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| Subject: |
ERRC: Roma in the Macedonian Conflict |
| From: |
European Roma Rights Center
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> |
| Date: |
Fri,
Jul 13 2001 12:22:48 PM +0200 |
European Roma Rights Center
Press Statement: Roma
in the Macedonian Conflict
July 13, 2001
The European Roma
Rights Center (ERRC), an international public interest
law
organisation which monitors the situation of Roma in Europe and
provides legal defence in cases of serious human rights abuse, is
concerned
about the situation of Roma in Macedonia, as ethnic
relations in the
country deteriorate and violence escalates to the
point of war. The ERRC is
concerned that:
·
The serious human rights issues facing Roma in Macedonia even prior
to the conflict have never been addressed adequately by Macedonian
authorities.
· There are currently more than
5000 Romani refugees from Kosovo in
Macedonia -- persons unable to
return to Kosovo since they were ethnically
cleansed from the province
following the cessation of NATO bombing and the
return of ethnic
Albanian refugees to Kosovo after June 1999. These persons
are in a
unique state of exposure and should be brought without delay to
countries where conditions exist such that refugees can be provided
with
adequate protection and support.
· In
the present conflict, there are early reports of attacks on Roma
by
ethnic Macedonians, indicating that the widely held view in Macedonia
that Roma who are loyal to the Macedonian state will not suffer attack
by
ethnic Macedonians on grounds of their ethnic origin is
unfortunately not
true. In light of events in Kosovo since 1999, the
possibility of attacks
on Roma by ethnic Albanians must unfortunately
be taken very seriously.
· In the context of
negotiations aimed at resolving the conflict in
Macedonia, there is a
distinct danger that (i) Roma will continue to be
excluded from
official discussions (as they have been to date) and (ii) in
the face
of pressure by both ethnic Albanians and ethnic Macedonians, the
concerns of other ethnic groups in Macedonia will be forgotten.
Present and
future arrangements in Macedonia must begin from the
premise that Macedonia
is a multi-ethnic society.
ERRC concerns
in detail follow:
1. The Human Rights Situation of Roma in
Macedonia Prior to the Present
Conflict
Prior to the present
conflict, Macedonian authorities systematically denied
that Roma
suffer human rights abuse in Macedonia. On the basis of field
research
conducted in Macedonia, in 1998 the ERRC published the Country
Report
A Pleasant Fiction: The Human Rights Situation of Roma in Macedonia,
concluding that the serious human rights issues that have given rise
to
concern elsewhere in the region, such as rampant police abuse and
violence
against Roma, as well as discrimination in many areas of
life, exist in
Macedonia. The prevailing view that Macedonia is
somehow “exceptional” with
respect to Roma has contributed to a
consistently inadequate state response
to human rights violations of
Roma.
ERRC concerns in Macedonia, as detailed in its 1998 report
and subsequent
publications, have included especially:
·
A high number of Romani persons rendered de facto stateless
following Macedonian independence in 1992. Authorities have, to date,
not
engaged effectively to end Romani statelessness in
Macedonia;
· Forced homelessness and other
abuses of Roma by municipal authorities;
·
Exclusion of and discrimination against Roma in access to social
protection, health care and housing;
·
Numerous reported instances of police brutality, including cases in
which violence by state officials have led to the death of the victim.
Officers who physically abuse Roma are rarely if ever punished for
their
actions.
In connection with the latter concern, earlier
this year, the European Roma
Rights Center filed an application to the
European Court of Human Rights in
connection with the 1998 police
abuse of Mr Pejrusan Jasar, and the
subsequent failure of Macedonian
authorities to take adequate measures to
punish the officers
concerned. The full text of the ERRC report, as well as
other ERRC
publications on the situation of Roma in Macedonia, is available
on
the Internet at: http://errc.org/publications/indices/macedonia.shtml.
2.
Romani Refugees from Kosovo in Macedonia
Following the return of
the ethnic Albanians to Kosovo in June 1999 and the
entry of NATO
(KFOR) troops into the province, ethnic Albanians conducted a
sustained and brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing against Kosovo's
Roma and
other persons regarded as "Gypsies", a campaign which
continues to today.
Albanians killed and kidnapped Roma and raped them
in front of their family
members, broke into Romani houses during the
night and threatened to kill
them if they were there in the morning,
removed property en masse from
Romani houses, stopped Roma on the
street and took their automobiles and
burned entire Romani settlements
to the ground. The situation in Kosovo
remains, today, extremely
dangerous for persons regarded as "Gypsies":
according to information
from KFOR and UNMIK, only for the period
February-June 2001, one
Romani man was found dead in his home as a result
of repeated
stabbing; at least eleven instances of assault on Roma were
reported;
in separate incidents, two Romani children were abducted or
otherwise
reported missing; six Romani-owned houses were set on fire; in
three
cases granades were thrown at Romani houses. The true number of
attacks may be much higher. A joint report by the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Organization for Security
and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) published on April 3, 2001, states:
"The
degree of sophistication and planning behind these recent attacks
[...]
challenges the characterisation of continued violence against
minorities as
isolated attacks motivated by individuals' desire for
revenge. It would
appear there is an orchestrated campaign or
campaigns organised by, as yet,
unidentified elements whose aim is
clearly to terrorise minority
populations, destabilise the province
and prevent democratisation and
peaceful co-existence. The number of
perpetrators arrested and successfully
prosecuted for these attacks
remains very low."
Today, roughly four fifths of the pre-1999
Romani population of Kosovo
remain outside the borders of Kosovo and
are unable to return due to the
threat of violence against persons
regarded as "Gypsies" in Kosovo. More
than 5000 Roma from Kosovo are
presently refugees in Macedonia. In the
context of the escalating
violence in Macedonia, these persons are in an
unique state of
exposure. In light of the fact that Roma from Kosovo in
Macedonia meet
the alienage requirement of the 1951 Convention relating to
the status
of refugees and yet are presently sheltered in a country
threatened by
civil war, the international community should, without delay,
bring
them to countries where prevailing conditions exist such that
refugees
can be provided with adequate protection and support. There may
additionally be legal grounds for bringing stateless Roma in Macedonia
to
third countries for protection. Given its present weakness and the
large
numbers of inadequately sheltered displaced persons there, the
Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia should not be considered as a target
country for
placement of refugees currently in
Macedonia.
3. Attacks on Roma in the Present
Conflict
It has been extensively reported in the international
media that Macedonia
is presently threatened by civil war between, on
the one hand, government
security forces and, on the other hand groups
who have been variously
described as local ethnic Albanian separatists
or paramilitaries from
Kosovo, or some combination of the
two.
In a very worrying development, following a lethal attack by
ethnic
Albanian paramilitaries against security forces in northern
Macedonia,
beginning on April 30, 2001, ethnic Macedonians in the
southern Macedonian
town of Bitola went on a rampage, destroying and
looting shops belonging to
Muslims primarily ethnic Albanians,
but also Torbeshi, Bosnians and Roma.
Among the fifty to sixty shops
smashed was the boutique of Mr Edailj
Kolminov, a Muslim Romani man.
Mr Kolminov told the ERRC during field
research on May 5 that the
windows of his shop had been broken during the
night of the second day
of the violence. Mr Kolimov was away from Macedonia
on business during
the attack, and he returned to find his shop destroyed
and all of the
clothes in the shop stolen. Mr Kolimov estimated that he had
lost
goods in the value of approximately 30,000 German marks (approximately
15,300 euros) in the attack. According to Mr Kolimov police officers
came
and took down some details, but reportedly were unable to find
any
witnesses to the attack.
The ethnic cleansing of Roma from
Kosovo in 1999 is the single biggest
catastrophe to strike the Romani
community since World War II. Kosovo lies
at Macedonia's border. Every
Romani person in Macedonia fears at some level
that their country may
become another Kosovo and that the Romani community
of Macedonia will
suffer a similar fate as the Roma of Kosovo. The
potential similarity
of the ethnic hatred at issue notwithstanding,
Macedonian authorities
have publicly denied that the conflict in Macedonia
bears any relation
to that in Kosovo and have instead clung to the idea
that "Macedonia
is an island of democracy in the Balkans." The attack in
Bitola
indicates a level of ethnic exclusivity among ethnic Macedonians
frequently denied by authorities, experts and internationals, and
suggests
that proactive measures must be taken by Macedonian
authorities and
international security forces operative in Macedonia
to ensure that
minority groups -- including Roma -- receive adequate
protection.
4. Exclusion of Roma from Official Discussions
Concerning Macedonia's Future
Roma are severely underrepresented in
public affairs in Macedonia. Roma are
not adequately represented in
government or in the public administration.
The absence of Roma from
current official discussions about solutions to
the inter-ethnic
crisis in Macedonia has been particularly glaring. Despite
the
unequivocal position expressed by Romani political leaders in Macedonia
that Roma should be part of public dialogue for a solution to the
conflict,
Macedonian authorities have not yet undertaken measures to
recognise Roma
as partners in discussion.
* * *
In view
of the concerns elaborated above, the ERRC calls on the Macedonian
government and the international community to undertake, at minimum,
the
following measures:
· Ensure that, in
the present situation of conflict and potential
conflict, Roma are
adequately protected.
· Ensure that
perpetrators of human rights abuse against Roma are
promptly brought
to justice. Take all measures necessary to guarantee Roma
in Macedonia
equal protection of the law.
· Bring all
Romani refugees from Kosovo to third countries, and
examine the
possibility of bringing all stateless Roma in Macedonia to
countries
capable of guaranteeing protection and support. Given its present
weakness and the large numbers of inadequately sheltered displaced
persons
there, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia should not be
considered as a
target country for placement of refugees or stateless
persons currently in
Macedonia.
·
Recognising that Macedonia is a multi-ethnic state, ensure that
Romani
representatives are included in all relevant discussions aimed at
resolving the current crisis and that they participate in all relevant
initiatives and bodies responsible for the development of policies and
possible legal or constitutional changes aimed at reconciliation,
peaceful
coexistence and rights protection in Macedonia.
·
Adopt comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation
and ensuring
that it is enforced; implement policies to counter
anti-Romani racism.
· Take all appropriate
measures to resolve the widespread problem of
statelessness among Roma
in Macedonia, in particular by bringing Macedonian
citizenship
legislation into conformity with international norms on
citizenship in
the context of state succession. All persons who can
demonstrate
genuine and effective links to Macedonia on grounds of the
conditions
of -- and in accordance with the principles set down in --
Article 18
of the European Convention on Nationality should be granted
citizenship in Macedonia upon
request.
_____________________________________________
The
European Roma Rights Center 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 Center, visit the ERRC on the web at http://www.errc.org.
European Roma Rights
Center
1386 Budapest 62
P.O. Box 906/93
Hungary
Phone:
+36 1 4132200
Fax: +36 1
4132201
_____________________________________________
SUPPORT
THE ERRC!
The European Roma Rights Center is dependent upon the
generosity of
individual donors for its continued existence. If you
believe the ERRC
performs a service valuable to the public, please join
in enabling its
future with a contribution. Gifts of all sizes are
welcome; bank transfers
are preferred. Please send your contribution
to:
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Budapest Bank
Rt.
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1054 Budapest
Bathory utca
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