[Nettime-bold] (Fwd) Helsinki Committee in Macedonia Under Pressure from Interior Ministry

["Ivo Skoric" <ivo@reporters.net>]

Actions like this in the past (in Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia) often 
suggested the willingness of the regime to take more bold steps 
against minorities and to indulge in a more human rights abuses. It 
always starts with singling out outspoken human rights activists 
and independent journalists. Now, knowing the pattern, the 'global 
village' should exert pressure on Macedonian government to steer 
away from that course of action early on.

ivo


------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
http://www.ihf-hr.org/appeals/020116-mac.htm

Helsinki Committee in Macedonia Under Pressure from Interior Ministry,
Media, Church

"Human Rights Are Vanishing In the Air."

Vienna, 16 January 2002 -- The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights of
the Republic of Macedonia is being demonized by government bodies, by the
state-controlled media, and by the Orthodox church. The president of the
Helsinki Committee, Mirjana Najcevska, has been threatened with arrest as
punishment for the Committee's efforts to hold the government accountable
for fulfilling its human rights obligations.

Interior Minister Ljube Boskovski has referred to her as "state enemy
number 1," "anti-Macedonian" and an "attorney for the Albanians", when he
spoke in front of the daily newspaper Vecer, and on A1 and Sitel
television immediately after the New Year. After that other media referred
to these statements. These reactions are evidently based on the Minister
having received a leaked draft of the Helsinki Committee's Annual Report,
and the IHF has received information that a campaign against the Helsinki
Committee has been discussed in the National Security Council of the
government. The government's attacks have been amplified in the
state-controlled media.

Some days later the Macedonian Orthodox Church publicly criticized the
Helsinki Committee for its condemnation of the mono-ethnic composition and
mono-religious services among the newly-formed special forces of army and
police ('Lions' and 'Tigers').

The husband of Ms. Najcevska, Sasko Todorovski, has been removed from his
position as Macedonia's Acting Permanent Representative of Macedonia to
the Council of Europe. Mr. Todorovski is also a member of the board of the
Helsinki Committee.

According to Ms. Najcevska, the campaign against the Committee "proves
that democracy in Macedonia is falling apart and human rights and freedoms
are vanishing in the air."

The IHF is appealing to delegations of the OSCE (Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe) for assistance in stopping this effort to
intimidate civil society groups seeking human rights and justice in
Macedonia.

"We are deeply concerned. We can not and will not tolerate efforts to
silence our colleagues who are fulfilling their obligations to uphold the
Helsinki human rights standards, and their obligation to report to the
International Helsinki Federation on violations of those standards,"
stated Aaron Rhodes, IHF Executive Director.

For further information:

International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights:
Aaron Rhodes, Executive Director, Tel- +43-1-408 88 22 or +43-676-635 66
12, or
Henriette Schroeder, Press Officer, +43-676-725 48 29

_______________________________________________
Nettime-bold mailing list
Nettime-bold@nettime.org
http://amsterdam.nettime.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nettime-bold