We advocate through the treaty bodies and UPR as well to put pressure on the government to improve the rights of marginalized communities
Could you please present the NGO you’re working for?
I am Legal adviser at a NGO called Coalition ‘Sexual and Health Rights of Marginalized communities’. This is a NGO dealing with drug users, people from LGBT community, people affected by HIV. We work on advancing rights for these communities. We advocate through the treaty bodies and UPR as well to put pressure on the government to improve the rights of marginalized communities.
What were your main concerns regarding Human Rights status in Macedonia?
We are facing a political crisis in Macedonia, it’s a complex situation. There’s a lack of independence of judiciary, there are some problems linked to misconduct of the police. There’s a real lack of response from the State. For this session, we were reporting on LGBT rights. LGBT community is suffering form a lack of protection against discrimination.
Do you think your concerns were addressed by the Committee?
The Committee indeed addressed our concerns. However the State didn’t reply in the expected way. The State didn’t provide concrete answers on the lack of investigation of some of the cases. We’re very concerned by the lack of response from the State. We hope the government will reply in the next 48 hours.
