Document #1117158
IRB – Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (Author)
No reports on the treatment of ethnic Albanians, citizens of Macedonia, who have been summoned to a Macedonian police station for an "informative talk" or interrogation on alleged weapons possession or criminal activity, could be found in the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.
Human Rights Watch defines the practice of "informative talks" as "summoning a person to the police for questioning" (2000).
Several reports mention that the Macedonian police were still conducting "informative talks" in 1999 (HRW 2000; Country Reports 1999 2000, 1d; Serbia-Info 21 Apr. 1999). According to Human Rights Watch, this practice is among several "human rights issues," including abuse by police, which affect all Macedonian citizens regardless of their ethnic background (2000).
According to Country Reports 1999, the police were continuing with the practice despite a law on criminal procedures adopted in 1997, that states citizens cannot be summoned to a police station without a court order (2000, 1d).
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
References
Human Rights Watch (HRW). 2000.
Macedonia. http://www.hrw.org/wr2k/Eca-14.htm
[Accessed 10 August 2000]
Serbia Info News [Belgrade]. 21 April
1999. "After Waiters, Women Beat up NATO Troops." http://www.serbia-info.com/news/1999-04/21/11156.html
[Accessed 10 August 2000]
Country Reports on Human Rights
Practices for 1999. 2000. United States Department of State.
Washington, DC. http://www.state.gov/www/.../human_rights/1999_hrp_report/macedoni.htm
[Accessed 10 August 2000]
Additional Sources Consulted
IRB Databases
LEXIS/NEXIS
Unsuccessful attempts to contact two
oral sources.
Internet sites including:
Albanian Daily News
Amnesty International (AI)
Balkan Human Rights Web Pages
British Helsinki Human Rights Group
(BHHRG)
Freedom in the World 1999/2000
International Crisis Group (ICG).
Macedonia's Ethnic Albanians: Bridging the Gulf.
International Helsinki Federation for
Human Rights (IHF-HR)
Organization for Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
(RFE/RL)
Transitions
World News Connection (WNC)