HELSINKI COMMITTEE ROASTS THE OMBUDSMAN AND POLICE UNIT “ALFA”

The Macedonian Helsinki Committee (HC) has severely criticized the work of the Ombudsman and of the police unit “Alfa” in its report on human rights dating from December 2005 and January 2006. HC claims that there have been overwhelming evidence showing that police unit “Alfa” has been directly involved in violation of human rights and liberties, especially the rights and liberties of a certain category of people, such as the drug addicts. HC officials informed that the Committee has been continually receiving complaints on the work of the police unit “Alfa”, adding that the Interior Ministry has been reluctant to issue information on the unit’s way of conduct. Channel 5 TV says Interior Ministry officials disapproved of HC’s critics, saying “Alfa” unit has been working highly transparently.

Referring to the Ombudsman, HC said he only serves as a state organ that only performers “cosmetic” interventions and does not respond to citizens’ complaints. “The function Ombudsman has been performed by a man with clear political affiliations, who only wishes to protect the state and its interests.
Being under direct parties’ influence he does not conduct any control over the state organs nor contributes toward protection of citizens’ human rights”, HC’s President, Mirjana Najcevska, said.

Channel 5 TV says Ombudsman Ixhet Memeti declined to comment on HC’s accusations, saying they lacked arguments and facts. I have no time to deal with such na‹ve and see-through political issues, as I have more important things to do, such as to help the citizens”, Memeti told Channel 5 TV.

Skopje February 16, 2006

MIRJANA NAJCEVSKA - THERE ARE NO SECRET PRISON IN FYROM, ONLY SECRET POLICE HOUSES

“There are no secret prison in Macedonia, but only secret police houses where people are been tortured“, Helsinki Committee’s (HC) President, Mirjana Najcevska told “Makfax”, commenting on the case of Kaled el-Masri.

“The Council of Europe is wrong when saying that the operations of the State Security Service (DBK) in the former system were carried out in secret prisons. There are only few such covert prisons in our country. Those practices were conducted in secret houses”, said Najcevska. She added that this practice is still in place. “The police has set up such secret houses throughout Macedonia.
After being tortured there, some people manage to come out of those houses, some do not”, claims Najcevska

A1 TV says that Najcevska denied that HC holds direct proofs to back its claims,but informed that during the past 10 years 15 citizens have reported to have been interrogated by plain clothes police officers in houses and apartments, not in police stations. “There have been conformations of such activities by lawyers and people that used to cooperate with the police. This ways of conduct of conducting interrogation in apartments and houses has been inherited from the former system, but since then, the number of such houses has been reduced”, Najcevska said. She added Khaled el-Masri’s case could prove to be of benefit for the country, saying that it could open the issue on the secret methods
used in the work of the Macedonian police.

“Dnevnik” says the Interior Ministry denied Najcevska’s accusations on secret police houses. “The Interior Ministry denies using houses or apartments in conducting police activities”, Chief of Interior Minister Ljubomir Mhajlovski’s Cabinet, Goran Pavlovski, said.

DS leader, Pavle Trajanov, (former high official in the Interior Ministry) said the Ministry has always been using secret apartments for holding talks with its informers and associates. Quoting former Interior Ministry officials “Dnevnik” says that the Ministry owns around 20 secret apartments throughout the country, whereas the National Security Agency (DBK) owns additional 20. The apartments are registered on employees in the Interior Ministry of close relatives of theirs. The interrogations conducted in the apartments are being recoded by cameras hidden in TV sets. “Guests” in those apartments are most often police associates, informers, foreign diplomats and employees in foreign intelligence services. The police sometimes use luxurious apartments for blackmailing or compromising public figures, “Dnevnik” says.

Strasbourg Court to Rule on SlavoMacedonian Roma Torture Case for the First Time in its History

Budapest, Skopje, 11 May 2006. In a decision communicated last week, the
European Court of Human Rights has declared admissible the application of
Mr. Pejrusan Jasar against Macedonia.

On 16 April 1998, Mr. Pejrusan Jasar, a Romani man from Stip, Macedonia,
was in a local bar where gambling took place. One of the losing gamblers
complained that the dice were fixed, drew a firearm, and fired several
gunshots. Several police officers were called to the bar. Mr. Jasar
maintains that police officers grabbed him by his hair and forcibly placed
him in a police van. During his detention in police custody, he was kicked
in the head, punched and beaten with a truncheon by a police officer.
Medical protocols provided immediately after Mr. Jasar was released from
police custody the following morning stated that he had sustained numerous
injuries to his head, hand and back.

In May 1998, Mr. Jasar, represented by local attorney Mr. Jordan Madzunarov
together with the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC), filed a criminal
complaint with the public prosecutor against an unidentified police
officer. In the more than eight years intervening, no steps have ever been
taken to investigate the complaint. Mr. Jasar also brought civil
proceedings for damages against the Macedonian State. These were dismissed
in October 1999.

Having exhausted available domestic remedies, the ERRC and Mr. Madzunarov
filed a claim at the European Court of Human Rights on behalf of Mr. Jasar
against Macedonia on 1 February 2001. Mr. Jasar and his advocates
complained that he had been subjected to acts of police brutality amounting
to torture, inhuman and/or degrading treatment, as banned under Convention
Article 3. Furthermore, it was argued that the fact that prosecuting
authorities’ failed to carry out any official investigation capable of
leading to the identification and punishment of the police officers
responsible for the ill-treatment constituted a procedural violation of the
same article. It was further noted that Mr. Jasar’s lack of access to an
effective remedy with respect to the authorities’ failure to investigate
his allegations of ill-treatment violated Article 13 of the Convention read
in conjunction with Article 3.

In challenging Mr. Jasar’s claims, the Macedonian Government submitted that
he had not exhausted domestic remedies pursued all possibilities for
justice in Macedonia — in respect of his complaints of ill treatment. The
Government therefore argued that the application should be ruled
inadmissible. In the Government’s view, Mr. Jasar should have complained to
the officer in charge of the station or to the Sector for Internal Control
within the Ministry of Interior, such that disciplinary proceedings could
have been instituted against the police officers responsible. The
Government also took issue with the fact that Mr. Jasar did not initiate
administrative proceedings challenging the actions of the police before the
Supreme Court. He also failed to bring the alleged police brutality to the
attention of the Ombudsman, the Government argued.

In deciding on whether to hear the case, the Court reiterated that for the
purposes of reviewing whether Mr. Jasar had in fact pursued all available
opportunities for legal remedy in Macedonia, it is essential to have regard
to the circumstances of the individual case. The Court held, “This means,
in particular, that the Court must take realistic account not only of the
existence of formal remedies in the legal system of the Contracting State
concerned but also of the general context in which they operate, as well as
the personal circumstances of the applicant. It must then examine whether,
in all the circumstances of the case, the applicant did everything that
could reasonably be expected of him or her to exhaust domestic remedies.”

The Court accepted Mr. Jasar’s arguments and noted that the possibility of
initiating a disciplinary or internal inquiry into alleged ill-treatment
cannot generally be regarded as an effective remedy in this context as
these bodies lack the necessary independence. In the Court’s view, Mr.
Jasar could have not availed himself of the possibility of bringing an
administrative dispute before the Supreme Court for ill-treatment, as this
is only possible under Macedonian domestic law when the victim has no
alternative court remedy at his disposal. The Court held that the Ombudsman
also cannot be considered an effective remedy, as this body is not
empowered to address binding decisions to the Government, but rather may
only formulate recommendations.

In the view of the Court, by filing a criminal complaint and civil action
to obtain damages, Mr. Jasar “brought the alleged police brutality to the
attention of the authorities, placing them under a duty to carry out an
appropriate investigation, and instituted a court procedure able to
establish the facts, attribute responsibility and award monetary redress.
In the normal course of events this would be regarded as fulfilling the
requirements of […] the Convention in respect of his complaints under
Article 3 and it would not be necessary to institute any other procedures.”
The Strasbourg Court also accepted ERRC’s argumentation that as no official
effective investigation into the victim’s allegations had been carried out,
he had been suffering a continuing violation of the Convention’s provisions.

Decision on the merits of the case is pending.

For further information on the case, please contact ERRC Staff Attorney
Anita Danka: anita.danka@errc.org, +36-1-413-2221.

The ERRC’s work in Macedonia is currently supported by funding from the
European Union’s CARDS program, as well as funding from the Swedish
International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA).

_____________________________________________

The European Roma Rights Centre is an international public interest law
organisation which monitors the rights of Roma and provides legal defence
in cases of human rights abuse. For more information about the European
Roma Rights Centre, visit the ERRC on the web at http://www.errc.org.

European Roma Rights Centre
1386 Budapest 62
P.O. Box 906/93
Hungary

Phone: +36 1 4132200
Fax: +36 1 4132201

http://www.hrw.org/campaigns/macedonia/

Police Abuse Against Albanians Continues in Macedonia

“Persistent police abuse in Macedonia is simply shocking. Macedonia must urgently address the violence in its police stations. Ethnic Albanians are being severely abused, and in some cases beaten to death, without the slightest prospect of accountability. ”

http://hrw.org/english/docs/2001/08/22/macedo1477.htm

Macedonian Troops Commit Grave Abuses

“The Macedonian government must answer to the people of Ljuboten. It is deeply disturbing that the Minister of Interior appears to have been so intimately involved in one of the worst abuses of the war. We demand an immediate and impartial investigation.”

http://hrw.org/english/docs/2001/09/05/macedo2019.htm

Macedonian Police Abuses Documented
Ethnic Albanian Men Separated, Tortured at Police Stations

“Ethnic Albanian men fleeing the fighting in Macedonia face severe ill-treatment by the police. We have documented serious beatings and torture of ethnic Albanians at the Kumanovo and Skopje police stations in the last week. The victims we interviewed have the bruises and injuries to back up their claims of abuse”
http://www.hrw.org/press/2001/05/macedonia0530.htm

Macedonia: Rioters Burn Albanian Homes in Bitola

“The anti-Albanian riots in Bitola present a dangerous escalation of the crisis in Macedonia. The local police must fulfill their responsibility to stop the violence, not exacerbate it”

http://hrw.org/english/docs/2001/06/08/macedo192.htm

“Ethnic Albanians allege that the constitution reduces them to second-class citizens and must be amended. They argue that the Albanian language should be a second official language in the country.
Albanians say the authorities consistently deny them the right to “feel Albanian” and to display national symbols.”

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/wor…00/1224776.stm

“Despite government promises to reform Macedonia’s overly exclusive 1992 citizenship law in line with Council of Europe standards, the law remained unchanged. Drafted at the time of its independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Macedonia’s citizenship law never adequately resolved the status of the significant number of Yugoslav citizens who were long-term residents in Macedonia but who were neither born in Macedonia nor ethnic Macedonian. Large numbers of ethnic Albanians, Turks, and Roma who knew no other home than Macedonia remained effectively stateless as a result of the law.”

http://www.hrw.org/wr2k1/europe/macedonia.html

Human Rights Watch (New York, June 25, 2001):
Excerpt from the “MACEDONIA PARAMILITARY 2000 ORDER”:

“We order all Shiptars [derogatory term for ethnic Albanians-tr.] who have objects for sale-shopkeepers here and around the Kwantaskhi bazaar-to leave within three days, and for those Shiptars from Aracinovo, the deadline is 24 hours. After this deadline, all the shops will be burned, and if someone tries to protect [them], the same will be killed without warning.”
“We inform Shiptars of the Macedonian republic that for every killed police officer or soldier 100 Shiptars who do not have citizenship or who took citizenship after 1994 will be killed. For every police officer or soldier disabled, 50 Shiptars will be killed. For every wounded police officer or soldier wounded, 10 Shiptars will be killed, no matter what gender or age.”
“We inform Shiptars who do not have citizenship or got it after 1994 to leave Macedonia before June 25 this year, at midnight. After this deadline, we will start with the cleansing– “The Longest Night” courtesy of Macedonia Paramilitary 2000.

“This pamphlet is exactly the kind of thing that could lead to widespread ethnic violence. The government and international community have to stop it now.”
[Holly Cartner, HRW Executive director Europe and Central Asia division]

http://www.hrw.org/press/2001/06/macedon0625.htm

AP (Jun 16h, 2001): “It was not the cracked bones or the painful back injuries that made Nazim Bushi’s teeth clutch with anger.”“It was disappointment that the people who caused those injuries were fellow men in uniform, who he says turned against him solely because he belonged to the wrong ethnic group.”
“Supporters of Bushi, an ethnic Albanian officer serving with the Macedonian police at the military airport in Skopje, say he is a victim of police brutality that has proliferated since ethnic Albanian militants took up arms in February, demanding broader rights and claiming discrimination by majority Macedonian Slavs.”
“The incidents not only undermine government promises to improve the situation of ethnic Albanians, once the insurgency is dealt with. They could also draw ethnic Albanians to the militants and away from political parties willing to negotiate with the government.”
“Already, the rebels claim police harassment of ethnic Albanian civilians is feeding them with new recruits.”
`Young men who are beaten up by police are joining us every day,” a rebel commander known as “Commander Hoxha” told The Associated Press from the rebel-controlled village of Aracinovo, barely four miles from the capital. “They’re more than we can supply with weapons.”

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/2001…_police_1.html

Rioters Burn Albanian Homes in Bitola
Police Fail to Stop Violence, Some Actively Participate

Human Rights Watch (New York, June 8, 2001): “Police in the Macedonian city of Bitola did not attempt to stop rioting crowds on Wednesday night, and some police officers actively participated in the violence, Human Rights Watch said today. As a result, dozens of ethnic Albanian homes and as many as 100 shops were burned by the mob.”
“The available evidence strongly suggests that the Bitola police did not take any actions to stop the anti-Albanian attacks and that a significant number of Bitola police officers, in and out of uniform, took part in the rioting. The police took no apparent action to enforce the 10 p.m. curfew it had announced for the town, and the rioting continued until after 1 a.m., according to official police statements. The rioting crowds claimed to be revenging the deaths of Bitola police officers that were ambushed near Tetovo.”
“A village mosque was also vandalized by the rioters. Grave markers were broken, and several graves had been broken open. The windows of the mosque were broken, and rioters had set the carpets inside the mosque on fire but did not succeed in burning it down. On the exterior wall of the mosque, rioters had painted several swastikas and written “Death to the Shiptars.” The term “Shiptar” is an ethnic slur when used by non-Albanians”
“Anti-Albanian sentiment in Bitola is rapidly growing into a campaign by extremists to rid Bitola of its ethnic Albanian population. Witnesses interviewed by Human Rights Watch stated that the rioters had yelled slogans including “Death to Albanians,” “Pure Bitola,” “Albanians Out of Bitola,” “Get Out Albanians,” and other such statements. The rioters told some of the ethnic Albanians that they had a week to get out of town before being targeted again. Many ethnic Albanians have fled their homes in Bitola in the aftermath of Wednesday’s riot because they are afraid of further attacks.”

http://www.hrw.org/press/2001/06/Bitola0608.htm

16 June 2006, Budapest, Skopje.

The European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) and  the National Roma Centrum (NRC) sent a letter to Dr. Vlado Buckovski,
Prime Minister of the Republic of Macedonia expressing grave concern about the recent death of a Romani youth named Trajan Bekirov, and urging that Macedonian authorities to carry out a prompt, thorough and effective investigation. Copies of the letter were also sent to Ms. Meri Mladenovska Gjorgjievska, Minister of Justice, Mr. Ljubomir Mihajlovski, Minister
of Interior, and Mr. Aleksandar Prcevski, Public Prosecutor of the Republic of Macedonia.

Seventeen-year-old Trajan Bekirov was last seen alive after Macedonian police “Alfi” units chased him and his friend, Orhan Isemi, on 11 May 2006. His body was discovered on 28 May 2006 in the river Vardar near the village of Tubarevo. The Institute for Judicial Medicine carried out an autopsy, the result of which is still unknown. A criminal investigation is reportedly open, but as of the date of this letter, no results have been made public. Media articles in Macedonia have featured sensational allegations, such as the contention that Trajan Bekirov’s organs may have been stolen. Trajan Bekirov’s parents believe the initial police chase was influenced by racial considerations. They also allege an anti-Romani bias among Macedonian authorities.

The ERRC/NRC letter urges the respective authorities to undertake any and all measures available to ensure a swift, full, thorough and effective investigation into the death of Trajan Bekirov, and that any and all perpetrators involved in illegal actions in connection with his death be swiftly brought to justice. The organisations urge further that authorities
investigate the possibility of racial motive or animus in the circumstances leading to and/or surrounding Trajan Bekirov’s death, in addition to seeking to determine whether other forms of wrongdoing have taken place.
The results of the investigation, including that of the autopsy, should be transparent, and set to rest any and all open questions surrounding these events.
The full text of the ERRC/NRC letter is available here:

Honourable Prime Minister Buckovski,

The European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) is a Budapest-based international public interest law organization aimed at combating anti-Romani racisms and human rights abuse of Roma. The National Roma Centrum (NRC) is a
professional non-governmental organization located in Kumanovo, Macedonia, with the aim of representing and stimulating the active participation and integration of Romani people on the principles of the modern multiethnic
European society. The ERRC and NRC are writing to express grave concern about the recent death of a Romani youth named Trajan Bekirov, and to urge that Macedonian authorities carry out a prompt, thorough and effective investigation.

Seventeen-year-old Trajan Bekirov was last seen alive after Macedonian police “Alfi” units chased him and his friend, Orhan Isemi, on 11 May 2006.
His body was discovered on 28 May 2006 in the Vardar river near the village of Tubarevo. The Institute for Judicial Medicine carried out an autopsy, the result of which is still unknown. A criminal investigation is reportedly open, but as of the date of this letter, no results have been made public. Media articles in Macedonia have featured sensational
allegations, such as the contention that Trajan Bekirov’s organs may have been stolen.

Honourable Prime Minister Buckovski,
The European Court of Human Right’s case law and other international legal standards require a prompt and effective official investigation where there are potential violations of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Further positive obligations arise where there is a possibility that racial animus may have influenced events, implicating the Convention’s ban on discrimination.

States Parties to the Convention including Macedonia — have a positive obligation to immediately investigate alleged violations of the European Convention. Such an obligation also arises by implication under Article 1,
where the State must secure the “rights and freedoms of the Convention”. In Nachova v. Bulgaria, a case decided recently, the Court held that the Bulgarian authorities had violated the obligation under Article 2 by failing to investigate the deaths of two Roma men. Furthermore, in Assenov v. Bulgaria, the Court reiterated the principles of effectiveness of an investigation, that is there must be an official “investigation leading to identification and punishment of those responsible”. In the present case, a youth of Romani origin died in suspicious circumstances after a police chase. Since his life has ended and his family alleged possible police abuse before his death, it is imperative that the responsible authorities
commence and carry out a prompt, thorough and effective investigation.
Several international standards emphasize the necessity of conducting an investigation to give meaning to the articles of the Convention. For example, the UN Convention against Torture (CAT) sets out that States are required to provide any individual who alleges that he has been subjected to torture the right to complain to the authorities. Such a person also
has the right to have his case promptly and impartially examined.
Furthermore, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture has stated that where a country refuses to investigate allegations of torture, that country undermines “the very foundation of a democratic society”. Thus, such an
investigation is needed to protect the rights guaranteed under the Convention.

The obligation to investigate is even more pressing where potential Convention violations may have a racial motivation. Under Article 14 of the Convention, everyone’s rights must be protected from discrimination on the
basis of race and other grounds. Trajan Bekirov’s parents believe the initial police chase was influenced by racial considerations. They also allege an anti-Romani bias among Macedonian authorities. Thus, a thorough
investigation should begin at once, to allay any suspicion of racial bias, and to avoid the manifestation of an Article 14 violation.

In addition, the matter of police abuse and impunity has long been a particular concern for the Romani community in Macedonia. Organizations such as Human Rights Watch have documented the growing and unresolved problem of police violence. In a 2003 report, Human Rights Watch noted that
police in Macedonia “continue to perpetuate racially motivated abuses against the Roma with impunity”. In a report released in September 2004 on Macedonia, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) stated that “the inaction of judges, public prosecutors and investigating police officers has fostered a
climate in which law enforcement officials minded to ill-treat persons have come to believe with very good reasons that they can do so with impunity”.

The European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) of the Council of Europe has further observed that, in Macedonia, “Issues of discrimination and intolerance are not adequately recognised and confronted”.

Honourable Prime Minister Buckovski,

We urge you to undertake any and all measures within the powers available to your office to ensure a swift, full, thorough and effective investigation into the death of Trajan Bekirov, and that any and all perpetrators involved in illegal actions in connection with his death  be swiftly brought to justice. We urge further that authorities investigate the possibility of racial motive or animus in the circumstances leading to and/or surrounding Trajan Bekirov’s death, in addition to seeking to
determine whether other forms of wrongdoing have taken place. The results of the investigation, including that of the autopsy, should be transparent, and set to rest any and all open questions surrounding these events.

Yours sincerely,
Dimitrina Petrova (ERRC) and Asmet Elezovski (NRC)

For further information on the case, please contact:

Asmet Elezovski (NRC) elezovski@nationalromacentrum.org +389-31-427-558
Anita Danka (ERRC) anita.danka@errc.org +36-1-413-2200

Persons wishing to express similar concerns on the Trajan Bekirov case
are
urged to direct communication to:

Dr. Vlado Buckovski
Prime Minister of the Republic of Macedonia
Fax: +389-2-311-80-22

Ms. Meri Mladenovska Gjorgjievska
Minister of Justice of Republic of Macedonia
Dimitrie Cupovski Street, 9, 1000 Skopje, Macedonia
Fax: +389 23 226 975

Mr. Ljubomir Mihajlovski
Minister of Interior
Dimce Mircev Street, bb, 1000 Skopje, Macedonia
Fax: +389 23 112 468

Mr. Aleksandar Prcevski
Public Prosecutor
Krste Misirkov Street, bb, 1000 Skopje, Macedonia
Fax: +389 23 219 866

From greek newspaper ‘Kathimerini’. The mural dates from 1568 and anyone can see it in Moni Docheiareiou in Mt. Athos. The monastery of Docheiareiou appears to date back to the early years of the eleventh century.

From one side it says ‘Alexander King of the Hellenes’ and from the other ‘Augustus King of the Romans’