ERRC: Roma in the Macedonian Conflict
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Date: Thu, 19 Jul 2001 17:10:48 +0300 (EEST)
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Subject: ERRC: Roma in the Macedonian Conflict
From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Original sender: European Roma Rights Center <[email protected]>
ERRC: Roma in the Macedonian Conflict
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
_____________________________________________
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