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The article was originally published on the Politikon Network website.
2020 was a disastrous year for human rights in Europe, in the words of Dunja Mijatović, Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe. In her speech on the occasion of Human Rights Day at the end of 2020, she continued by saying: “While, increasingly, the commitment to respecting human rights standards human rights have been weakening for several years across the continent, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the erosion of human rights. of the democratic fabric of our society, on which the protection of human rights ultimately depends.”
The Western Balkans are no exception to this trend. On the contrary, regional states, including North Macedonia, have imposed strict restrictions and struggled to cope with multiple human rights challenges brought on by the pandemic.
In this context, the pandemic is likely to widen the already existing gap between legislation and reality in terms of human rights protection in the country. Looking at the protection of fundamental rights in the country over the years, it becomes clear that despite the increasing obligations to implement international standards, the pace of their implementation at the national level is lagging behind.
While the relevant international instruments are adopted quickly, the preparation of the national system for their application has been rather slow. This is particularly visible in the areas of gender equality, children’s rights, the rights of people with disabilities, as well as the adoption and implementation of the procedural rights acquis, including including for victims of crime. Finally, the situation in prisons is particularly worrying (especially in certain penitentiary establishments).
In all these areas there are serious gaps in implementation, due to inadequate planning, lack of capacity, insufficient cooperation of many institutions, bodies and civil society in these areas, although in some cases , an improvement in cooperation is noted. Improving the application of standards in these areas entails significant material investments, which are likely to be lacking in the post-pandemic era.
Local stakeholders have repeatedly expressed hope that the EU accession process, particularly with the start of accession negotiations, would provide a much-needed impetus to address some of the concerns mentioned above. While in the pre-negotiations phase the Commission and EU Member States focused mainly on judicial and anti-corruption policies, the negotiations were seen as a tool to broaden their horizon to the area of fundamental rights. Some of these are subject to the European Charter of Fundamental Rights and fall under the mandate of the EU Fundamental Rights Agency, which has included North Macedonia in its regular reporting mechanisms since last year.
This improved record should also be complementary to the European Commission’s broad “Equality Union” platform. It is important to also remember that the European Union has acceded to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, while at the same time the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights remains relevant as a horizontal issue. It is therefore necessary to consider them as founding documents and guidelines for standards and conditionalities regarding these issues.
Yet while negotiations are not in sight due to the Bulgarian conflict, the dilemma of advancing the fundamental rights agenda in the country remains open. Of course, besides the EU, there are many international instruments and monitoring mechanisms whose mission is to help and encourage countries to improve their fundamental rights records.
The main responsibility of course lies with the national government, its willingness and ability to make sustained efforts in this policy area, and the work of the National Human Rights Bodies (NHRIs), which constitute an essential part of the human rights puzzle. As for the NHRIs in North Macedonia, their structure and organization were overhauled at the beginning of 2021.
A new ombudsman was appointed after fifteen years and an anti-discrimination commission was created after an 18-month hiatus. In addition, new legislation has been adopted both for the protection of personal data and for free access to public information. The actions and positions of all these actors are likely to shape the human rights landscape in the country in the short and medium term.
With or without EU accession negotiations, the Macedonian government and its NHRIs will have to pick up the pieces of the (post)pandemic period. It is up to them to repair or rebuild the country’s system of fundamental rights protection into something better. We all hope for the latter solution.
This text was prepared within the framework of the project “Strengthening the rule of law in the Western Balkans: old tools for new rules” implemented by Politikon Network, in cooperation with the Center for Contemporary Politics and with the support of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
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