Macedonians of Bulgaria in Uncertainty
October 10, 2000
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A joint mission of Bulgarian and Macedonian Helsinki Committees finds the human rights of Macedonians of Bulgaria precarious
Vienna, Sofia, Skopje, 10 October 2000
On 1, 2 and 3 October Meto Jovanovski from the Macedonian Helsinki Committee for Human Rights and Krassimir Kanev from the Bulgarian Helsinki
Committee carried out a fact-finding mission to gather information on the situation of the Macedonian minority in Bulgaria. They visited all the
municipalities in the District of Blagoevgrad, spoke with local activists of Macedonian organizations and collected documents. The focus of the
mission was the human rights developments since the February 2000 ban of the Macedonian-based political party OMO “Ilinden” - PIRIN by the
Constitutional Court. The mission was carried out in the framework of the Balkan Advocacy Project of the IHF and its South-East European Helsinki
Committees. This project is a EU funded part of the Stability Pact Program.
1. The February 2000 Decision of the Constitutional Court and its Effect On February 28, 2000 the Constitutional Court of Bulgaria declared
unconstitutional OMO “Ilinden” - PIRIN, the political party of the Macedonians of Bulgaria, which was formed in 1999 and ran with some success in
the October 1999 municipal elections. Two mayors and three municipal counselors have been elected on the party’s ticket despite harassment and
lack of funding. Both in its statute and in its election platform OMO “Ilinden” - PIRIN declared that it will pursue its political objectives in
a peaceful way and will abide by international standards of minority protection. Yet, with its February 2000 decision the Constitutional Court
surprisingly found it a threat to the national security and declared it unconstitutional. The court’s decision is one in the series of repressive
acts of the government towards the Macedonians of Bulgaria and is based, as the other acts, on the assumption that they are not a separate ethnic
group, distinct from the Bulgarians, and that the very existence of such a group is a threat to the national security of Bulgaria. A number of
violations of their human rights have been documented since the beginning of the democratic change in 1989 by both domestic and international
human rights monitors.
The Constitutional Court’s decision was condemned by the President, the Prime Minister and the National Assembly of Macedonia. The Constitutional
Court decision resulted in a serious blow to the party’s organizational status and political prospects. A number of members withdrew from the party.
While it had more than 1200 members during the elections, its present membership does not exceed 1000. The decision also had a chilling effect and
in fact seriously hampered its prospects to recruit members and to formulate political strategies. In addition, it was interpreted as an effective
ban on all party activities and resulted in repressive measures by some municipal authorities. This was the case e.g. in Razlog where the local
government demanded that OMO “Ilinden” - PIRIN frees the municipal premises it hired before the decision. Several people were fired from job or were
not hired because they were implicated as activists of an “illegal” group.
2. Other Human Rights Developments Not Directly Related to the February 2000 Constitutional Court Decision Macedonians of Bulgaria continue
to face violations of their human rights by Bulgarian authorities. Some of these have resulted into cases in the European Court of Human Rights in
Strasbourg. At present there are four cases brought to the court by Bulgarian citizens of Macedonian decent. Two of them allege violations of
freedom of assembly and two – violations of the right to freedom of association. On 17 October 2000 the European Court of Human Rights will hear the
case of Boris Stankov and OMO Ilinden v Bulgaria. This is the oldest application that brought a number of cases of violation of freedom of peaceful
assembly by the Bulgarian police, administrative and judicial authorities during attempts at celebration of historical events, which Macedonians of
Bulgaria consider important for their Macedonian identity. According to the unanimous opinion of activists from different Macedonian organizations
the pending case in Strasbourg influenced this years’ more lenient attitudes of the authorities during the attempts of the Macedonians to organize
their traditional celebrations. The two main Macedonian groups, the association OMO Ilinden and the political party OMO “Ilinden” - PIRIN were
allowed by the police to celebrate the anniversary of the murder of the Macedonian hero Yane Sandanski on 22 and 23 April at the Rozhen Monastery
despite the ban by the Mair of Sandanski. They were also allowed to celebrate the anniversary of the Ilinden uprising on 30 July despite the ban by
both the Mair of Petrich and the District Court. OMO “Ilinden” - PIRIN was allowed twice to put flowers on the monument of Gotse Delchev in the town
of Gotse Delchev – on 4 February and on 4 May. At the same time during the April celebrations the police confiscated papers, posters and banners of
the activists on both days and filmed them despite their protests. A number of drivers were fined as a way of harassment on their way to the Rozhen
Monastery for alleged technical irregularities with their cars.
Despite this generally more lenient attitude of the authorities Blagoevgrad’s District Prosecutor banned a celebration of the day of the “Macedonian
Genocide” planned by OMO Ilinden for September 12 to take place on the Macedonia square in Blagoevgrad. Police effectively enforced this ban by
stopping the activists on their way to the square.
Other activists from different Macedonian groups faced official harassment in their attempts to demonstrate Macedonian identity. A number of them
complained that they have been searched at the border checkpoints during their trips to Macedonia and that some of their belongings might have been
copied. One delegate to the World Macedonian Congress was searched at the border on August 7 upon return from Macedonia and some of the materials
she carried were confiscated. Then the police threatened her that she will get two years of imprisonment for membership in OMO “Ilinden” - PIRIN and
that she will be fired from her job.
Some Macedonian activists expressed concerns that their phones are tapped and that they are otherwise followed by the secret police. Others were
afraid that the secret police was interfering with their business. During the visit in Blagoevgrad local members of OMO “Ilinden” - PIRIN reported
that they saw officers from the local secret police around the place of the first meeting.
For further informations: International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights, Aaron Rhodes (Executive Director), Tel. +43-1-408 88 22 or
+43-676-635 66 12 (mobile)
Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, Krassimir Kanev (Chair), Tel. +359-2-943 48 76 or +359-489 716 33 (mobile)
Helsinki Committee for Human Rights of the Republic of Macedonia, Meto Jovanovski (Chair), Tel. +389-91-119 073
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