AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL REPORT 2016/17

RIGHTS OF LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL,
TRANSGENDER AND INTERSEX PEOPLE
On 18 June, 3,000 people joined the March
for Equality in Vilnius to celebrate Baltic Pride
2016. The march took place without serious
incidents and with adequate police
protection.
On 28 June, the Lithuanian
Parliament voted in favour of a proposal to
amend the Constitution to restrict the
definition of “family” under Article 38 to
exclude same-sex couples. The process
would require two votes in Parliament before
the amendment could be officially adopted.
DISCRIMINATION – PEOPLE
WITH DISABILITIES
In May, the Committee on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities issued several
recommendations and raised a range of
concerns, including around access to
education and systemic barriers to access
to health services.
1. CIA rendition victims challenge Romania and Lithuania at Europe’s
Human Rights Court (News story, 29 June)
MACEDONIA
The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
Head of state: Gjorge Ivanov
Head of government: Emil Dimitriev (replaced Nikola
Gruevski in January)
Prosecutions following the 2015 revelations
of high-level corruption were slowed down
by political infighting while witness
protection was limited. Roma faced
discrimination in accessing basic rights and
services. Refugees and migrants were
routinely pushed back at the border with
Greece or faced detention in poor facilities
in Macedonia.
BACKGROUND
The political crisis prompted by the
publication in 2015 of audio recordings
revealing government corruption and
widespread illegal surveillance continued. A
transitional technical government composed
of majority and opposition MPs was formed
after a political agreement was brokered with
EU and US assistance.
In April, the President announced a
pardon for 56 high-level political figures
under investigation for their involvement in
the wire-tapping scandal. The pardons were
revoked by the President in June following a
wave of protests dubbed the “colourful
revolution”.
Parliamentary elections eventually took
place in December after being called and
postponed several times. The previous ruling
party (Internal Macedonian Revolutionary
Organization – Democratic Party for
Macedonian National Unity) returned to
power. The main opposition party, narrowly
failing to acquire the majority of votes,
disputed the end result.
JUSTICE SYSTEM
The Special Public Prosecutor appointed by
Parliament in September 2015 to investigate
officials involved in the wire-tapping scandal
and crimes by political figures continued to
face pressure in carrying out her work. In
October, the transitional Parliament rejected
a proposal to extend the Prosecutor’s June
2017 deadline for concluding all
investigations and to improve access to
witness protection services for witnesses
involved in her office’s investigations.
DISCRIMINATION – ROMA
In September, the European Court of Human
Rights (ECtHR) communicated to Macedonia
a complaint in relation to 53 Roma
individuals who challenged their forced
eviction from the “Polygon” settlement in
Skopje in August which left them in tents and
makeshift shelters on the outskirts of the
capital.
About 600 refugees, mainly Roma, who
had fled Kosovo in 1999-2000, remained at
risk of losing their access to livelihoods and
other rights as the authorities continued to
revoke their right to stay in the country on
238 Amnesty International Report 2016/17