[AMCC-News] Council of Europe Denounces Police Violence in Macedonia (fwd)

[Mentor Cana]

http://www.europeaninternet.com/macedonia/news.php3?id=328504

Council of Europe Denounces Police Violence in Macedonia

STRASBOURG, Apr 3, 2001 -- (Agence France Presse) The Council of Europe on
Tuesday expressed concern about police abuse and violence in Macedonia,
particularly against the former Yugoslav republic's ethnic Albanian and
Roma minorities.

"Although the situation is improving due to efforts of the ministry of the
interior, unlawful arrest and detention, excessive use of force and
physical ill-treatment of detainees remains a problem," a report by the
European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) said.

The ECRI report, which was adopted in June last year after a fact-finding
mission to Macedonia in March, also called on the government to intensify
its efforts to improve integration for ethnic minorities, in particular
Albanians.

While the report admitted the government was aware of the need to encourage
further integration, it said: "The organizations and associations of civil
society ... are in large part divided along ethnic lines, as are the
political parties."

It also noted that Albanians and other minority groups were greatly
under-represented in state-institutions at the national and local level,
police and judiciary.