From mentor at alb-net.com Sun Oct 19 04:18:08 2003 From: mentor at alb-net.com (Albanians in Macedonia Crisis Center News & Information) Date: Sun, 19 Oct 2003 04:18:08 -0400 (EDT) Subject: [AMCC-News] Macedonia: 1) Small Victory in Battle Against Traffickers, 2) School Desegregation Plans Shelved Message-ID: 1. Macedonia: Small Victory in Battle Against Traffickers 2. School Desegregation Plans Shelved ### 1 ### http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/bcr3/bcr3_200310_464_4_eng.txt Macedonia: Small Victory in Battle Against Traffickers Much trumpeted conviction of human traffickers belies problems in getting successful prosecutions. By Yigal Chazan and Dragana Nikolic-Solomon in London and David Quin in Skopje (BCR 464, 16-Oct-03) Macedonia's battle against people-smuggling was boosted last week with the sentencing of five convicted traffickers to long prison terms, but the country still has much to do if it is to bring more offenders to justice, observers say. A Skopje court sentenced four Macedonians and an ethnic Albanian to a total of 33 years in prison under laws classifying trafficking as a crime, which were introduced in 2002. The verdict came after the court heard harrowing written testimony from the victims, who were not present for the trial. Their statements to investigators, which have been seen by IWPR, show how they were beaten and forced to have sex in brothels across the country. Zan Jovanovski, a Macedonian police liaison officer with the Bucharest-based Southeast European Cooperative Initiative, SECI, tasked with getting countries in the region to do more to combat trans-border crime, commended the authorities' handling of the case, describing it as "an encouraging sign". Vladimir Danailov, senior legal assistant at the International Organisation for Migration in Skopje, said the conviction will have a very "big preventive impact" on traffickers as they will now realise that they face long prison sentences if they are caught. Other similar cases are in the pipeline and the authorities are doing more to combat human trafficking in general: in a first for the region, victims who've returned to their country of origin after escaping their captors or freed by police are encouraged and helped to come back to Macedonia to testify; they are also offered compensation for their suffering, which, it is hoped, will make them more inclined to come forward; and there are plans to try people who are indirectly associated with trafficking gangs. The country, then, is clearly making progress in the battle against people-smuggling - and doing much more than its neighbours in this regard - but, nothwithstanding last week's conviction, it's finding it difficult to bring offenders to justice. Since trafficking was a made a crime, there have been five convictions, with those found guilty receiving short or suspended sentences. Many more have been charged but not successfully prosecuted. The lack of effective protection for witnesses, legislative inconsistencies and limited legal expertise in trafficking cases are thought to have been major stumbling blocks in securing convictions. The IOM in cooperation with the authorities has opened a centre for victims where they are made to feel secure and offered counselling, but more such facilities are required otherwise they simply return to their country of origin and are reluctant to return to testify when their former captors are put on trial. And the fact that under Macedonian law convictions for people-smuggling are based largely on witness testimony, with little or no regard for other material and circumstantial evidence, means that unless victims are prepared to come forward cases simply collapse. Samoil Filipovski, a lawyer specialising in trafficking cases, says there's also a problem with judicial interpretation of the law, " [Trafficking is] a new charge and we do not have any prior court practise in using the legislation." Critics of the authorities' handling of such cases have insisted that recent convictions only came about because the prosecution got lucky, with witnesses fleeing their captors and providing highly detailed evidence, despite inadequate provisions for their safety. Referring to last week's trial, one western diplomat said, "This a step forward but it's mainly due to some very courageous women who testified even though they had no legal protection. If it wasn't for these women, these men would be free." Significantly, diplomatic sources have told IWPR lack of witness testimony is believed to have undermined the authorities attempt to try a leading suspected gang leader Dilaver "Leku" Bojku, currently facing six charges of procuring girls in the south of the country, for trafficking. "Leku is charged for prostitution when everybody knows he is involved in trafficking but nobody dares to step forward as there is no witness protection," said one diplomat. Danailov acknowledges that more should be done to safeguard victims; that the law should be changed so that trafficking convictions are not based just on the testimony of victims; and that judges and prosecutors are better trained to deal with such cases. The IOM official pointed out that efforts are underway to address all the aforementioned problems. The situation, he said, "is not ideal, but getting better and better". Nonetheless, he said the US State Department rates Macedonia as one of the countries doing most to tackle people-smuggling and points out that its efforts to date have actually forced the traffickers to change the way they operate: previously, girls were held in bars and clubs, but increasingly their captors are moving them into rented accommodation making it harder for the police to find them. He says the authorities' attitude towards the problem has changed hugely, as it wasn't long ago that the victims of trafficking were considered little more than illegal migrants and expelled from the country. Yigal Chazan is IWPR managing editor, Dragana Nikolic-Solomon is an IWPR assistant editor and David Quin is an IWPR investigations editor. Saso Dimovski, a journalist with Skopje Sitel TV, also contributed to this report. ------------- ### 2 ### http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?archive/bcr3/bcr3_200310_462_4_eng.txt Macedonia: School Desegregation Plans Shelved Fierce protests force government to back down over bid to teach Albanians and Macedonian students side by side. By Ana Pteruseva and Boris Georgievski in Skopje (BCR No 462, 03-Oct-03) The Macedonian authorities. controversial attempts to desegregate two schools have been criticised as clumsy and badly-timed by western diplomats and analysts. Plans for an Albanian language class in a Bitola school were halted last week after hundreds of Macedonian students took to the streets in protest, with some insisting that they would never allow an Albanian class in their city. The Macedonian students went back to school, but only after receiving assurances that an Albanian class will not be opened. Protesters threatened to hold further rallies if there is a new attempt to teach students from the two communities side by side. Ethnic tensions also soared last week at the Arseni Jovkov high school in Skopje when Macedonian parents and students rallied against the decision to include seven Albanian classes in the same building. Previously, the Albanian students had been attending a facility in another part of the city. Following the protests, the plan to bring the two groups together was put on hold. Multi-ethnic education has been an explosive issue for more than a decade. Macedonian and Albanian students have been strictly segregated - studying in different schools or, if in the same building, in different shifts - and previous attempts to unite the two have also failed. The latest desegregation initiative was not part of a broader attempt to bring an end to the ethnic divide in the country.s schools, but a goodwill gesture by the governing ethnic Macedonian parties towards their Albanian partners. Education minister Azis Polozani, a member of the Democratic Union for Integration, DUI, the ethnic Albanian party in the ruling coalition, faced calls from the protesters to abandon the desegregation plans or resign. Faced with continuing popular unrest over the reforms, the government appears to have shelved the issue indefinitely. .The decision has been put on ice until ethnic tensions calm down,. said DUI spokesperson Ermira Mehmeti. The trouble began immediately after Polozani announced the changes in early September. The minister has since come under fire for trying to implement the reform after the school year had already started, and for not anticipating the likely reaction, especially in Bitola, which was the scene of riots against the town.s Albanian community during the 2001 conflict. "Polozani should have known that this cannot be done without thorough preparations," one western diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told IWPR. "He should have consulted people on local level. You cannot make an administrative decision and just hope it will be respected. "The timing was also crucial. If the decision had been made before the school year had already started, it would have been a different situation. Maybe there would still have been tensions, but probably not on this scale." A government source also commented on the poor timing of the move, saying tensions could have been avoided had Polozani announced the decision while the students were on their summer break. .However, there is no justification for the acts of the Macedonian students,. the government source said. Gjuner Ismail, director of Forum magazine, told IWPR that a lack of foresight by the education ministry has fuelled Macedonian nationalist feeling in Bitola. .The minister should solve, not generate problems. He did not respect the reality of the situation," Ismail said. "Bitola is a specific city, and one that was very much involved in the war. This way [the minister] has created an opportunity for those who organised the incidents in 2001 to do so again.. The hard line opposition Democratic Party of Albanians has reacted angrily to the government.s climb-down, describing it last week as the result of a .well thought-out and organised action to prevent Albanians from exercising their rights.. Mirjana Najcevska, who heads the local branch of the Helsinki human rights committee, said that the latest events should not be seen as an isolated problem, but rather as the result of the government.s heavy handedness and lack of transparency over reforms. "We have many situations when a school director or a teacher is replaced without local consultation and parents and students protest,. she told IWPR. .As for the ethnic dimension, on the Albanian side there is a belief that things can change overnight, while the Macedonians are building a wall and absolutely refusing to think of the legitimate and unsatisfied needs of others.. The International community has expressed deep concern over the recent upturn in tensions. The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, OSCE, in Macedonia called the Bitola protests .frightening and unacceptable.. OSCE spokesperson Isabelle De Ruyt said, .It is disappointing to see people mobilising against the a common education opportunity for students. The OSCE believes that the students should be able to go to schools close to their homes, and that multi-ethnic education should be encouraged.. Ana Petruseva is IWPR project manager in Macedonia, Boris Georgievski is a journalist with the Skopje daily Utrinski vesnik