COMMITTEE ON ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION CONSIDERS REPORT OF THE FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA

The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has considered the fourth to seventh periodic reports of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on its implementation of the provisions of the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination.

Presenting the report, Svetlana Geleva, State Counsellor at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that during the reporting period, and in particular after 2001 and the signing of the Ohrid Framework Agreement, comprehensive reforms in the sphere of the protection and promotion of the rights of members of communities – the Constitutional term for minorities – had been carried out. First, amendments to the Constitution had been adopted, which defined the legal framework for the position of members of communities, and then those amendments were elaborated in laws. To date, 67 such laws had been adopted. The latest one had been the long-debated Law on the Police, which provided for stronger protection of human rights irrespective of race, national affiliation, social position, or gender, among others, and required police chiefs to be elected by the local authorities. Other examples included the Law on Equal Opportunities between Men and Women, adopted in May 2006, which was expected to contribute to overcoming cases of double discrimination against women belonging to certain communities.

In addition, Ms. Geleva said the Government had adopted the Strategy on Equitable Representation of members of ethnic communities in January 2007, and in the first quarter of 2007, 250 new civil servants belonging to non-majority communities were expected to be employed.

In preliminary remarks, José Augusto Lindgren Alves, the Committee Expert who served as country Rapporteur for the report of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, thanked the delegation for the excellent report and presentation. Very detailed information had been supplied about every question put to them by the Committee, no matter how small. It had exceeded his expectations. It was his impression that the conflict in the country had been imposed upon it from the outside, and was not an outgrowth from within, and that impression had only been confirmed.

Other Committee Experts raised questions and asked for further information on subjects pertaining to, among other things, whether children born in the country acquired Macedonian citizenship; whether citizenship could be transmitted by marriage; what was the exact nature of the process of the policy of integration of the Roma; and whether the size of the Roma community was underreported. An Expert also wondered whether the high drop-out rate for the Roma might relate to teacher training and school curricula.

The delegation also included Gorgi Avramcev, Permanent Representative of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to the United Nations Office at Geneva, and other members of the Permanent Mission, as well as representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Science and Education, the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of the Interior.

The Committee will present its written observations and recommendations on the fourth to seventh periodic reports of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, which were presented in one document, at the end of its session, which concludes on 9 March.

When the Committee reconvenes at 3 p.m. this afternoon, it is scheduled to take up the second and third periodic reports of Liechtenstein, submitted in one report (CERD/C/LIE/4).

Report of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

The fourth to seventh periodic reports of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, submitted in one document (CERD/C/MKD/7), says that, after 2001 and the signing of the Ohrid Framework Agreement, comprehensive reforms in the sphere of protection and promotion of the rights of members of communities have been carried out, primarily through the adoption of amendments to the Constitution. Amendment V to the Constitution regulates the right to the use of languages of communities; Amendment VI relates to the equitable representation of citizens who belong to communities in organs of the State; Amendment VII deals with legal equality of religious communities; and Amendment VIII relates to free expression and development of identity and attributes of communities, use of symbols of communities, establishment of cultural, artistic, educational and scientific institutions, and right to instruction in mother tongue in elementary and secondary education. In accordance with Amendment IX, the country guarantees protection, promotion, and enrichment of historical and artistic wealth of all communities. Amendments X through XVII regulate the issues of participation of members of communities in decision-making in the Assembly, the Committee for Inter-Community Relations, the Security Council, the Constitutional Court and local-self-government units.

The Ombudsman protects the constitutional and legal rights of citizens when violated by bodies of the State administration and by other bodies and organizations with public mandates. With amendment XI to the Constitution, the Ombudsman is tasked to pay special attention to the protection of the principle of non-discrimination and equitable representation of communities in public bodies at all levels and in other spheres of public life. Out of the total number of petitions in 2004, those relating to the violation of rights of members of communities accounted for 0.26 per cent. The Committee for Inter-Community Relations is focused on the issues concerning inter-community relations in Macedonia, and the Assembly of the Republic is obliged to take into consideration the appraisals and proposals of the Committee and to make decisions on them.

Regarding political rights, out of the 120 members of the Assembly there are 26 Albanians, 3 Turks, 2 Bosnians, 1 Vlach and 1 Roma, accounting for 29.1 per cent in total. This is a significant increase in comparison with the preceding composition, after 1998 parliamentary elections, when there were 27 members of the Assembly belonging to communities. Out of 123 elected mayors in the Republic, 32, or 26 per cent were members of communities. In the 2004 local elections, out of the total 1,391 members of municipal councils, 351 are Albanians, 39 are Turks, 11 are Vlachs, 18 are Roma, 26 are Serbs, 6 are Bosniacs, 15 are others, and 33 are undeclared. Out of 18 ministers in the current Government, 5 are members of the Albanian community.

Presentation of Report

SVETLANA GELEVA, State Counsellor of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, affirmed the Government’s full commitment to frank and in-depth dialogue and exchange of views with the Committee. In that regard, the Committee's concluding observations and recommendations issued following the consideration of the initial to third periodic reports of the country, in 1997, had served as an additional tool in national policy formulation between the two reporting cycles.

During the reporting period, in particular after 2001 and the signing of the Ohrid Framework Agreement, comprehensive reforms in the sphere of the protection and promotion of the rights of members of communities had been carried out, Ms. Geleva said. First, amendments to the Constitution had been adopted, which defined the legal framework for the position of members of communities – the Constitutional term for ethnic minorities – and then those amendments were elaborated in laws treating different aspects of the realization of rights of persons belonging to communities in various areas.

The equality of members of communities was provided in Article 9 of the Constitution, which defined the principle of non-discrimination on the basis of, among others, race, colour of skin ethnic and social origin, religious belief, and social status. Article 50 of the Constitution stipulated that every citizen could invoke the protection of freedoms and rights determined by the Constitution before the regular courts and the Constitutional Court of Macedonia.

In terms of new developments, Ms. Geleva observed that 67 laws had been adopted for the purpose of implementing the Constitutional amendments. The latest one had been the long-debated Law on the Police, which provided for stronger protection of human rights irrespective of race, national affiliation, social position, or gender, among others, and required police chiefs to be elected by the local authorities. Other examples included the Law on Equal Opportunities between Men and Women, adopted in May 2006, which was expected to contribute to overcoming cases of double discrimination against women belonging to certain communities. In October 2006, the new Government had established a Committee of Ministers for monitoring and coordinating activities aimed at increased equitable participation of members of communities in State administration and public enterprises. The Government adopted the Strategy on Equitable Representation of members of ethnic communities in January 2007, and in the first quarter of 2007, 250 new civil servants belonging to non-majority communities were expected to be employed.

On the issue of cultural and language rights, the Government had recently decided to establish an Albanian language theatre in Tetovo, and to establish an Albanian Institute, University Library and Gallery. In the spirit of their multicultural tradition and commitment to its further promotion, Ms. Geleva highlighted that the Government would organize in October 2007 an international conference on dialogue among cultures and civilizations.

The implementation of the Ohrid Framework Agreement and the reforms associated with European Union and NATO integration had been a strong instrument in further promotion and consolidation of the legal framework in the sphere of human rights, including anti-discrimination, Ms. Geleva said. In December 2005, “Macedonia” had been granted European Union candidate country status. There was a National Action Plan for approximation of legislation in that sphere as well as a corresponding European Partnership Action Plan, which were being implemented.

In conclusion, Ms. Geleva wished to point out that her country was a functional multi-ethnic democracy, the most complex form of democracy, and had attained in a relatively brief period major achievements in the implementation of international standards in the area of protection against discrimination. Indeed, in many aspects they had gone beyond them.

Oral Response to Written Questions Submitted in Advance

Turning to the written questions submitted in advance by the Committee, on the question of asylum, Ms. Geleva said that, according to the Central Registry at the Asylum Department of the Ministry of the Interior, since 2003, 2,521 asylum applications had been submitted. Of those, two had been submitted by nationals of Bosnia and Herzegovina, one by a national of Turkey, and the remainder had been submitted by nationals of the Republic of Serbia, four of whom were Serbian nationals, and the rest of whom were persons from Kosovo. About 100 of those persons had been Serbs or Gorani, and the others had been Roma, Aeshkali and Egyptians from Kosovo. Before 2007, the Government had recognized the right of 1,389 persons to asylum.

Regarding application of the Convention in domestic law, Ms. Geleva said there had been two cases in which the Constitutional Court had directly referred to the Convention. The most recent example of the use of the Convention in domestic law was the January 2007 proposal for institution of criminal charges by the Ombudsman in the case of enterprises discriminating against Roma by not allowing them to enter their premises and use their services, based on Article 5 of the Convention and Article 14 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

With regards to the adoption of a general anti-discrimination law, there were two approaches, Ms. Geleva said: those who favoured adopting a special law, and those who favoured incorporation of anti-discrimination provisions in existing legislation. The Government was of the opinion that existing legislation had to be screened first and that any decision on how to proceed would be based on the results of that screening process.

In terms of measures to implement the Ombudsman's recommendations, Ms. Geleva said that in 2006 a new mechanism had been introduced to monitor actions by ministries and other administrative bodies taken with regard to recommendations of the Ombudsman. That mechanism contained regular reporting on measures taken, which were considered at Government sessions on a quarterly basis. For the period January to March 2006, 168 requests or recommendations had been submitted. Of those, the Ombudsman had received responses by the relevant institutions to 122 requests, 43 cases were currently being processed, and three cases had not been processed. For the period March to June 2006, 219 requests had been submitted to the ministries, with 171 responses, 43 cases being processed and 8 not processed.

According to the 2005 report of the Ombudsman, his office had received four complaints on the issue of rights of persons belonging to communities (two by Albanians; one Bosniac and one undeclared). The Ombudsman had found a violation in one case, and the relevant institution had acted on his recommendation. As far as complaints in the sphere of discrimination, the Office had received six complaints (one Roma, and five undeclared), and found violation in two cases. However, no action had been carried out by the public authorities in that regard.

On the activities and mandate of the Committee for Inter-Community Relations, Ms. Geleva said that the Committee mainly involved consideration of laws concerning the interests of the non-majority communities and the application of the double-majority voting rule in adoption of those laws. There were 47 local committees for inter-community relations. They discussed a wide spectrum of issues which might raise any concern in everyday life of those communities and proposed solutions. The most recent case involved the erection of a monument, which had been heatedly debated in public.

With respect to the Roma, the main accomplishment of the Roma strategy was the full involvement of the Roma community in its preparation and identification of their specific needs. There was a national action plan and an operational national action plan, but the main obstacle remained a lack of appropriate funding, in view of the general economic situation of the country, Ms. Geleva said.

Ms. Geleva noted that, in 2005, the country had ratified the Additional Protocol to the Convention on Cyber Crime, criminalizing dissemination of racial and xenophobic material through computer systems. There was also a Code of Ethics of Journalists by which journalists were enjoined not to report or process information that threatened human rights or freedoms, or to use hate speech or encourage violence or discrimination on any grounds. In that connection, in principle, that phenomenon was not characteristic of “Macedonia” and its media.

The legislation concerning the use of non-majority languages in civil, criminal and administrative proceedings was presented in detail in the report and was effectively implemented in the everyday practice of courts and other institutions. There had been no complaints lodged that those laws had not been respected. In addition, in 2004, the Minister of Justice approved a supplement to the court rules of procedure whereby certain forms were issued in the Albanian language and the court was obliged to communicate in that language to those parties who were citizens and whose language was an official language that was not Macedonian.

Turning to the issue of applications for citizenship, Ms. Geleva said that, upon the adoption of the Law amending the Law on Nationality, up to 21 February 2007, 6,044 foreign nationals had been admitted to citizenship of “Macedonia”, of whom were 3,356 Albanians; 985 Serbs; 858 Muslims; 403 Roma; 103 Bulgarians; 78 Croatians; 72 Turks; 48 Montenegrins; 21 Polish; 20 undetermined; 22 others; 14 Slovenians; 10 Ukrainians; 3 Yugoslavs; 4 Czechs; 7 Slovaks; 7 Germans; 4 Hungarians; 6 Romanians and 4 Bosniacs. Five hundred and seventeen applications had been rejected of which 274 by Albanians, 42 by Serbs, 72 by Muslims, 42 by Roma, 3 by Bulgarians, 9 by Croatians, 64 by Turks, 4 by Russians, 1 by a Montenegrin, 3 undetermined, 1 Hungarian and 2 Bosniacs.

Aiming at the successful practical implementation of the Law on Nationality, the Ministry of the Interior had undertaken a series of activities to encourage persons to use their right to acquire Macedonian nationality in accordance with the law. Brochures had been published in English, Albanian, Turkish, Serbian and Roma, and had been distributed to all regional units of the Ministry of the Interior. Furthermore, Ms. Geleva noted, citizens could get electronic information about all nationality-related issues through the Ministry's website.

Regarding housing for the Roma, it was one of the priority areas of the Roma Decade and Strategy, Ms. Geleva observed. A national Action Plan and Operational Plan on Housing aimed at the legalization of Roma settlements, and the preparation of detailed urban plans and general improvement of housing conditions and infrastructure. Notably, with the adoption of the Law on Construction, all buildings built before 1968 had been legalized. Also, four buildings would be constructed over the next two years that would provide 363 flats for Roma in Suto Orizari. There was also another project funded by the Council of Europe Development Bank for the construction of apartments for socially vulnerable groups, including the Roma. Furthermore, projects had been started last year for the rehabilitation and construction of the water supply network and sewerage in Roma settlements.

Finally, Ms. Geleva wished to conclude by noting that in a recent UN Development Programme poll, only 8 per cent of ethnic Macedonians and 1.3 per cent of ethnic Albanians had felt that issues of an inter-ethnic nature were a concern.

Oral Questions Raised by the Rapporteur and Experts

JOSÉ AUGUSTO LINDGREN ALVES, the Committee Expert serving as Country Rapporteur for the report of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, noted that, with the inflow of refugees – which the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia had generously received, having taken in 380,000 from Kosovo alone against a population of 2 million – the country had also become prone to some of the most terrifying trends that had plagued their era: religious confrontation and ethnic hatred. Fortunately, in this case, war had not broken out on a full scale, thanks in part to the timely interference of NATO, and the acceptance of the NATO-sponsored Ohrid Framework Agreement by the conflicting parties in 2001. In that connection, he wished to remind the delegation that implementation of the Ohrid Agreements and implementation of the Convention, though often overlapping, were not identical.

While there was no specific definition of racial discrimination in Macedonian legislation, Mr. Lindgren was satisfied that the Constitution described the equality of citizens in terms that were adequate to the Convention, lacking only to mention equality in terms of descent. Likewise, the Criminal Code covered the Convention's requirement that States parties prohibit and punish racial discrimination and racist propaganda, and, in fact, went further by introducing sanctions against perpetrators of genocide and crimes against humanity.

In a different direction, Mr. Lindgren took note that the official language in criminal proceedings was only Macedonian and its Cyrillic alphabet. The same was true of the Law on General Administrative Procedure. Mr. Lindgren wondered at that, as it appeared to be in contradiction of the general trend, and it also appeared that the situation was totally different in the Law on Civil Procedure. Also, he had the impression that an "official" language was defined in this section as a language spoken by at least 20 per cent of citizens, whereas in a reference to the right to education it appeared only Macedonian was the official language in which students would be taught.

Mr. Lindgren noted with appreciation that the country cooperated intensively with the European Committee against Torture, but wished to know if it had ratified the Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture, which provided the possibility of in situ visits without advance notice.

In that regard, Mr. Lindgren wondered on what legal basis the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia had accepted the so-called rendition, in 2003, of the German citizen of Lebanese origin, Khaled al-Masri, detained and interrogated for 23 days by Macedonian authorities, without any given reason, on a trip to the country, to United States officers who had later sent him to detention in Afghanistan. In that connection, he noted that since the winter of 2002 the Committee had issued a statement that imposed on States parties the obligation to make sure that the fight against terrorism was not distorted on a bias of race.

Regarding a request for statistics on inter-ethnic marriages, Mr. Lindgren stressed that his real concern was to know was whether non-discrimination with regard to those rights existed in practice. That is, could an ethnic Albanian choose to live in the middle of a Slavic Macedonian community without running any risks?

While he had praise for measures in the educational sphere that attempted to improve the level of studies of different groups of the population, Mr. Lindgren was concerned to read in their report that research into the drop-out rate among pupils of the Albanian and Roma communities had shown the causes to be found in tradition, religion and customs. Was there anything the State could do to counter those traditions without looking like a violator of cultural rights, he wondered.

The floor was then turned over to other Experts for questions. On nationality and citizenship, an Expert asked whether children born in the country acquired Macedonian citizenship, and whether citizenship could be transmitted by marriage.

Concerning the Roma, an Expert asked for clarification on the exact nature of the process of the policy of integration of the Roma. Another Expert said according to his information the Roma community was larger than the figures given in the report, that it was indeed the third largest community in the country, after the Macedonians and the Albanians. An Expert wondered whether the high drop-out rate for the Roma might relate to teacher training and school curricula.

The Chairperson took note of the delegation's explanation of why the Government was not prepared to make a declaration under Article 14 of the Convention, but nevertheless urged them to reconsider, in particular with reference to the recommendations of the Durban Conference.

Response by Delegation to Oral Questions

Responding to oral questions put by Experts, the delegation said that the Macedonian Government was playing a very important role in the Decade for Integration of Roma 2005-2015, which had been a joint initiative of George Soros and James Wolfensohn to improve the situation of the Roma in Eastern Europe. “Macedonia” might have been the only one of those countries in which Roma representatives from political parties and the Ministries had prepared the national action plans and strategies for the decade. There were four priority areas of the Decade: housing, health, education and employment. For all those priority areas national working groups had prepared national action plans. The action plans and a strategy had been adopted in January 2005. “Macedonia” might also be the only country in which operational national action plans had been adopted, which occurred in November 2005.

Regarding Egyptian and Ashkali communities in the country, they were living in two cities in the country and their native language was Macedonian. It was the Government's opinion that these were actually Roma who did not wish to declare themselves as such. In terms of Egyptian immigrants from Kosovo, the difference between them and those already settled in the country was a linguistic one: they spoke either Albanian or Roma.

Concerning the discrepancy between official and unofficial figures for the Roma population, the delegation noted that officially there were some 54,000 Roma in the country, or 2.67 per cent of the population. Unofficially, it was true the number was estimated to be much higher: between 80,000 and 130,000. In that context, it was important to note that Roma were determined on the basis of self-identification.

It was a fact that the Roma in “Macedonia” were living better than those in other neighbouring countries, including in Western Europe, the delegation observed. However, it was also true that they remained the most vulnerable population in the country and programmes and policies were needed to ensure that they were given the full opportunity for an equal life.

In terms of deportations of refugees from the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities back to Kosovo, the delegation insisted that there would be no pressure put for deportation to Kovoso until it could be established that a safe security situation prevailed there.

In devising its National Action Plan on Education of Roma, 2005 to 2015, the Government and the Ministry of Education had taken into consideration research undertaken by the United Nations Children's Fund and the World Bank in 2000, which showed, among other things, that Roma men were more educated than Roma women and that 45 per cent of Roma women, as compared with 19 per cent of Roma men were illiterate. The Action Plan focused on mandatory primary education; adult education; secondary education in the Roma language in the only predominately Roma municipality; facilitating access to secondary and higher education for Roma; and ensuring assistance and support to Roma students for continuous attendance. Compulsory curricula had also been introduced to encourage respect and tolerance among students from different communities, and there was also teacher training on the same subject. A body had been established with the Ministry of Education and Science to deal with ethnic intolerance and conflict. As among the factors in the high drop-out rate were a lack of sufficient preparation, insufficient knowledge of the Macedonian language, and a lack of education among Roma parents, programmes sought to motivate Roma parents to support to a greater extent the education of their children, and children were given additional assistance for preschool education. Notably, the number of Roma parents in school councils had increased.

In terms of the assertion that education led to the assimilation of the Roma, the delegation disagreed. On the contrary, education of a community built the capacity of that community to preserve its own identity and raised the awareness of its members of the need to preserve their own culture and values.

The right to education in the mother tongue was guaranteed in “Macedonia”, the delegation said. Regular instruction was provided in Macedonian as well as in the languages of the Albanian, Turk and Serb communities. Other communities could also attend optional classes in their mother tongues, for example the Roma Vlach and Bosnian communities.

In terms of legislation concerning the use of community languages in legal procedures, in accordance with European Community law, in criminal procedure the accused had the right to be informed immediately of the charges against him in his or her own language. Following the 2002 constitutional amendments, in particular Amendment V of the Constitution, Macedonian provisions went beyond international standards in this area. Those who spoke an official language other than Macedonian had the right to receive and submit documents and to make statements and to receive interpretation in their own language. The same regulations applied to the Law of Civil Procedure. Other parties, witnesses and participants in the proceedings were also entitled to free assistance of an interpreter if they could not understand or speak the language used in court. Furthermore, other persons who do not speak or understand the Macedonian language and its Cyrillic alphabet could file documents in their language and alphabet.

In terms of citizenship laws, the delegation said that if a child was born in the country and one of the parents was a citizen, the child would be Macedonian unless the parents agreed otherwise – that is, if they decided that the child should take the citizenship of the other parent. Illegal stay by a foreigner, parent of a child born in “Macedonia”, was not a bar to the citizenship of the child.

Responding to the query about the extraordinary rendition of Khaled al-Masri, the delegation affirmed that Macedonian security service had not been involved in any of the actions alleged. However, the Parliament was now considering establishing an independent commission to look into that matter.

In terms of inter-ethnic relationships in practice, there were many mixed communities. Speaking from her personal experience, the head of the delegation, Ms. Geleva, said that she lived in a very mixed community and she did not feel threatened, nor did her children. She believed that the same was true of those coming from other communities. The fact was that people from different communities had lived together in “Macedonia” for centuries and there was a tradition of tolerance and good relations between them.
In terms of restrictions on movement, the delegation said that it was true that the Law on Travel Documents contained a provision for an exit visa, but it was not used. The delegation said it was a relic of the communist regime, and, in any case, it had not been used even at that time.

Further Oral Questions Posed by Experts

In a further round of questions, an Expert noted that there was a lack of economic statistics in the report and the presentation, in particular housing and employment statistics. He also requested more information regarding the functioning of the judiciary, in particular any cases brought by victims of discrimination.

An Expert said in a visit to Skopje several years ago he had noted the numerous Roma children wandering the streets of the capital. Was that still the case?

The Chairperson wished for clarification on the official languages of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and the rule that if 20 per cent of the population spoke a language, it was considered an official language of the country.

Who were the Egyptians, an Expert asked? He did not think that there were individuals migrating from Egypt to Macedonia. Also, Muslims had been mentioned in statistics regarding race. Islam was a religion, not a race or ethnicity.

Replies by the Delegation

Responding to the question on why there were no sentences under the relevant articles applicable to racial discrimination under the criminal code, the delegation said that there had been 24 reported cases under those four articles between 2000 and 2005, and there had been a sentence handed down in one case. The other cases had been dismissed for lack of substantial grounds for indictment.

The delegation said that the problem of street children was present in the country. The Ministry of Labour and Social Policy was responsible for handling that issue and the relevant laws regulating the situation were the Law on Social Protection, the Law on the Family, and the Law on Child Protection. Within the Ministry was a department for socially marginalized persons, and a priority group targeted by their actions were street children and members of their families. The Ministry had also opened a daily centre for street children in Skopje, and some 500 children used the centre daily in December 2005.

Regarding the 20 per cent threshold to consider a language official, at present, at the national level, that referred only to Albanian, the delegation clarified. However, it also meant that local self-government units had to use the languages of their particular populations, where over 20 per cent used that language.

The Egyptians were persons who claimed to be of Egyptian descent, and had come to “Macedonia” with Alexander the Great. The delegation said that that was their claim, and the Government had to accept it. The mother tongue of that group was Macedonian and they claimed to be members of one group. In terms of Muslim ethnicity, that was a relic of the former Yugoslavia. In Yugoslavia, Islam had been considered an ethnicity. People who came to the country therefore sometimes identified themselves as simply Muslim, and the authorities registered them that way.

With respect to economic and social aspects, the delegation would strive to include statistics on those subjects in the next report.

Preliminary Remarks

JOSÉ AUGUSTO LINDGREN ALVES, the Committee Expert who served as country Rapporteur for the report of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, thanked the delegation for its excellent report and presentation. Very detailed information had been supplied about every question put to them by the Committee, no matter how small. Everything had been responded to in such a positive manner, it had exceeded his expectations. He had a very good impression.

Mr. Lindgren observed that during the Ottoman Empire there had been no inter-ethnic conflicts in the area. It was his impression that the conflict in the country had been imposed upon it from the outside, and was not an outgrowth from within, and that impression had only been confirmed.