MINELREL-L Archive (10102000-18:59:13-29174)

Macedonians of Bulgaria in Uncertainty


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Date: Tue, 10 Oct 2000 18:59:12 +0200 (EET)
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Subject: Macedonians of Bulgaria in Uncertainty


From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>

Original sender: International Helsinki Federation <[email protected]>

Macedonians of Bulgaria in Uncertainty


Macedonians of Bulgaria in Uncertainty
 
A joint mission of Bulgarian and Macedonian Helsinki Committees finds
the human rights of Macedonians of Bulgaria precarious
 
Vienna, Sofia, Skopje, 10. October 2000. On 1, 2 and 3 October Meto
Jovanovski from the Macedonian Helsinki Committee for Human Rights and
Krassimir Kanev from the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee carried out a
fact-finding mission to gather information on the situation of the
Macedonian minority in Bulgaria. They visited all the municipalities
in the District of Blagoevgrad, spoke with local activists of
Macedonian organizations and collected documents. The focus of the
mission was the human rights developments since the February 2000 ban
of the Macedonian-based political party OMO Ilinden - PIRIN by the
Constitutional Court. The mission was carried out in the framework of
the Balkan Advocacy Project of the IHF and its South-East European
Helsinki Committees. This project is a EU funded part of the Stability
Pact Program.
 
1. The February 2000 Decision of the Constitutional Court and its
Effect
 
On February 28, 2000 the Constitutional Court of Bulgaria declared
unconstitutional OMO Ilinden - PIRIN, the political party of the
Macedonians of Bulgaria, which was formed in 1999 and ran with some
success in the October 1999 municipal elections. Two mayors and three
municipal counselors have been elected on the party's ticket despite
harassment and lack of funding. Both in its statute and in its
election platform OMO Ilinden - PIRIN declared that it will pursue its
political objectives in a peaceful way and will abide by international
standards of minority protection. Yet, with its February 2000 decision
the Constitutional Court surprisingly found it a threat to the
national security and declared it unconstitutional. The court's
decision is one in the series of repressive acts of the government
towards the Macedonians of Bulgaria and is based, as the other acts,
on the assumption that they are not a separate ethnic group, distinct
from the Bulgarians, and that the very existence of such a group is a
threat to the national security of Bulgaria. A number of violations of
their human rights have been documented since the beginning of the
democratic change in 1989 by both domestic and international human
rights monitors. The Constitutional Court's decision was condemned by
the President, the Prime Minister and the National Assembly of
Macedonia.
 
The Constitutional Court decision resulted in a serious blow to the
party's organizational status and political prospects. A number of
members withdrew from the party. While it had more than 1200 members
during the elections, its present membership does not exceed 1000. The
decision also had a chilling effect and in fact seriously hampered its
prospects to recruit members and to formulate political strategies. In
addition, it was interpreted as an effective ban on all party
activities and resulted in repressive measures by some municipal
authorities. This was the case e.g. in Razlog where the local
government demanded that OMO Ilinden - PIRIN frees the municipal
premises it hired before the decision. Several people were fired from
job or were not hired because they were implicated as activists of an
"illegal" group.
 
2. Other Human Rights Developments Not Directly Related to the
February 2000 Constitutional Court Decision

Macedonians of Bulgaria continue to face violations of their human
rights by Bulgarian authorities. Some of these have resulted into
cases in the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. At present
there are four cases brought to the court by Bulgarian citizens of
Macedonian decent. Two of them allege violations of freedom of
assembly and two - violations of the right to freedom of association.
On 17 October 2000 the European Court of Human Rights will hear the
case of Boris Stankov and OMO Ilinden v Bulgaria. This is the oldest
application that brought a number of cases of violation of freedom of
peaceful assembly by the Bulgarian police, administrative and judicial
authorities during attempts at celebration of historical events, which
Macedonians of Bulgaria consider important for their Macedonian
identity. According to the unanimous opinion of activists from
different Macedonian organizations the pending case in Strasbourg
influenced this years' more lenient attitudes of the authorities
during the attempts of the Macedonians to organize their traditional
celebrations. The two main Macedonian groups, the association OMO
Ilinden and the political party OMO Ilinden - PIRIN were allowed by
the police to celebrate the anniversary of the murder of the
Macedonian hero Yane Sandanski on 22 and 23 April at the Rozhen
Monastery despite the ban by the Mair of Sandanski. They were also
allowed to celebrate the anniversary of the Ilinden uprising on 30
July despite the ban by both the Mair of Petrich and the District
Court. OMO Ilinden - PIRIN was allowed twice to put flowers on the
monument of Gotse Delchev in the town of Gotse Delchev - on 4 February
and on 4 May. At the same time during the April celebrations the
police confiscated papers, posters and banners of the activists on
both days and filmed them despite their protests. A number of drivers
were fined as a way of harassment on their way to the Rozhen Monastery
for alleged technical irregularities with their cars.
 
Despite this generally more lenient attitude of the authorities
Blagoevgrad's District Prosecutor banned a celebration of the day of
the "Macedonian Genocide" planned by OMO Ilinden for September 12 to
take place on the Macedonia square in Blagoevgrad. Police effectively
enforced this ban by stopping the activists on their way to the
square.
 
Other activists from different Macedonian groups faced official
harassment in their attempts to demonstrate Macedonian identity. A
number of them complained that they have been searched at the border
checkpoints during their trips to Macedonia and that some of their
belongings might have been copied. One delegate to the World
Macedonian Congress was searched at the border on August 7 upon return
from Macedonia and some of the materials she carried were confiscated.
Then the police threatened her that she will get two years of
imprisonment for membership in OMO Ilinden - PIRIN and that she will
be fired from her job.
 
Some Macedonian activists expressed concerns that their phones are
tapped and that they are otherwise followed by the secret police.
Others were afraid that the secret police was interfering with their
business. During the visit in Blagoevgrad local members of OMO Ilinden
- PIRIN reported that they saw officers from the local secret police
around the place of the first meeting.
 
For further informations:
 
International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights, Aaron Rhodes
(Executive Director),
Tel. +43-1-408 88 22 or +43-676-635 66 12 (mobile)
Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, Krassimir Kanev (Chair), 
Tel. +359-2-943 48 76
or +359-489 716 33 (mobile)
Helsinki Committee for Human Rights of the Republic of Macedonia, Meto
Jovanovski (Chair),
Tel. +389-91-119 073
 
Note: This document has been produced with the financial assistance of
the European Community. The views expressed herein are those of the
IHF, the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee and the Helsinki Committee for
Human Rights of the Republic of Macedonia and can therefore in no way
be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Community.
 
__________________________________________
International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights
Wickenburggasse 14/7
A-1080 Vienna
Tel. +43-1-408 88 22
Fax: +43-1-408 88 22 ext. 50
______________________________________

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