Interview Interview
In Macedonia the most violated are the rights of Roma people
It is hard to compare the human rights. Some human rights violations may only affect a few individuals while others affect much large groups of people. It's clear to us that the rights of minorities, and in particular the Roma, are probably the most systematically violated, says Jones from Amnesty international
A month ago, Sian Jones, as a part of a team from Amnesty International was in Macedonia, in a period when the preparations for the draft version of the law for antidiscrimination were re-newed. The main remark by Jones was that in the country there are laws that are hardly implementing in practice, as well as the fact that the majority of the people don’t know their basic human rights. Amnesty is fully agree with the remarks of the progress reports of the European Commission, in the part where human rights are mentioned. Jones said that Amnesty during the next year will monitor the country on a regular basis.
What was the reason for your visit in Macedonia?
„We came to Macedonia primarily to follow up on the report we published in 2007 on the Government’s failure to guarantee the rights of Romani women and girls, and to find out what – if any – progress had been made by the Government in implementing the action plan of the status of Romani women in particular and the Decade of Roma Inclusion Action Plans in general. We also have a nuber of other human rights concerns in the country.“
Generally, according to you, what is the condition with the human rights in the country?
„Generally, there is a lot of room for improvement, however, there are some signs that Macedonia is beginning to take its human rights obligations more seriously. We have seen some improvements, for example, in the internal investigation of allegations of ill-treatment of detainees by the police, but on the other hand, prosecutors and judges are still apparently unwilling to initiate prosecutions in such cases. Other reforms and new laws have been introduced, as part of Macedonia’a progress towards joining the European Union.“
„However, we agree with the European Commission in their criticisms that the government has made little progress in ensuring the rights of Romani people in Macedonia. There have been some measures to assist the Romani community in accessing their rights, for example, measures taken to assist access to free and compulsory education introduced by the Ministry of Education.“
„However, there has been very little specific progress in implementing the National Action Plans for the Decade of Romani Inclusion. We are also concerned at the lack of funding allocated by the government for the Strategy on the Status of Romani Women. In 2007 we found that essential services were being delivered to Romani people through Romani NGOs; the situation remains very much the same, except that many of these NGOs are now facing a funding crisis as donors leave the region.“
Which rights are most violated?
„It is hard to compare rights. Some human rights violations may only affect a few individuals while others affect much large groups of people. It's clear to us that the rights of minorities, and in particular the Roma, are probably the most systematically violated.“
You were in Macedonia in a period when there was a new round of preparations for the new law for antidiscrimination. The things in this department are going too slow.
„A law on discrimination is required for accession to the European Union, but it is more important than that. All international treaties - like the European convention on Human rights - state that all rights must be guaranteed without discrimination. Human rights must apply to all persons. Therefore it's important that this basic principle of non- discrimination is set out in law, and the law include provisions to ensure that if someone suffers discrimination on any grounds then they should be able to go to a court, or some other competent intuition, and have a remedy for the discrimination they suffer. The law also has to show how the government is going to promote human rights - so that everyone knows what rights they have, and establish a body which will make sure that people's rights are protected, and that those who violate those rights - including the government or private individuals - can be prosecuted.“
„Amnesty International considers that the current draft law needs to be improved, and that there should be full and continuous consultation with civil society, especially including people representing those - like Roma, for example, who experience discrimination as part of their everyday lives.“
How can we increase the public awareness about human rights?
„There need to be provisions in the law to make sure that everyone is aware of their rights. It's not enough to put a law on the government website; there needs to be a big campaign - on radio, TV, in the newspapers, leaflets in all the places that people go, and in all the languages used in the country, to make sure that every one is aware of changes in legislation, including the introduction of the anti-discrimination law and what it means for them.“
Does Macedonia have capacity to do more about the human rights?
„It is not only a matter of capacity, but of political will. The law is not just a matter for the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, the law on non-discrimination will require comprehensive support across all government department and institutions. In order to fulfil the right to non-discrimination all government institutions will be required to take the necessary legislative, administrative, budgetary, judicial and promotional measures to ensure the full realization of the right to non-discrimination“
Is Amnesty going to have more activities in the country in the future?
„We have returned from Macedonia with a very long list of activities and cases to work on. We will be raising our concerns with the government and in our reports and other documents, available on the Amnesty International website, and through campaigns which are carried out by the international membership of Amnesty international, so we expect to be very busy over the next year “
