Serbs in FYROM are an extension from the central parts of Serbian ethnicity, related to archaic groups in Kosovo and Metohija as well to a larger degree, with the basin of river Morava. That Serbs are found among early medieval Slav settlers of the Vardar/Axios region is confirmed by sources which identify the city of Gordoservon in Asia Minor as founded by introduction of Serb captives from the aforementioned area. The exact nature and scope of this early Serbian settlement in FYROM is not known, but it can be safely assumed that it was minuscule and  any demographic and ethnolinguistic influence was probably lost in the Byzanto-Bulgarian struggles of the next few centuries.

Serbians established their massive presence in Povardarje (today’s FYROM) and parts of Macedonia (Northern Greece) after King Milutin’s conquest of Polog, Skoplje and Ovče Polje area in northernmost Povardarje in 1282. The catastrophic defeat of Bulgarians at the Battle of Velbužd (Ćustendil) in 1330 inflicted by the Serbian army removed the final challenge to Serbian authority in Povardarje. Conclusive with the act of coronation of Stephan Dušan in his capital Skoplje, Serbian population was implanted in both Pologs, in enclaves around Debar, in the wider regions of Skoplje and Ovče Polje and in small extent in Greek cities of Kastoria and Serres, which together with the southern area of FYROM compromised the part of Dušan’s Empire whose Greek character was observed as the cultural policy of the Nemanjić court.

The period of the Serbian rule in Povardarje was characterized by strong cultural initiative in the domain of ecclesiastic art, primarily architecture. Several hundreds of Christian temples build or substantially reconstructed in the relatively brief Serbian period of Povardarje testify to the intensity and maturity of Serbian culture of the era. “Dušan’s Law”, a legal codex and a de facto constitution of the late medieval Serbian state proclaimed in Skoplje as well as the great number of manuscripts and epigraphic monuments produced in that era do not mention “Macedonians”, in contrast with other ethnic groups such as Greeks, Albanians, Vlachs, Bulgarians and Saxons.

The abrupt end of Serbian domination of Povardarje came with the invasion of Ottoman Turks, a militant Asiatic tribe which confronted the Serb defenders at Marica (Černomen) in 1371 in a battle described by the contemporaries as clash of Serbs and Greeks against the Turks.

Devoid of freedom and without centralist institutions, with the exception of the inclusion of northern FYROM under jurisdiction of the Patriarchate of Peć in 17th and 18th century, Serbs as well as other local Christians were forced to the status of “dhimi”, marginalized and enslaved population that theoretically enjoyed scriptural protection granted by Muslim overlords.

It would appear that there are the central trend in the history of FYROM was its De-Serbization in cultural and demographic sense and the reemergence of the Bulgarian rural population. While this process was not either linear nor it is complete, in the light of total absence of works about the history, language and culture by science of FYROM organized along lines of Pseudomacedonian supremacy, few aspects of Serbian presence in early and middle Ottoman period deserve mention.

Western and local Catholic sources generally acknowledge that Skoplje (today’s Skopje, the capital of FYROM) as well as Kratovo, a town located east from Skoplje, have a Serbian character. This was reported by Jakov Sorranzo in 1575, Martin Crusius and Aleksandar Komulović in 1584, Nicolo Longi in 1622, Bishop Peter of Sophia in 1665, Urban Cerri in 1680. Bishop Peter Bogdani in 1685, Bishop of Cotor Marin Drago in 1690 are more specific, mentioning Skoplje’s Serbian and Greek population. These ethnic groups are mentioned also by Bishop Matija Masarek in 1770 and 1790.
Orthodox clerics Bratan Ivanov, Dimitrije Petrov and Mihailo of Kratovo were registered in historical sources as Serbs upon their arrival in Russia, during the middle phase of Ottoman rule.

Furthemore, one of the most common male names among the Slavs of Povardarje registered by Turkish demographic records is “Srbin” (a Serb) which was popular even at the beginning of the 20th century. Undoubtedly, it was given as a way to express nostalgia for the Nemanjići period, the last Slavic epoch of freedom.

The beginning of the last phase of De-Serbization of Povardarje started with the partial forced assimilation out of the circumstances created by the Serbian uprisings in 1804 and 1815 on the territory of today’s Serbia, when a number of Serbs took the Bulgarian ethnic name out of conformism. This phenomena was accelerated with the dying of Serbian schools in northern FYROM by the middle of the 19th century and their replacement by the school system of the Bulgarian Exarchate founded in 1871. The emancipation of the surrounding Bulgarian population, primarily as a reaction against perceived eminent status of the Greek clergy and the emerging class of Greek bourgeoisie in southern towns of FYROM further created preconditions for assimilation of the Serb population already weakened and  marginalized from participation in the wider emergence of nationalist sentiments. It is only after beginning of propagandist activity sponsored by official Belgrade in the late 19th century and the appearance of Serbian paramilitary, the Četniks, after 1904 that the described process of ethnic melting was halted and partially reversed. It should be emphasized that the competition of nationalities in the Povardarje region in the closing years of 19th and the first years of 20th century caused more often than not a confusion with regard of self-determination of local individuals.

Finally, the ideology of “Macedonism”appeared as an embrionic form and precursor to creation of the nominally “Macedonian” nation in Tito’s Yugoslavia after 1944, although in the preceding decades it was nothing more than intellectual concept nurtured among few people, in opposition of the all-pervasive Bulgarian national feeling south of Skoplje and north and eastern of Pelagonia registered by great number of foreign visitors and recognized by scholars as such. The Serb presence in FYROM in the closing decades of Turkish rule in Europe was nevertheless registered by travelers such as J. Muller, C. Robert, E. Spencer, I. S. Jastrebov, K. Ostreich and others.

Among ethnographic customs the archaic and exclusively Serbian custom of “Krsna Slava”, festivity in honor of a Patron Saint, observed even today in spite of decades of Communist oppression of spirituality in general and the Christians in particular, serves as a certain marker of Serbian ancestry of a great number of  “Macedonians” of South Slavic type, chiefly in northern and western Povardarje regions.

The legacy of decades of Marxist-Titoist concept of social organization in the Ex-Yugoslav republic and the post-1992 process of symbolic De-Slavization of  the “Macedonian” identity in FYROM proved as an obstacle to consolidation of the Serbian identity at local level. The name “Macedonia” for a region belonging to the ancient regions of Paeonia and Dardania substituted the geographic name (southern) Serbia from the north of the country. Scholarship about the Serbian language, folklore and ethnology became non-existent due to the acquired reorientation of the public discourse towards building a fictional “Macedonian” identity rooted in classical antiquity. The presence of ethnic Serbs in FYROM, which numbers over 180. 000 people, mostly undeclared as such due to social pressure, was acknowledged by the constitution of the young Balkan nation only in 2002.

Pressure towards Serbs in FYROM continues as an unofficial policy and as folkoristic phenomena according to which they are mixture of “colonists” from Serbia and other areas of former Yugoslavia on one hand and “srbomani”, I. e. “Macedonians” or Bulgarians – depending on the perspective – which converted into Serbianism and are, by implication, traitors from the “Macedonian” collective guided by opportunism. Such stigmatization is part of a broader policy of homogenization of the entities characterized by Orthodox Christian affinity, including Greeks, Greek-Vlachs and conscious Bulgarians, under the banner of Pseudomacedonian ideology.

It remains to be seen are Serbs in FYROM going to prevail the local atmosphere of quiet dehumanization and “Macedonisation” in light of the phlegmatic attitude of Serbia with regard to cultural sponsorship of Serbian communities abroad. Modest successes regarding ethnic preservation and creation of ethnic metaphysical values after the change of the FYROMian constitution are encouraging signs, but complete revitalization of the local Serbian national culture can be achieved only in opposition to “Macedonizing” trends and creation of political appeal  against national defeatism and fatalism.

Vasko Gligorijević

Skoplje, FYROM

http://www.sofiatimes.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=11885&Itemid=85

European anti-torture investigators say FYROM should stop chaining up prison inmates and do more to fight corruption and inhuman conditions in its jails.

Human rights watchdog the Council of Europe sent FYROM a copy of its most recent report into torture in the former Yugoslav republic, and asked its government in a letter to comply with its recommendations.

FYROM should “provide within one month confirmation that chains are no longer used as a means of restraint in prisons”, and comply with other recommendations to improve the criminal justice system within three months.

Mauro Palma, head of the Council’s European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, said officials had revisited the same sites in 2008 as they had previously but conditions had not changed.

“In 2007, conditions were deplorable – prisons lacked management and real structures to investigate abuse,” he said.

“Since then the situation is unchanged. . . the government needs to commit itself and come up with a real project, and not change prison authorities with every new government.”

FYROM’s new government, which hopes to join Nato, came to power in July promising to focus on European Union membership, but Brussels said last week the Balkan nation needed to clean up its politics first.

The 47-member Council of Europe seeks to promote democratic principles throughout the continent, based on the European Convention on Human Rights and other statutes on the protection of individuals.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/4687869a12.html

Another evidence that shatters the totally absurb claims of FYROM propaganda about banning of the term “Macedonia” in Greece prior to 1988 is “Helios”. “Helios” was a Greek Encyclopaedia whose full title was “Neoteron Egkyclopaediko Lexikon Helios”.

It was renamed from “The Weekly Encyclopaedic Review ‘Helios’ and it was published in Athens between 1945 and 1960. In its edition of 19th Dec. 1947, it had a long article about the undisputed Greek character of Macedonia with the title…Macedonia!!!! All of these of course in a country where according to FYROM propagandists the use of the name “Macedonia”  was….strictly forbiden!!

Tr: The third Greek power, Macedonians.

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.

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

2007 has got off to a bad start for ethnic minorities in the FYR Macedonia where the hostilities towards those who identify themselves as Bulgarians inside the country has boiled over once again. Given historical sensitivities (in recent years there was a law in FYR Macedonia “to protect the honour of the Macedonian language” were it was a crime to refer to the Macedonian language as being of Bulgarian origin). In the same way it was and still is dangerous for someone to publically identify themselves as Bulgarians in the FYR Macedonia.

13 January 2007, Saturday.

A deliberate anti-Bulgarian campaign has been going on in Macedonia over the past five months, Krassimir Karakachanov, head of the VMRO nationalist movement said.

Karakachanov talked to Darik News about an incident from Saturday morning, when a group of Bulgarians commemorating a local patron were attacked in Macedonia. Some 40 people attacked those gathered to mark 79 years since the death of Mara Buneva, a revered fighter for the rights of the Bulgarians in Macedonia. The attackers were yelling “Die Bulgarians,” and “Go away.” They used rocks and metal pipes, hitting the people gathered to celebrate, who were mostly elderly. Most of the injured have already prepared medical statements, describing their injuries, so they can take the matter to court.

The attack was organized, Karakachanov said, adding that Macedonia’s authorities are seriously ticked by the fact that more and more of their citizens apply for Bulgarian passports. He also commented that the number of Bulgarian unions in Macedonia is increasing and that bothers the government. “People start to openly express their Bulgarian national self-awareness and the government is helpless to do anything but lead campaigns against Bulgaria,” he said.

Bulgaria should ask the EU and NATO to cut all talks with Macedonia until the Saturday attackers are identified, arrested and tried, Karakachanov added. The first thing that the country should do is serve Macedonia a very firm letter of protest, demanding that the organizers and perpetrators of the attack are caught, he added.

Someone in Macedonia has already carried the hatred too far in organizing such an action, but the question is why doesn’t Bulgaria react firmly, Karakachanov fumed.

At present, police have increased their presence before Bulgaria’s embassy in Skopje to prevent more violence.

http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=75334