The Country Report for Macedonia was recently released (along with the others)
A key finding of the analysis of the situation in Macedonia (bold--ed (by me) in the Executive Summary, below) is that "the most significant human rights problems stemmed from pervasive corruption and from the government's failure to respect fully the rule of law."
My Fulbright Award is "Rule of Law and Civil Society," and I am teaching courses in Constitutional Law (with law students) and Democracy and Civil Society (with Political Science students).
It is a privilege to be here in Macedonia at this critical time -- and I hope that I can make a small contribution towards strengthening commitment to the rule of law and civil society (through my efforts with my students and university colleagues).
Here is the EXECUTIVE SUMMARY of the 2016 Country Report for Macedonia:
"The Republic of Macedonia is a parliamentary democracy. A popularly elected president is head of state and commander in chief of the armed forces. A unicameral parliament exercises legislative authority. The country held parliamentary elections in December and presidential elections in 2014. In its preliminary report on the December parliamentary elections, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) observed that the elections were transparent, well administered, and orderly but took place “in an environment characterized by a lack of public trust in institutions and the political establishment” and failed to meet some important OSCE commitments for a democratic electoral process. Problems observed in the elections included voter intimidation, widespread pressure on civil servants, vote buying, coercion, and misuse of administrative resources.
"Civilian authorities maintained effective control over the security forces.
"The country continued to experience a political crisis sparked by the 2015 wiretapping scandal, when opposition party Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM) disclosed that the government’s intelligence services intercepted communications without authorization, and publicly released excerpts of those communications allegedly revealing evidence of political interference in public administration and the media as well as high-level corruption. The controversial pardoning by President Gjorge Ivanov in April of 56 individuals connected to the wiretapping scandal sparked mass protests, dubbed the “colorful revolution,” and vandalism of several government buildings and monuments. President Ivanov withdrew his pardons on June 6.
"The most significant human rights problems stemmed from pervasive corruption and from the government’s failure to respect fully the rule of law, including continuing efforts to restrict media freedom, interference in the judiciary and impeding the work of the Special Prosecutor’s Office charged with investigating and prosecuting crimes relating to and arising from illegally intercepted communications, as well as the selective administration of justice. Political interference, inefficiency, favoritism toward well-placed persons, prolonged processes, violations of the right to public trial, and corruption characterized the judicial system.
Other human rights problems reported included: physical mistreatment of detainees and prisoners by police and prison guards; poor conditions and overcrowding in some of the country’s prisons and mental institutions; delayed access to legal counsel by detainees and defendants; restrictions on the ability of Roma to leave the country and to access constitutionally mandated healthcare services, particularly gynecological services; restrictions on access to asylum; decreased prevention and protection of victims of trafficking in persons; domestic violence against women and children; discrimination against persons with disabilities; institutional and societal discrimination against Roma and other ethnic minorities and against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) persons; and child labor, including forced begging.
The government took some limited steps to investigate, prosecute, and punish officials who committed violations, including police officials guilty of excessive force, but impunity continued to be a significant and widespread problem."
Images from the US Embassy in Macedonia's facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/US-Embassy-Macedonia-119869762156/
Link to the full text of the Country Report here
2016 US Dept of State Country Report Human Rights Macedonia
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