Press conference
19/03/2007
By
PR Department of MASSO
On friday, the 16th, at the NGO Infocentre, MASSO held a press conference for the media at which a number of topics were discussed.
1. A delegation of MASSO led by the president of the organisation, Kocho Andonovski, took part in a study trip to Brussels, during 5-7 March, which was organised by ILGA-Europe. During this visit a number of meetings were held, including that with the EU Enlargement Commissioner, Ollie Rhen, the president of the delegation for Macedonia at the European Parliament, professor Antonios Trakatelis and representatives of the main department for Macedonia at the European Commission headed by Per Ibold. The Macedonian delegation was promised that a thorough overview of Macedonian legislation will be done in order to see where non-discriminatory ordinances in regards to sexual orientation can be included as well as that they would see to a swift adoption of the Non-discrimination law.
MASSO will draft an overview of Macedonian legislation, which will include all of the already documented cases of discrimination, and will submit this to the institutions and representatives in Brussels.
The claim on behalf of the Macedonian authorities that article 9 of the Constitution of Macedonia covers sexual orientation is contradictory to the decision made at the session on 29 December 2004, not to begin the process of evaluation of the Law on Military Service in Macedonia article 121, paragraph 2 item 16 (Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia No. 62/2002, 98/2002 and 25/2003) which stated that sexual misuse or “homosexualism” is a breach of army discipline and it requires responsibility on behalf of the offender. This decisions shows that the Constitutional Court does not see sexual orientation as a banned basis for discrimination in article 9 of the Constitution of Macedonia.
For us, the Government’s practice of not consulting NGOs which work in the field of human rights, when making reports, as shown in the latest example with the Report for the UN Committee on Racial Discrimination is unacceptable. According to this report, Macedonia has perfect laws which function and protect the citizens against discrimination. The report states lies and it stresses that the current legal framework offers protection against discrimination and there is no need to adopt the Non-discrimination law. Such false representation of the situation in the country sets us back and builds a negative image of all of us.
2. Bearing in mind the scandal of filming pornographic content in Macedonian high schools, the fact that just in 2006 there have been 11 newly registered HIV cases and 5 cases which have progressed to AIDS, data which points to a staggering increase of this number compared to previous years, that two children have died of AIDS and that there are 2 more which have developed it, that every fourth woman in Macedonia is a victim of physical abuse, that 40 percent of ethnic Macedonian women and only 5 percent of ethnic Albanian women know how to protect themselves from unwanted pregnancies, and that just in 2006 the Police have intervened in 2650 domestic disturbances, MASSO announced the beginning of the initiative to unite all of the organisations which work in these issues and to draft a document to be submitted to the Bureau of educational development to introduce sexual health education in the Macedonian educational system.
The question about the need of introducing sexual education was incorporated in the questionnaire sent by MASSO in February of 2006 to all of the political parties in Macedonia in order to explore the developmental line and their attitudes during the pre-election period towards LGBTQ issues, to which all parties which sent their response answered affirmatively.
MASSO believes that the introduction of sexual health education is one of the basic steps in the implementation of the fundamental principle proclaimed in the Declaration of the Rights of the Child of the UN (1990) as well as the programmes and the resolutions which are continuously developed by the EU, UNESCO, UNICEF, UN etc.
The position of MASSO rests on the definition of sexual health by the World Health Organisation, as the integration of the physical, emotional, intellectual and social aspects of the sexual in a manner which positively enriches and which strengthens a person’s individuality, communication and love.
3. MASSO also used this opportunity to announce the launch of its collection of columns written by Macedonian intellectuals and experts, which were published in the Macedonian print media during 2006, as well as to promote the new design of its webpage which can be found at the already familiar address www.masso.org.mk
1. A delegation of MASSO led by the president of the organisation, Kocho Andonovski, took part in a study trip to Brussels, during 5-7 March, which was organised by ILGA-Europe. During this visit a number of meetings were held, including that with the EU Enlargement Commissioner, Ollie Rhen, the president of the delegation for Macedonia at the European Parliament, professor Antonios Trakatelis and representatives of the main department for Macedonia at the European Commission headed by Per Ibold. The Macedonian delegation was promised that a thorough overview of Macedonian legislation will be done in order to see where non-discriminatory ordinances in regards to sexual orientation can be included as well as that they would see to a swift adoption of the Non-discrimination law.
MASSO will draft an overview of Macedonian legislation, which will include all of the already documented cases of discrimination, and will submit this to the institutions and representatives in Brussels.
The claim on behalf of the Macedonian authorities that article 9 of the Constitution of Macedonia covers sexual orientation is contradictory to the decision made at the session on 29 December 2004, not to begin the process of evaluation of the Law on Military Service in Macedonia article 121, paragraph 2 item 16 (Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia No. 62/2002, 98/2002 and 25/2003) which stated that sexual misuse or “homosexualism” is a breach of army discipline and it requires responsibility on behalf of the offender. This decisions shows that the Constitutional Court does not see sexual orientation as a banned basis for discrimination in article 9 of the Constitution of Macedonia.
For us, the Government’s practice of not consulting NGOs which work in the field of human rights, when making reports, as shown in the latest example with the Report for the UN Committee on Racial Discrimination is unacceptable. According to this report, Macedonia has perfect laws which function and protect the citizens against discrimination. The report states lies and it stresses that the current legal framework offers protection against discrimination and there is no need to adopt the Non-discrimination law. Such false representation of the situation in the country sets us back and builds a negative image of all of us.
2. Bearing in mind the scandal of filming pornographic content in Macedonian high schools, the fact that just in 2006 there have been 11 newly registered HIV cases and 5 cases which have progressed to AIDS, data which points to a staggering increase of this number compared to previous years, that two children have died of AIDS and that there are 2 more which have developed it, that every fourth woman in Macedonia is a victim of physical abuse, that 40 percent of ethnic Macedonian women and only 5 percent of ethnic Albanian women know how to protect themselves from unwanted pregnancies, and that just in 2006 the Police have intervened in 2650 domestic disturbances, MASSO announced the beginning of the initiative to unite all of the organisations which work in these issues and to draft a document to be submitted to the Bureau of educational development to introduce sexual health education in the Macedonian educational system.
The question about the need of introducing sexual education was incorporated in the questionnaire sent by MASSO in February of 2006 to all of the political parties in Macedonia in order to explore the developmental line and their attitudes during the pre-election period towards LGBTQ issues, to which all parties which sent their response answered affirmatively.
MASSO believes that the introduction of sexual health education is one of the basic steps in the implementation of the fundamental principle proclaimed in the Declaration of the Rights of the Child of the UN (1990) as well as the programmes and the resolutions which are continuously developed by the EU, UNESCO, UNICEF, UN etc.
The position of MASSO rests on the definition of sexual health by the World Health Organisation, as the integration of the physical, emotional, intellectual and social aspects of the sexual in a manner which positively enriches and which strengthens a person’s individuality, communication and love.
3. MASSO also used this opportunity to announce the launch of its collection of columns written by Macedonian intellectuals and experts, which were published in the Macedonian print media during 2006, as well as to promote the new design of its webpage which can be found at the already familiar address www.masso.org.mk
