Ciciripi
Sfiduesi Demokrat
[h=1]Letter of Protest to the Government of Macedonia Regarding the Treatment of Muslim Albanians by the Macedonian Police[/h]
Letter of Protest to the Government of Macedonia Regarding the Treatment of Muslim Albanians by the Macedonian Police
To:
Nikola Gruevski
Prime Minister
Blvd. Ilinden No.2
1000Skopje
RepublicofMacedonia
Cc:
Paul D. Wohlers
U.S. Ambassador to theRepublicofMacedonia
Str. “Samoilova” Nr.21
1000Skopje
RepublicofMacedonia
Ralf Breth
Head of the OSCEMissiontoSkopje
Oktomvriska Revolucija bb
MK-1000Skopje
Theformer Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
Dear Mr. Prime Minister:
We, the undersigned civil society organizations operating in theUnited States of AmericaandCanada, have been following with great concern the recent developments inMacedonia, where according to media reports some 20 Muslim Albanians have been arrested by the authorities.
While we understand and fully back the Macedonian authorities and their quest to find the perpetrators of the murders of five Macedonian fishermen on April 12, 2012, we are shocked and greatly concerned by the manner in which the arrests were carried out, the treatment of those arrested by police forces, and the way they were depicted in the media by the Minister of Interior, Mrs. Gordana Jankulovska. Declarations of those who were released and recordings broadcast in different media outlets tell a completely different story from the official one.
The arrested were mistreated, beaten and not allowed access to a lawyer including some who were as old as 64 years. Fati and Fuat Hasipi from Hasan Beg district of Skopje are some of those arrested by the police who have testified in the media regarding the physical and religious abuse that they were faced with by the police. Male Macedonian police officers who participated in the detaining of Albanian women, all of them Muslim, grabbed their body parts, in total disregard of their human and religious rights. Moreover, we were shocked by the language that Mrs. Jankulovska used to describe those arrested, describing them as “supporters of radical Islam, who are dangerous for Christians and Muslims.”
Due to the declarations that we have seen, their mistreatment by the police, the night raids that the police carried out in the homes of many Albanians, and moreover the religious bias that the Macedonian minister showed against Islam and Albanian Muslims, we feel that the Macedonian government is overacting against the Albanians and is wrongly targeting a whole community. The language of the war on terror is a thin disguise for a hidden agenda and a racist mentality which in a civilized state is unacceptable. We feel that if these accusations against Albanian Muslims continue in your country, they might lead to an unchecked ethnic and religious discrimination against Albanians.
We would like to advise you and your government of what is, in our collective opinion, a miscarriage of justice and abuse of basic human rights. Through this letter we also call on the embassy of theUnited StatesinSkopjeto protest this kind of treatment and request that the Albanian community, a very important part of the population ofMacedonia, be treated in a fair manner. We further ask that all the detainees are allowed proper access to legal representation and a fair investigation and prosecution. We also ask for a full investigation of those police officers who have mistreated the detained that they face the justice system. All these measures are necessary for the regaining of trust and legitimacy among the Albanian population by the Macedonian state.
In conclusion, we extend our thanks to the foreign presence inMacedoniafor their continuous support of Albanians in their quest for freedom and equality of treatment in respect of international standards of democracy and human rights. We hope the Macedonian government will take note of this letter and act accordingly.
Albanian Forum ofCanada,Canada
Atlantic Humanitarian Organization ofBronx,United States
AtdhetareDibrane Foundation,United States
Communaute Albanaise Du Quebec a Montreal, Canada
DedXhonluli Foundation,United States
Drenica Humanitarian Relief,United States
Kraja Association,United States
Malsia Foundation,United States
PlavGuci Foundation,United States
Letter of Protest to the Government of Macedonia Regarding the Treatment of Muslim Albanians by the Macedonian Police – Fostering Multiculturalism and Tolerance
Letter of Protest to the Government of Macedonia Regarding the Treatment of Muslim Albanians by the Macedonian Police
To:
Nikola Gruevski
Prime Minister
Blvd. Ilinden No.2
1000Skopje
RepublicofMacedonia
Cc:
Paul D. Wohlers
U.S. Ambassador to theRepublicofMacedonia
Str. “Samoilova” Nr.21
1000Skopje
RepublicofMacedonia
Ralf Breth
Head of the OSCEMissiontoSkopje
Oktomvriska Revolucija bb
MK-1000Skopje
Theformer Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
Dear Mr. Prime Minister:
We, the undersigned civil society organizations operating in theUnited States of AmericaandCanada, have been following with great concern the recent developments inMacedonia, where according to media reports some 20 Muslim Albanians have been arrested by the authorities.
While we understand and fully back the Macedonian authorities and their quest to find the perpetrators of the murders of five Macedonian fishermen on April 12, 2012, we are shocked and greatly concerned by the manner in which the arrests were carried out, the treatment of those arrested by police forces, and the way they were depicted in the media by the Minister of Interior, Mrs. Gordana Jankulovska. Declarations of those who were released and recordings broadcast in different media outlets tell a completely different story from the official one.
The arrested were mistreated, beaten and not allowed access to a lawyer including some who were as old as 64 years. Fati and Fuat Hasipi from Hasan Beg district of Skopje are some of those arrested by the police who have testified in the media regarding the physical and religious abuse that they were faced with by the police. Male Macedonian police officers who participated in the detaining of Albanian women, all of them Muslim, grabbed their body parts, in total disregard of their human and religious rights. Moreover, we were shocked by the language that Mrs. Jankulovska used to describe those arrested, describing them as “supporters of radical Islam, who are dangerous for Christians and Muslims.”
Due to the declarations that we have seen, their mistreatment by the police, the night raids that the police carried out in the homes of many Albanians, and moreover the religious bias that the Macedonian minister showed against Islam and Albanian Muslims, we feel that the Macedonian government is overacting against the Albanians and is wrongly targeting a whole community. The language of the war on terror is a thin disguise for a hidden agenda and a racist mentality which in a civilized state is unacceptable. We feel that if these accusations against Albanian Muslims continue in your country, they might lead to an unchecked ethnic and religious discrimination against Albanians.
We would like to advise you and your government of what is, in our collective opinion, a miscarriage of justice and abuse of basic human rights. Through this letter we also call on the embassy of theUnited StatesinSkopjeto protest this kind of treatment and request that the Albanian community, a very important part of the population ofMacedonia, be treated in a fair manner. We further ask that all the detainees are allowed proper access to legal representation and a fair investigation and prosecution. We also ask for a full investigation of those police officers who have mistreated the detained that they face the justice system. All these measures are necessary for the regaining of trust and legitimacy among the Albanian population by the Macedonian state.
In conclusion, we extend our thanks to the foreign presence inMacedoniafor their continuous support of Albanians in their quest for freedom and equality of treatment in respect of international standards of democracy and human rights. We hope the Macedonian government will take note of this letter and act accordingly.
Albanian Forum ofCanada,Canada
Atlantic Humanitarian Organization ofBronx,United States
AtdhetareDibrane Foundation,United States
Communaute Albanaise Du Quebec a Montreal, Canada
DedXhonluli Foundation,United States
Drenica Humanitarian Relief,United States
Kraja Association,United States
Malsia Foundation,United States
PlavGuci Foundation,United States
Letter of Protest to the Government of Macedonia Regarding the Treatment of Muslim Albanians by the Macedonian Police – Fostering Multiculturalism and Tolerance


