Amnesty International Report 2002 - Macedonia

Covering events from January-December 2001

The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
Head of state: Boris Trajkovski
Head of government: Ljubco Georgievski
Capital: Skopje
Population: 2 million
Official language: Macedonian
Death penalty: abolitionist in practice
2001 treaty ratifications/signatures: Optional Protocol to the UN Children's Convention on the involvement of children in armed conflict

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The human rights situation deteriorated as fighting between Macedonian security forces and ethnic Albanian armed groups escalated in the first part of the year. There were reports of unlawful killings by both sides. Allegations of torture and ill-treatment by police became more frequent. There were also reports of ill-treatment and hostage-taking by groups of both ethnic Albanians and of Macedonians. More than 170,000 people were displaced from their homes at some point during the year and many were not able to return. After a peace agreement in August, the fighting tapered off and continued at a lower level.

Background

Fighting between the Macedonian security forces and an ethnic Albanian armed group, the National Liberation Army (NLA), escalated from the start of 2001. The NLA said it was seeking greater rights for ethnic Albanians and an end to discrimination. The government claimed that the NLA was made up of Albanians from Kosovo who were trying to gain territory, and attempted to defeat them militarily. In mid-August, when the country was on the brink of much wider conflict, mediators appointed by the USA and European Union (EU) helped the leaders of the four main political parties to reach an agreement. The framework agreement, negotiated in Ohrid, included reforms aimed at addressing discrimination against the Albanian minority. In return, the NLA agreed to disarm (assisted by a NATO force called "Essential Harvest") and disband. There was also an understanding that there would be an amnesty from prosecution for NLA members except those who had committed serious war crimes. By the end of September, NATO had collected more than the agreed number of 3,300 weapons from the NLA, and an NLA spokesperson then declared that it had been disbanded.

Implementation of the framework agreement required parliament to amend the Constitution. This was delayed by strong opposition from ethnic Macedonians to what they perceived to be concessions towards ethnic Albanians. Displaced Macedonians wanted the Macedonian police to re-establish full control of villages in which their homes were located before they would return. However, ethnic Albanians in those areas wanted the amnesty to be confirmed first, as they were said to be afraid of police brutality and arrests of former NLA members. The international community tried to reassure both sides and to push forward the peace process with the promise of aid for reconstruction and up to 200 monitors from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the EU protected by a new NATO force ("Amber Fox").

Violations by the security forces

On 12 August, following the deaths of eight Macedonian soldiers in an anti-tank mine explosion, Macedonian special police forces entered the nearby village of Luboten. According to journalists and a representative of the non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch who visited the site shortly afterwards, the special police summarily killed six civilians and ill-treated more than 100 others whom they arrested. The Ministry of the Interior claimed that the dead were armed and had been killed during exchanges of fire. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia announced an investigation into this incident.

Numerous reports of shelling of villages under NLA control by the army and police indicated that the actions may have been indiscriminate. Civilians, including children, were killed and injured. Government sources asserted that civilians were being kept in the villages as human shields for the NLA. Others argued that villagers feared arbitrary arrest, ill-treatment and ethnic cleansing at the hands of the Macedonian security forces if they left their homes.

Arbitrary arrest, torture and ill-treatment

Police continued to ill-treat people during arrest and in detention. AI's longstanding concern about police ill-treatment was confirmed in a report by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT). This followed a visit in May 1998, and was published with the government's response in October 2001. The Ministry of the Interior reported that several training courses on human rights had been held for police officers and senior officials and that steps were being taken to strengthen the rights of detainees. However, there was little evidence of these measures having practical effect on the ground. There were numerous allegations of ethnic Albanians being brutally beaten, particularly by police reservists hastily mobilized during the conflict. The CPT made a further visit to Macedonia in October 2001, including unannounced visits to several police stations in the disputed area. Its findings were not available by the end of the year.

Ethnic Albanians were detained arbitrarily and ill-treated at police checkpoints, in police raids on their homes or when trying to escape from NLA-controlled villages being shelled by the security forces. Allegedly, following arrest, men were beaten repeatedly while being interrogated about the NLA. Some were released without charge. Others were charged with "terrorism", or possessing explosives, or having weapons without a licence. Victims reported that they had been ill-treated by regular police, special police, reservists and by paramilitary units allegedly armed by the Ministry of the Interior. It was frequently claimed that the perpetrators of ill-treatment wore masks or covered the heads of their victims to avoid identification. There were also concerns that trials of people charged following interrogations were conducted in a manner that may have been unfair.

The framework agreement included provisions to increase the recruitment of ethnic Albanian police officers to serve in areas with a majority ethnic Albanian population. However, this step would not directly address the problems of other ethnic groups, particularly Roma, who have also been victims of ill-treatment at the hands of the police.

Police allegedly failed to provide protection during riots by ethnic Macedonians in Bitola and Prilep during which mosques, homes and businesses owned by ethnic Albanians and other Muslims were vandalized and burned. The riots followed the deaths of soldiers and police officers from these towns in NLA ambushes in April, June and August.

• At least 34 men from Poroj and Germo near Tetovo were stopped at roadblocks by police on 6 April. They were beaten and kicked by police officers while being transported to Tetovo and Skopje police stations, at the police stations and during interrogation about the NLA. Almost all were released without charge. Z.Z. of Poroj, one of nine men interviewed by AI in June, had a medical report which confirmed injuries consistent with being beaten with fists, shoes, metal pipes and a baseball bat. Most of those interviewed said they would not make a complaint, fearing that it would lead to further assaults, or would be futile.
• On 10 June, two ethnic Albanian officers of the Macedonian army were allegedly taken from their homes by police and subjected to racial slurs and physical ill-treatment. This included being tied to a table and denied drinking water, in one case for most of the day and in the other for 48 hours. They said they were questioned about giving information to the NLA, then released without charge. When interviewed by AI representatives a week later, both still had visible injuries and one was confined to bed. One of the officers initiated legal proceedings against the authorities for torture and breaches of the code of criminal procedure, but the case had not been heard by the end of the year.
• The Albanian Ombudsman took up the case of 20 Albanian nationals arrested, beaten and then expelled from Macedonia in June. A hospital report from Peshkopi on one of the men described injuries consistent with his claim that he had been struck with a metal helmet. However, the Macedonian Ombudsman endorsed the reply from the Ministry of the Interior which accepted that the men had been detained and expelled, but denied that physical force was used against them.

Abuses by the NLA

NLA attacks were initially targeted at police and soldiers. The government claimed that one of these attacks, which killed four police officers and four soldiers in Vejce in April, was a crime against humanity because the bodies were mutilated. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia announced an investigation into this case.

Between June and August, as clashes became more intense and the NLA moved into areas inhabited by ethnic Macedonians, civilians were kidnapped and ill-treated. The NLA took control of a number of villages near Tetovo, Skopje and Kumanovo whose residents were ethnic Macedonians, and frightened them into fleeing their homes. Among those allegedly killed by the NLA was an elderly man, Boris Magdenovski, who was shot, as ethnic Macedonians fled from Brezno. Five road workers were abducted on 7 August and, according to reports, physically ill-treated, sexually abused and threatened with death before being released.

Dozens of ethnic Macedonians were kidnapped. While many were released after a short time, 12 people apparently remained missing after the NLA released 14 others in late September. In October, reports suggested that the 12 may have been killed and buried in mass graves near Neproshten. The case was referred by the Macedonian government to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia for investigation.

Amnesty

One of the key elements of the peace process was a commitment by President Boris Trajkovski to NATO that there would be an amnesty from prosecution for NLA members who had not committed war crimes and who voluntarily laid down their arms. The delay in clarifying and formalizing this amnesty became a major political issue as debates continued about the Ohrid agreement. During December, 64 people were released from prison, mainly from pre-trial detention, as a result of pardons from the President, but at least 24 others remained in detention in connection with conflict-related issues.

There was concern about the effects of any amnesty which would prevent the emergence of the truth and subsequent accountability before the law for people reasonably suspected of serious human rights abuses or breaches of international humanitarian law.

Refugees and the displaced

Over 170,000 people were displaced at some time between March and August and over 50,000 remained displaced within Macedonia and in Kosovo by the end of September. People who left their homes were mainly from villages which fell under the control of the NLA.

Between March and July around 65,000 ethnic Albanians from the areas caught in the conflict went to Kosovo to escape NLA control or the shelling of their villages by Macedonian security forces. Some of them, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), experienced problems crossing the border without documents or had to bribe border guards. A return agreement was signed by UNHCR and the Macedonian government in April to facilitate the return of people without proper documents.

Tens of thousands of ethnic Macedonians reported being driven out of their homes by armed opposition forces and were displaced to other parts of Macedonia. Many of those from areas where they were in a minority did not return home. In mid-December around 18,680 people in total remained displaced.

Both ethnic groups said they feared that ethnic cleansing tactics, familiar from other parts of former Yugoslavia, were being used against them. There were numerous reports of homes being vandalized and burned once they were left empty. Some people moved to areas where their ethnic group was in a majority, exchanging properties rather than returning home.

AI country reports/visits

Reports

• Macedonia: Collecting blows – the alleged ill-treatment of Roma in Sasavarlija (AI Index: EUR 65/008/2001)
• Macedonia: A durable peace depends on respect for human rights (AI Index: EUR 65/005/2001)

Visits

AI representatives visited Macedonia in June and in November to interview victims of human rights violations and to meet local human rights activists.