By Kenneth F. Hunt
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe
SKOPJE, Macedonia – This week the Parliament of Macedonia adopted an anti-discrimination law, but failed to include a provision barring discrimination based on sexual orientation. This statute has drawn the criticism of the European Union and some human rights groups, including Amnesty International.
The law was passed by 62 of the 120 members of the Parliament on Thursday April 15. It bars and creates penalties for discrimination based on ethnicity, gender, and religion. The opposition party protested the exclusion of similar protections for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered persons in Macedonia.
After the legislation passed, the EU immediately asked Macedonian legislatures to reconsider or otherwise amend the legislation.
In particular, the European Commission, the EU’s executive body, pointed to the EU framework which requires that national standards for anti-discrimination align with minimum standards.
These standards, under the Charter of Fundamental Rights adopted in the Lisbon Treaty, require that any “recently enacted antidiscrimination legislation will need to be amended in order to include explicit prohibition of discrimination on grounds of sexual discrimination.”
Even though Macedonia is not a part of the EU, and therefore not required to change the law, it is currently part of the accession process and seeks to join the EU in the next round of enlargement.
In addition to violation European law, human rights groups claim that Macedonia’s law does not comply with international law. Amnesty International, specifically, claims that protecting citizens from all forms of discrimination constitutes a legal obligation under various human rights treaties that Macedonia has signed on to.
The Macedonian opposition has seized on this issue to point out impunity issues in the nation. They claim that conservative Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski has a long record of antagonism towards homosexual Macedonians. They also claim that the new law is a deliberately “discriminatory anti-discrimination law”.
Moreover, EU Enlargement Commissioner, Stefan Fuele, claims that he sent a letter to Mr. Gruevski, which has been an ignored to continue domestic discrimination against citizens that are homosexual.
Documented instances of discrimination against homosexuals during the Gruevski administration have included job discrimination, humiliation in public places, and harassment by police officers.
For more information, please see:
ASSOCIATED PRESS – New Macedonian rights law fails to protect gays – 16 April 2010
BALKAN INSIGHT – Macedonia Press Review, April 16, 2010 – 16 April 2010
EU OBSERVER – EU rejects Macedonia anti-discrimination law – 16 April 2010
