Background
During the run-up to the elections there has seen an increase in tension in the country. In a statement on 15 August 2002, on the launch of the report Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia: Dark Days in Tetovo, Amnesty International warned that the continued impunity enjoyed by the perpetrators of violations and abuses committed during the conflict in Macedonia in 2001 between security forces and an armed Albanian opposition group, the National Liberation Army (NLA), would perpetuate lack of respect for the rule of law. The organization stated that the spate of assassinations of former NLA members by rival Albanians in the run-up to the elections underscored the need for all parties to respect human rights. Violent incidents have continued. These include the killing of two policemen by gunmen on 26 August in Gostivar, the taking by armed gunmen on 29 August of hostages who were later released after mediation by the international community and the leading Albanian political parties; and a series of bomb and grenade attacks by unknown persons on ethnic Albanian political party buildings.
In January Interior Minister Boshkovski referred on a private television station to the Macedonian Helsinki Committee's chairperson, Mirjana Najchevska, as "state enemy No.1", "anti-Macedonian" and an "attorney for the Albanians" due to the Committee's criticism of human rights violations by the authorities against ethnic Albanians.
For more information, please visit Amnesty International at http://www.amnesty.org
During the run-up to the elections there has seen an increase in tension in the country. In a statement on 15 August 2002, on the launch of the report Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia: Dark Days in Tetovo, Amnesty International warned that the continued impunity enjoyed by the perpetrators of violations and abuses committed during the conflict in Macedonia in 2001 between security forces and an armed Albanian opposition group, the National Liberation Army (NLA), would perpetuate lack of respect for the rule of law. The organization stated that the spate of assassinations of former NLA members by rival Albanians in the run-up to the elections underscored the need for all parties to respect human rights. Violent incidents have continued. These include the killing of two policemen by gunmen on 26 August in Gostivar, the taking by armed gunmen on 29 August of hostages who were later released after mediation by the international community and the leading Albanian political parties; and a series of bomb and grenade attacks by unknown persons on ethnic Albanian political party buildings.
In January Interior Minister Boshkovski referred on a private television station to the Macedonian Helsinki Committee's chairperson, Mirjana Najchevska, as "state enemy No.1", "anti-Macedonian" and an "attorney for the Albanians" due to the Committee's criticism of human rights violations by the authorities against ethnic Albanians.
For more information, please visit Amnesty International at http://www.amnesty.org