The trial, which began April 26, was not in conformity with international standards. A European diplomat who monitored the trial told Human Rights Watch/Helsinki that the judge and prosecutor entered the court room together and seemed to act in collusion against the defense. The court consistently refused legitimate motions made by the defense and arbitrarily interrupted their lawyers' statements.73

Fadil Sulejmani's conviction was based primarily on a press conference he had held on February 15, in which he said, "if the police try to prevent us from working, 200,000 Albanians will rise to our defense, and they have guns and grenades."74 The four other defendants were convicted of hindering the work of the police who had come to prevent the opening of the university. International monitors present in Tetovo on February 17, however, told Human Rights Watch/Helsinki that the defendants had not actively hindered the work of the police.

Machmut Jusufi, a lawyer for some of the defendants, told Human Rights Watch/Helsinki:

The court did not accept any demands of the defense. They didn't base their decision based on witnesses of the defense but only on the declarations of the police. Even in communism it was hard to imagine such a farce. Everything was according to formal rules but the decision was made before the process started.75

Other individuals present at the trial told Human Rights Watch/Helsinki that the defendants had not been granted an impartial trial. They questioned the court's rejection of witnesses presented by the defense and the admittance as evidence of the video tape in which Sulejmani called for 200,000 people to defend the university.

On May 30, 1995, Fadil Sulejmani was released after paying DM 100,000 bail. The other four defendants were released on lesser amounts. As of May 1996, the university was functioning without interference, although the state has said that it will not recognize the diplomas.

Albanian Media

Despite constitutional guarantees protecting freedom of expression, the Macedonian government still wields a disproportionately strong influence over the flow of information. The details of this issue are discussed in the chapter on freedom of the press.

Regarding freedom of the press for minorities, the main concern is state support for the newspapers, radio and television programs of non-ethnic Macedonians. Specifically, many ethnic Albanians complain that the state does not provide enough financial support for their newspapers or enough hours for minority-language programming on the state-run television and radio.

Currently, there is one state-supported Albanian daily newspaper, Flaka e Vëllazërimit (Flame of Brotherhood) with a circulation of approximately 2,800. The paper was published thrice weekly until May 1994, when the government acceded to Albanian demands for increased publication. In comparison, the state directly finances two daily newspapers in the Macedonian language, as well as a major weekly.

Private newspapers in the Albanian language face the same barriers as their Macedonian counterparts: the state's virtual monopoly on newspaper services. The state-run company Nova Makedonja, left over from the communist era,controls almost all of the country's newspaper printing and distribution, which severely limits the possibilities for an independent press. A number of private newspapers and magazines, both Albanian and Macedonian, have failed in part because they could not afford the inflated prices that Nova Makedonja demands.

Macedonian Television has three channels with a broad variety of programming. The second channel broadcasts in the languages of the minorities, including three hours in Albanian per day. Seven of Macedonia's 29 municipal radio stations broadcast programs in Albanian, including Channel 2000 in Skopje, which broadcasts six hours of Albanian programming every day. Of the 300 municipal radio employees, 36 are from minority groups, including 20 Albanians.76

Beginning in 1991, the government allowed a vast proliferation of private radio and television stations, despite the absence of appropriate legislation to distribute licences. By May 1995, there were approximately 240 private radio and television stations broadcasting in the country, among them many stations run by ethnic Albanians, Roma and Turks.

On May 19, 1995, the government ordered the immediate closure of eighty-eight private radio and television stations, allegedly for technical reasons. However, the government did not explain what criteria they had used to select those stations to close. It was only after public protest, that the government said it would make its criteria known at a later time.

Ethnic Albanians complained that the government had used technical reasons to justify restrictions on the Albanian media. Many journalists and media specialists, both ethnic Albanians and Macedonians, told Human Rights Watch/Helsinki that a disproportionately large percentage of the closed stations were either Albanian or Roma. Dragan Pavlovic, Director of Radio Vox in Skopje and President of the Association of Commercial Radio and Television Stations in Macedonia, told Human Rights Watch/Helsinki that 55 percent of the closed stations were run by ethnic Albanians. All of the closures, he maintained, were in violation of the constitution, which protects freedom of the press.77

Minister Buzlevski told Human Rights Watch/Helsinki that the Ministry is "not looking into the ethnic structure of the stations."78 However, an analysis ofthe stations that were closed and their locations throughout the country reveals a pattern of discrimination against the Albanian media. In three of the country's four largest cities, Skopje, Tetovo and Bitola, the government closed the largest Albanian television station. Of the three, TV ART in Tetovo and TV ERA in Skopje were considered professional, produced their own news and reached a relatively large audience. After substantial protest from the Albanian community and abroad, both stations were reopened two months later.79

TV ART also encountered difficulties on December 17, 1994, when police forcibly entered the station's Tetovo studio and confiscated video tapes that journalists had taken that day of the founding of the Tetovo university. The director of the station, Artan Skenderi, was taken into police custody for 18 hours, psychologically abused and then released without an explanation. (See chapter on freedom of the press.)

Police Violence

Ethnic Albanians complain that the Macedonian police mistreat them and use excessive force. The allegations include arbitrary arrests, unnecessary physical violence and psychological pressure during detention. A book published by the Forum for Human Rights, "Abuses Committed Against Albanians," mentions dozens of cases of police abuse against ethnic Albanians since Macedonia's independence. Although there are a number of disturbing cases in which the police have responded with unnecessary violence when dealing with ethnic Albanians, Human Rights Watch/Helsinki did not find evidence to suggest that the numbers are as high as the book claims.

In addition, police violence is not only a problem for ethnic Albanians. While the violence mentioned below clearly had an ethnic component, police violence seems to be a general problem in the country that afflicts all citizens. Human Rights Watch/Helsinki heard credible reports of police violence against Macedonian citizens in general, regardless of their ethnicity, as demonstrated in the chapter on abuses by law enforcement officials.

The most prominent example of police violence against ethnic Albanians occurred on November 6, 1992, when the police arrested and allegedly beat a teenaged ethnic Albanian who was selling cigarettes on the black market in Skopje's Bit Pazaar neighborhood. Clashes erupted between ethnic Albanians and police, and three ethnic Albanians and one ethnic Macedonian were killed. According to the United States Department of State, more then 20 people wereinjured, including ten policemen.80 The OSCE Monitoring mission in Macedonia concluded that the police had used excessive force.

According to Milaim Fejziu, President of the Forum for Human Rights, none of the policemen involved in the incident were held responsible.81 However, then Minister of Internal Affairs Ljubomir Fr...kovski told Human Rights Watch/Helsinki that six policemen had been disciplined by the ministry and were subsequently prosecuted.82

The other notable example of excessive police force against ethnic Albanians occurred in Tetovo during the first days of the Albanian university. (See section on the private university in Tetovo.) On February 17, 1995, approximately 500 ethnic Albanians clashed with Macedonian police equipped with riot gear and automatic weapons who were deployed to stop the first day of classes. Approximately fifty people were injured, including at least twelve policemen. One ethnic Albanian, Abduselam Emini, was killed.

A relevant factor concerning police abuse is the ethnic composition of the police force. As discussed in the section on underrepresentation in state bodies, only 4.5 percent of the police are ethnic Albanian. Very few of these are upper-level officers or police chiefs. During his tenure as Minister of Internal Affairs, Minister Fr...kovski stated he wanted this number to increase to 15-20 percent and said that he had taken some steps to achieve this. However, much more needs to be done to achieve a proper balance. Until this is achieved, ethnic Albanians are likely to perceive the actions of the police as being discriminatory.

THE TURKISH MINORITY

According to the 1994 census, there are 77,252 ethnic Turks in Macedonia. Like other ethnic groups, leaders of the Turkish community claim their numbers are much higher. According to Erdogan Saraç, General Secretaryof the Democratic Party of Turks, there are between 170,000 and 200,000 ethnic Turks currently living in the country.

Like ethnic Albanians, the starting point of Turkish dissatisfaction is the preamble of the Macedonian constitution, which describes the country as the "national state of the Macedonian people" with "full equality" for all other citizens. For many ethnic Turks, this formulation regulates them to second-class status behind ethnic Macedonians.

Erdogan Saraç articulated an idea that was repeated by many ethnic Turks when he told Human Rights Watch/Helsinki:

It's obvious from the preamble of the constitution that they [the ethnic Macedonians] want to create one national state. But in the other articles of the constitution, the idea is for Macedonia to become a civic country. It is not possible to favor one nationality and, at the same time, to have a civic state.83

The "favoritism" that many ethnic Turks perceive is reflected in the low number of Turks currently working in the government or other state institutions, including the police. Human Rights Watch/Helsinki did not obtain precise numbers, but anecdotal evidence suggests that the Turkish population is underrepresented in state employment, suggesting a possible discriminatory hiring practice along ethnic lines.

Afrim _amovski, an ethnic Turk living in Debar, told Human Rights Watch/Helsinki:

I work in the Ministry of Justice in Debar. My office has seven people and all except me are [ethnic] Macedonian. In the whole building there are 100 employees - I am the only Turk.84

Other ethnic Turks in the Debar area relayed similar stories, none of which Human Rights Watch/Helsinki was able to confirm. In the village of Zhupa, however, inhabited primarily by ethnic Turks, Human Rights Watch/Helsinki confirmed that a very small number of the thirty policemen were Turkish.

Like the other minorities, ethnic Turks are allowed schooling in their mother language on the primary and secondary level. There are primary schools in a number of villages with Turkish populations, and Turkish high schools exist in Skopje and Gostivar. According to many ethnic Turks, however, the number of Turkish-language schools does not meet the demand. The Ministry of Education refutes this claim, saying that many ethnic Turks do not speak the Turkish language well enough to warrant a Turkish-language school. Indeed, Human Rights Watch/Helsinki did discover that many ethnic Turks in Macedonia speak Macedonian with one another.

This debate came to a head in the western region of Zhupa, where many ethnic Turks live. On October 1, 1991, a group of activists from the Democratic Party of Turks and local parents opened two private primary schools with instruction in the Turkish language after their requests for opening official Turkish-language classes had been denied by the Ministry of Education in Debar (the regional capital) and Skopje. According to the school organizers, the classes were financed privately, had properly trained teachers and followed the curriculum of the Ministry of Education. By 1994, the two schools had 250 pupils.

Baudin _a...ir, one of the school organizers, told Human Rights Watch/Helsinki that there were two state-run Turkish schools in the area, but they were too far away and too small to accommodate all of the Turkish pupils in the area. The schools, in the villages of Bre_tanik and Kozazik, are about ten kilometers away from the center of Zhupa.

The Ministry of Education declared the two private schools illegal and ordered that they be closed. According to Zoran Jachev, then Assistant Minister of Education, many of the ethnic Turks in Zhupa do not speak Turkish. He told Human Rights Watch/Helsinki that, while there certainly are ethnic Turks in the area, many of them are Macedonian Muslims who have been persuaded to declare themselves as ethnic Turks. All of the people in Zhupa with whom Human Rights Watch/Helsinki spoke claimed that they were definitely Turkish, although many spoke the Macedonian language with one another.

In spring 1995, the police came to Zhupa and tore down the two private schools. Saçir told Human Rights Watch/Helsinki:

On June 8, at 6:30 a.m., 250 police came with weapons and blocked all of the streets. It was very uncomfortable, like an occupation. The pupils were on the street, and they were threatened by the police. They told them that they cannot go to the school and must go home. In two hours, the schools were destroyed by the police with everything inside.

They [the police] left at 9:30 a.m.. At 10:00 a.m. UNPROFOR came to check it out. They came for the next three days to conduct interviews.85

In July 1995, Human Rights Watch/Helsinki saw the remains of two one-room cabins built out of wood and corrugated metal. Both had been totally destroyed.

On January 11, the head of the Debar government, an ethnic Albanian, came to Zhupa to address a crowd of demonstrators. Human Rights Watch/Helsinki saw a video of the event showing several hundred individuals chanting for a Turkish school. Police with weapons and helmets were present, but no violence occurred.

On February 3, there was another protest in Debar. Organizers of the two private schools told Human Rights Watch/Helsinki that many people were threatened with losing their jobs if they sent their children to the schools. Allegedly, the parents of children who did attend the school stopped receiving social aid from the state.

As of August 1995, the two schools were still closed. The Ministry of Education told Human Rights Watch/Helsinki that the pupils who attended the private schools will be able to take an exam to determine at what level they can continue their education in the Macedonian language. Former Assistant Minister Jachev also told Human Rights Watch/Helsinki that it may be possible to enlarge the two Turkish schools in Bre_tanik and Kozazik, although financial restrictions made this difficult.

Human Rights Watch/Helsinki does not take a position on the state's obligation to provide education in the Turkish language. However, Human Rights Watch does believe that a state should allow citizens to open private schools as a basic right of free expression and association and, when dealing with a minority group, the right to enjoy one's culture. Article 45 of the Macedonian constitution allows for the formation of private schools, "under conditions defined by law." But there is still no legislation to regulate the creation of such schools, thus rendering Article 45 of the constitution unapplicable. It is difficult to argue that a private school does not meet the minimum requirements of the state when those requirements are not in existence. Also, Human Rights Watch/Helsinki questions the use of police to tear down private school facilities.

Another complaint of the ethnic Turkish community regards Macedonia's new citizenship law, which was passed in 1992. According to leaders of the ethnicTurkish community, there are a large number of ethnic Turks in Macedonia who deserve citizenship but have been denied. (For details see chapter on citizenship.)

Turkish political parties also raised concerns about the communist-era electoral districts they believed were diluting the ethnic Turk vote. As an example, the Democratic Party of Turks mentioned the ethnic Turkish village of Banica, which is divided into two districts, Gorna and Dolna (upper and lower). Human Rights Watch/Helsinki was not able to confirm whether the ethnic Turkish vote is in fact diluted.

Finally, there are some complaints by ethnic Turks about the state's support for Turkish-language media. Currently, there is one hour of Turkish programming on Macedonian state television every day. The state also supports the Turkish-language newspaper, Birlik, which appears three times a week.

THE ROMA (GYPSY) MINORITY

Comparatively speaking, the Roma community in Macedonia is better off than in other countries of the region. There are a number of Roma political, social and cultural organizations functioning in Macedonia, and a Roma party is represented in parliament. Roma are recognized in the constitution as a nationality, and relations with the ethnic Macedonian population are generally good.

Despite these achievements, the Roma population is still clearly at the bottom of the country's social and economic ladder. Unemployment, mortality rates and homelessness are all highest within the Roma communities. While there is no overt state discrimination, the state has not done all that it could to provide the Roma population with equal access to jobs, housing and education. Human Rights Watch/Helsinki also has serious concerns that Macedonia's new citizenship law discriminates against Roma in the country.

According to the official numbers, there are 43,732 Roma in Macedonia, or 2.3 percent of the total population. But most people, including many ethnic Macedonians and Albanians, admit that the Roma's numbers are considerably higher.86 Some Roma citizens of Macedonia told Human Rights Watch/Helsinki that they had declared themselves as ethnic Turks or Albanians in the 1994 census in order to avoid discrimination in getting a job. Human Rights Watch/Helsinki also heard credible reports of Roma declaring themselves as Albanians, Turks orMacedonians in order to receive humanitarian assistance from an ethnically-based aid organization.

Without question, Roma have a living standard far below all the other nationalities in the country. While some Roma live in mixed neighborhoods, many live in ghettos, isolated from the rest of the population, such as _uto Orizari or Topana in Skopje. These areas do have many acceptable homes, usually built by Roma who have worked abroad. But there are also many cases of large families living in squalid conditions. Human Rights Watch/Helsinki saw as many as 15 people sharing one unheated room without proper sanitary facilities.

There are no official statistics, but unemployment is indisputably higher among the Roma population. Roma are often the first to be laid off from state jobs and the last to be hired by private business. Some Roma told Human Rights Watch/Helsinki that they were discriminated against in the job market; jobs for which they were qualified repeatedly went to ethnic Macedonians or Albanians. Bekir Arif, member of the Democratic Progressive Party of Roma, told Human Rights Watch/Helsinki that Roma had been more severely affected than other ethnic groups by the economic changes in Macedonia. He estimated that there is 80 percent unemployment in the Roma district _uto Orizari.87

Another problem is the low level of education among the Roma population. Very few Roma attend secondary school, and even fewer are in the university. Partially this is because there is less of an emphasis on higher education in the Romani communities. But some Roma told Human Rights Watch/Helsinki that they received discriminatory treatment by school directors and teachers who sometimes denied them access to better classes or did not encourage them to pursue their education. There is also a lack of Roma role-models who have completed higher education; and those few that do continue their education are predominantly male.

Many times the cost of an education is prohibitive for Roma. While primary and secondary school is free, the cost of not working is often too high, as are the costs of books and other materials. M. Raif, an eighteen-year-old Romani girl living in Gor...e Petrov, told Human Rights Watch/Helsinki:

The school is free, but what you need in school you must pay for by yourself - like books and the bus ticket. For most of us, it is too much. I would like to go to school, but I can't.88

According to Faik Abdi, a member of parliament for the Party for the Total Emancipation of Roma, Roma-language instruction will soon be introduced into schools with Romani pupils. He told Human Rights Watch/Helsinki that soon Romani children in grades one through eight would be able to study the Romani language two times a week.89 Romani is already taught as a foreign language at the university.

Perhaps the most serious issue facing Roma in Macedonia today regards their right to citizenship. As stated in the chapter on citizenship, many Roma with long-standing ties to Macedonia found it difficult to prove fifteen years of residency, permanent housing and a steady source of income. In addition, evidence suggests that some Roma were denied citizenship despite having met all of the requirements of the law. (See the chapter on citizenship.)

Human Rights Watch/Helsinki was not able to confirm that Roma who had met all of the requirements laid out in the citizenship law were denied citizenship by the Macedonian government. However, some of the law's requirements do seem to discriminate against the Roma population. In particular, the fifteen-year residency requirement and the need to have a steady income and living accommodations are difficult to attain for a group of people that is so economically disadvantaged. Because of this, Human Rights Watch/Helsinki is concerned that a number of Roma living in Macedonia are currently stateless and, therefore, are denied benefits from the state, such as unemployment compensation and health insurance.

Unlike in other countries in the Balkans, Roma in Macedonia do not complain of systematic abuse by the police. Nevertheless, Roma do have a strained relationship with law enforcement officials and the justice system. Police are allegedly slow in responding to crimes in areas where Roma live, and often dismiss requests from Roma for help. Some Roma serving time in Idrizovo prison outside of Skopje told Human Rights Watch/Helsinki that the police had not informed them of the reason for their arrest, had not provided access to a lawyer and, on occasion,had abused them physically. Some believed that their sentences were more severe because they were Roma.90

An example of police misconduct against Roma occurred in July 1995 when the police tore down the home of the Jasarovski family in the Topaner section of Skopje, a predominantly Roma area. According to Orhan Jasarovski, the eldest son in the family, his parents wanted to refurbish a house that they had purchased with money earned in Germany. When they informed the local authorities, they were told that the house would have to be torn down because it was so old. Orhan Jasarovski told Human Rights Watch/Helsinki:

The police came at 5:00 a.m. and asked us to go to the police station. We went and waited there until 12:00 a.m.. My father and brother were put into a cell. They wanted to put me in there too, but my mother told them that I was ill.

My mother went outside to see a neighbor and was told that our house had been torn down. My mother screamed at the police and he threatened to beat me. At 12:00 a.m. they let my father and brother go and we went home. The house was destroyed.91

Human Rights Watch/Helsinki was shown the remains of a one-family house that had been destroyed by bulldozer.

Like the other ethnic minorities in Macedonia, Roma also complain about the situation with the media. Until September 1995, there was only one half-hour a week on state television for Roma programs. Today, however, thirty-minute programs are broadcast three times a week. There are also a surprisingly high number of private radio and television stations run by and for Roma, although most transmit in a very small area. As of May 1995, there was a private Roma television station in _tip, Tetovo and Ohrid, and three in Skopje.

Many of these stations were closed in May 1995 when the government shut down eighty-eight stations throughout the country, allegedly for technical reasons. (See chapter on freedom of the press.) Human Rights Watch/Helsinki heard complaints from Roma journalists and other media specialists that, by percentage, more Roma radio and television stations were closed than the stationsof other ethnic groups. For example, all of the Roma television stations in Skopje, TV Shutel, BTR and TV Atlanta, were shut down. During 1996, most of them were allowed to reopen.

THE SERB MINORITY

The complaints of the ethnic Serb community in Macedonia are similar to those of the other minorities: the lack of Serbian-language education and media, discrimination in obtaining state jobs and citizenship, and abuse by the police. Leaders of the Serb community also complain that the government has not recognized the Serbian Orthodox Church and has restricted the right of ethnic Serbs to practice their religion.

According to the 1994 census, there are 39,260 ethnic Serbs living in Macedonia, a number equal to 2 percent of the total population. According to some leaders of the Serbian community, however, there are as many as 250,000 Serbs in the country.92 Most Serbs live in the northern part of the country near the border with Serbia. Their language is slightly different than Macedonian, but perfect communication between Serbs and Macedonians is possible.

One fundamental complaint of ethnic Serbs is their complete absence from the Macedonian constitution. Unlike Albanians, Turks, Roma and Vlach, Serbs are not mentioned at all as a national group living within the country. The Council on Inter-Ethnic Relations suggested to parliament that Serbs be added to the list, but to date no changes in the constitution have been made. On September 22, 1995, the ethnic Serb representative on the council, Boñidar Despotovi_, resigned in protest.

Ethnic Serbs are allowed to use their Serbian names in public, including in the title of cultural and political organizations such as "The Democratic Union of Serbs" and "The Association of Serbs and Montenegrins." However, some ethnic Serbs told Human Rights Watch/Helsinki that they did not like to use their Serbian names for fear of discrimination, especially when getting a job.

There are some Serbian-language schools, primarily in the northern part of the country. However, some leaders of the Serbian community claim that there are not enough schools to meet all of their children's needs. The Ministry of Education denies this claim, and Human Rights Watch/Helsinki was not able to determine conclusively if the number of Serbian schools is sufficient.

Like many of the other ethnic groups in the country, the Serbs complain that many people from their community have been denied Macedonian citizenship. According to Dragisha Mileti_, President of the Democratic Union of Serbs, there are 80,000 Serbs in Macedonia currently without citizenship, although this number seems exceedingly high. He told Human Rights Watch/Helsinki that Muslims and Albanians get citizenship very easily because they have enough money to bribe the officials at the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The Ministry, however, denies that such a high number of ethnic Serbs with legitimate claims have been denied citizenship.

Serbs have also accused the Macedonian police of occasionally using excessive for