Written declaration No. 585 | Doc. 13698 | 28 January 2015

Failure of the Macedonian authorities to respond to repeated attacks on the LGBTI Support Centre in Skopje

Signatories: Ms Petra De SUTTER, Belgium, SOC ; Ms Boriana ÅBERG, Sweden, EPP/CD ; Mr Claude ADAM, Luxembourg, SOC ; Mr Paride ANDREOLI, San Marino, SOC ; Ms Maryvonne BLONDIN, France, SOC ; Mr Paolo CORSINI, Italy, SOC ; Mr David CRAUSBY, United Kingdom, SOC ; Mr Gerardo GIOVAGNOLI, San Marino, SOC ; Mr Jonas GUNNARSSON, Sweden, SOC ; Ms Monica HAIDER, Sweden, SOC ; Ms Françoise HETTO-GAASCH, Luxembourg, EPP/CD ; Ms Eva-Lena JANSSON, Sweden, SOC ; Ms Lotta JOHNSSON FORNARVE, Sweden, UEL ; Mr Pierre-Yves LE BORGN', France, SOC ; Mr Philippe MAHOUX, Belgium, SOC ; Ms Marit MAIJ, Netherlands, SOC ; Mr Michael McNAMARA, Ireland, SOC ; Sir Alan MEALE, United Kingdom, SOC ; Ms Ana Catarina MENDONÇA, Portugal, SOC ; Ms Melita MULIĆ, Croatia, SOC ; Mr Michele NICOLETTI, Italy, SOC ; Ms Carina OHLSSON, Sweden, SOC ; Ms Maria de Belém ROSEIRA, Portugal, SOC ; Ms Deborah SCHEMBRI, Malta, SOC ; Ms Tineke STRIK, Netherlands, SOC ; Ms Petra De SUTTER, Belgium, SOC

This written declaration commits only those who have signed it.

On 23 October 2014 an event celebrating the second anniversary of the LGBTI Support Centre in Skopje was attacked by 30 people. Two participants in the event were assaulted and a number of others were injured by flying glass.

This was the sixth attack on the LGBTI centre and its activities during the two years of its existence. In only one – which was a part of larger, inter-ethnic riots – have the authorities made any progress with criminal investigations. Furthermore, the Prime Minister, the Minister of the Interior and the Minister of Justice have failed to particularly condemn both these attacks and wider homophobic violence in “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”.

We call upon the Macedonian authorities:

• to publicly condemn such violence;
• to ensure that law enforcement agencies respond rapidly and effectively to specific incidents;
• to take wider measures to address homophobia and transphobia in society, as required under Committee of Ministers Recommendation CM/Rec(2010)5 on measures to combat discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity.