Statement for the press
The Associations of citizens, the Coalition “ All for Fair Trials” from Skopje, Forum for the rights of Roma-Arka from Kumanovo, the Center for Democratic Development from Tetovo, the Center for Civil Initiative from Prilep and Izbor from Strumica implement the Human Rights Support Project on victims of police abuse, strongly condemn the last two cases of police torture and assult of citizens in the capital city of Republic of Macedonia, which were presented on the news from more media.
The Project seriously condemns the actions of the special unit Alfi which participated in beating Selim Jusufi from Ljuboten and used force and weapon on the victim; as well as beating three traffic wardens at the car park of the shopping center Karposh 3 (known as Leptokarija) done on a boy who lied on the ground and was beaten up with fists and kicks.
The Associations of the Project emphasize the importance of the Law of the Police which says that the main purpose of the police is protection of human rights and freedom, and not their violation.
The announcements and photographs clearly show excessive use of force and torture in the two cases which are forbidden with international documents which Macedonia has also accepted.
The project wants MoI to take over all the necessary measures for punishing the involved police officers and at the same time calls out the citizens which are victims in these two cases to call the free telephone number 0800 11 333 and gain free legal help and financial help for the medical documentation.
This project is supported by the Foundation Open Society Institute – Macedonia and the UN Voluntary Fund for victims of torture.
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For additional information's please contact Anica Tomshic Stojkovska, Project Coordinator of the HRSP
Tel. +389 2 3215 263 E-mail: anica@all4fairtrials.org.mk
On 26.06.2008, a Press Conference was held on the occasion of The International Day of protection of victims of torture at which the Project coordinator Anica Tomshic Stojkovska presented a part of the half year report of human rights and police as well as the condition of torture done by police officers..
The Coalition” All for Fair Trials “as a part of the Human Rights Support Project reacted to the spectacular arrest of the mayor of the municipality of Strumica -Zoran Zaev as well as the violation of the right of presumption by the police and media in Republic of Macedonia.
On 02.10.2008, the Project coordinator of the Human Rights Support Project (HRSP) and Executive director of the Coalition “All for Fair Trials” presented the project in front of the Ministry of Justice and the Secretariat of Euro integrations on the Republic of Macedonia
On 06.10.2008, the HRSP was presented at the Traumatology Clinic in Skopje.
On 08.10.2008, PSHR was presented in front of the NGO HERA and HOPS and there was a discussion on the cooperation in the part of giving free legal help to victims of police abuse which are users of the services of these two organizations.
The Human Rights Support Project was also presented in the first bulletin of the Coalition “ All for Fair Trials”. More about this can be found at www.all4fairtrials.org.mk
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For additional information's please contact Anica Tomshic Stojkovska, Project Coordinator of the HRSP
Tel. +389 2 3215 263 E-mail: anica@all4fairtrials.org.mk
Monitoring of "Snake eye trial"
The Coalition “All for Fair Trials”, in line with its programme activities for 2008, is implementing the project “Corruption Trial Monitoring Programme”. It is financially supported by the Swedish Helsinki Committee, the OSCE Spillover Monitor Mission to Skopje and the Foundation Open Society Institute Macedonia. The Project’s overall goal is to raise the awareness among legal professionals and the public on the judiciary’s and criminal justice response to corruption and ultimately to contribute to a society free of corruption where all individuals enjoy equal treatment.
Among the trials included in the programme, as of 07 April 2008 Coalition’s observers are monitoring the “Snake eye” trail. On the basis of the gathered information the Coalition can conclude the following:
Taking into consideration the fact that the trial is taking place outside the court building, the existing working conditions are inadequate. The concerns are mainly about the lack of normal working environment for the lawyers as well as the lack of space for the interested public to attend the hearing. This violates art. 303-a of the Law on Criminal Procedure which defines the way the interested parties should be set in the courtroom. As a matter of fact this article defines precisely the way the president of the court panel, the lawyers, the accused persons and the public should be sitting at the main hearing.
Due to the fact that in the building where the trial takes place is a chaos, everyone sits where he/she pleases and one cannot know who the lawyer is and who the accused person is, while as no access is granted to the whole interested public due to the limited space. There is also no adequate place for the material evidence presented at the hearing and no place where the defense lawyers can take notes.
Since we are talking about improvised working environment, no special entrance for the accused persons in the building exists. Also, the room does not have the symbols of the Republic, i.e. the flag and the coat of arms.
During the hearing most the accused persons were not informed on their right to a defense lawyer, right to remain silent, to be granted free access to the material evidence, as well as to their right for a court translator. The accused persons were not informed even of their right to refuse answering certain questions that may expose themselves or some of their relatives to a public disgrace, a material injury or a criminal prosecution.
Thus, the Coalition “All for Fair Trials” concluded that the conditions, as well as the other omissions in the procedure, are not in line with the fair trial standards as stipulated with international and domestic legislation and might considerably violate and affect the final outcome of the judicial procedure in this case.
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For additional information's please contact Slavica Dimitrievska, Project Coordinator of the CTMP
Tel. +389 2 3215 263 E-mail: sdimitrievska@all4fairtrials.org.mk
Report for period 2004-2005
ARKA, CDD, Coalition “All for Fair Trials”, CHOISE and CCI, implementing NGOs in the Human Rights Support Project (HRSP) present the findings from the Report for period 2004-2005 regarding the cases of police misconduct or mistreatment in the Republic of Macedonia.
The NGOs in the frame of HRSP will hold a Press Conference for promotion of the Report for period 2004-2005 , on 21 st December 2005 in hotel “Holliday Inn”- Skopje at 11.00 Hrs. Besides representatives of the HRSP NGOs, Mr. Andrew Palmer , Institution Building Programme Director Rule of Law Unit, OSCE Spillover Monitor Mission to Skopje , will participate at the conference.
The HRSP is a civil society initiative focused on the phenomenon of police misconduct or mistreatment . The project aims to address the use of illegal physical and psychological force by authorised Ministry of Interior officials during their official duties, and to assist in the development of an effective mechanism for the protection of the human rights of alleged victims.
Financially supported by OSCE Spillover Mission in Skopje , and implemented by 5 NGOs, the HRSP covers the entire territory of Republic of Macedonia .
As a result of the project activities conducted between 2004 and 2005, this Report has been produced using findings from the registered cases of police misconduct or mistreatment. The Report gives a comprehensive picture of the level of respect for human rights on the part of the Ministry of Interior, and the preventive measures taken by authorised institutions.
In the Report, special attention is given to the legal mechanisms for protecting the victims of alleged police abuse, and in particular the Professional Standard Unit Sector ( PSU ), the internal control body within the Ministry of Interior. The HRSP NGOs have found that the internal mechanism for controlling MoI officials is currently neither transparent, timely, comprehensive nor objective. The report sets out a number of recommendations to improve the protection of human rights of persons in their contacts with authorised officials of the MoI.
The HRSP NGOs have also examined the work of the Ombudsman Office and have recommended that greater use is made of available tools prescribed by law, including use of the media in egregious cases. However, it was also established that the opening of six Regional Ombudsman Offices has led to significant improvement in the access of the alleged victims of police abuse to the principle body established to defend their rights. __________________________________________________________________________________
For additional information's please contact Petar Jordanoski, Project Coordinator of the HRSP
Tel. +389 2 3215 263 E-mail: petar@all4fairtrials.org.mk
The Coalition “All for Fair Trials” presents the results from the 9 months’ observation of Trafficking in Human Beings related trials in the basic courts throughout in Macedonia
On 9 th of December 2005 in Hotel “ARKA”- Skopje , at 13:00 o'clock , the Coalition “All for Fair Trials” will hold a Press Conference for promotion of the Report “Combating Trafficking in Human Beings through the practice of domestic courts” .
Besides representatives of the Coalition, Ambassador Natalya Drozd, Deputy Head of the OSCE Spillover Monitor Mission to Skopje , will participate at the conference.
In order to support the National Action Plan for combating Trafficking in Human Beings and Illegal migration of the Government of Republic of Macedonia, the Coalition in November 200 4 started with the implementation of the project “Countrywide observation of trafficking in Human Beings related trials”.
Adequately trained' observers, lawyers and attorneys, i n the period between January and September 2005, have observed total of 32 cases (all trials regarding the criminal acts: Trafficking in Human beings, Mediation in prostitution and Smuggling of migrants) at 102 hearings against 83 perpetrators in Basic courts in Macedonia .
The report identifie s shortcomings in the judicial system related to these issues and provides recommendations for improvement in the prosecution and the protection to the victims of trafficking in human beings.
The same has been qualified by Prof. Bacanovic, member of the implementation group for preparation of strategy and action plan for combating Trafficking in Human Beings and one of the participants at the Round Table that was hold on November 11, 2005, as : “ very serious attempt to create a picture of what is going on in the judicial practice regarding Trafficking in Human Beings, and a suitable instrument for the science, legislation and judiciary for locating the problems that Macedonia is facing with while suppression and sanctioning trafficking in Human Beings. ”
The report is being published in three languages (Macedonian, Albanian and English) and will be addressed to the domestic governmental and non-governmental bodies and the international organizations active in the THB field. __________________________________________________________________________________
For additional information's please contact Mrs.Violeta Velkoska, Project Coordinator in the Coalition “All for Fair Trials”
Tel. +389 2 3215 263 E-mail: contact@all4fairtrials.org.mk ; violeta@all4fairtrials.org.mk
Coalition “All for Fair Trials” presents final results regarding level of respect of the international fair trials standards and functioning of the judiciary in all Basic courts in Macedonia
On November 3rd, 2004 in Hotel “Best Western”, at 12:00 o'clock, Coalition “All for Fair Trials” will hold a Press Conference for promotion of the Final Report, based on the observed trials from July 2003 to July 2004.
Besides the legal analyst of the Coalition Mrs. Jasna Cvetkovska and the main legal experts involved in the project Arsen Janevski, PhD and Ljupco Arnaudovski, PhD, Ambassador Carlos Pais, Head of the OSCE Spillover Monitor Mission to Skopje, will participate at the conference.
In order to increase the confidence of the citizens in the legal system and judiciary, identify the problems in the judicial system, indicate the need of legal and institutional reforms, as well as to increase the respect of the fair trials standards in domestic courts, Coalition “All for Fair Trials” worked on the project ”Countrywide Observation of the Implementation of International Fair Trial Standards in Domestic Courts and Assessment of the Functioning of the Judiciary”.
80 trained observers of the Coalition from January 2003 until January 2004 have monitored 643 cases on 1010 hearings in criminal procedure and 720 cases on 907 hearings in civil procedure in all Basic courts in Macedonia.
The Final Report of the Coalition is a result of a conducted by an analysis of the national and local legal experts, legal analyst of the, as well as from the reports made by the local coordinators and observers, presents initial conclusions regarding the level of respect of the international fair trials standards in domestic courts and problems that judiciary are facing with as well as recommendations how to solve them.
It was concluded that there is need for reforms especially regarding trial in reasonable time. In civil procedure the hearings are postponed very often, there is problem of delivery of summons, and the period between submission of the indictment in the court and its delivery to the defendant is very long. In criminal procedure, the expert's testimony last too long, and the period between the submission of the prosecution act and the first hearing is also long. That is the reason why the recommendations are in way of changes of Laws that will contribute for consistent implementation of this international fair trial standard. __________________________________________________________________________________
For additional information's please contact Mrs.Jasna Cvetkovska, Spokesperson of the Coalition “All for Fair Trials”
Tel. +389 2 3215 263 E-mail: contact@all4fairtrials.org.mk
Coalition “All for Fair Trials” presents first results regarding level of respect of the international fair trials standards in all Basic courts in Macedonia
Sopje, 10th May 2004- Today in Hotel “Jadran”, at 12:00 o'clock, Coalition “All for Fair Trials” will hold a Press Conference for promotion of the Interim Report, based on the observed trials from July 2003 to January 2004.
Besides the main legal experts involved in the project, Ambassador Carlos Pais, Head of the OSCE Spillover Monitor Mission to Skopje, will participate at the conference.
In order to increase the confidence of the citizens in the legal system and judiciary, identify the problems in the judicial system, indicate the need of legal and institutional reforms, as well as to increase the respect of the fair trials standards in domestic courts, Coalition “All for Fair Trials” works on the project ”Countrywide Observation of the Implementation of International Fair Trial Standards in Domestic Courts and Assessment of the Functioning of the Judiciary”.
80 trained observers of the Coalition until end of January 2004 have monitored 480 civil and 509 criminal court hearings in all Basic courts in Macedonia.
The Interim Report of the Coalition is a result of a conducted by a legal expert's analysis, based on the acquired data from the questionnaires completed by the observers, as well as from the data received with the data processing and the reports made by the local legal experts, the reports of the local coordinators and interviews with selected observers.
Interim Report presents initial conclusions regarding the level of respect of the international fair trials standards in domestic courts and problems that judiciary are facing with as well as recommendations how to solve them .
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For additional information's please contact Mrs.Violeta Velkoska, Project Manager of the Coalition “All for Fair Trials”
Tel. +389 2 3215 263 E-mail: contact@all4fairtrials.org.mk |
