Rights Widely Violated in Macedonia, NGO Says

Photo by: Sinisa Jakov Marusic

A new report by CIVIL – Center for Freedom, an NGO, documents numerous human rights violations over 2013 and at the start of this year in Macedonia.

The report documents cases of violations of people's economic and social rights, such as problematic layoffs from work and curbs on the right to strike, ethnic discrimination, acts against freedom of expression and media freedom as well as violations of religious rights.

The report notes widespread discrimination based on political affiliation and numerous acts of discrimination against those who are not politically affiliated to any party.

CIVIL also noted the existence of political prisoners in the country, singling out the case of the journalist Tomislav Kezarovski.

Last year he spent six months in detention before being jailed for four-and-a-half years after a court found him guilty of revealing the identity of a protected witness in a murder trial.

Kezarovski, whose case has increased concern about media freedom in the country, is under house arrest awaiting the final decision on his sentence by the Court of Appeals.

The complete report will be handed over later this week to parliament, the NGO said.

“Legislators’ primary obligation is to serve the people…  but if they remain silent, we will carry on,” Kate Hristovska, from CIVIL, said.

The NGO said it would hold a protest rally on Friday aimed at raising public awareness about the problem of rights violations and promoting public solidarity.

CIVIL has been increasingly active over the past year raising awareness about threats to people's human rights.

The NGO has also become of the main domestic monitors of elections. It has also led a nationwide campaign for greater...

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