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Reaction by a group of civil society organizations
A statement of solidarity and support to the journalist Iso Rusi
After the newspaper Koha (13 May 2007) had published the reaction of the Albanian Democratic Party, where they express threats to the columnist Iso Rusi, a group of civil society organizations came out with their attitude, expressing support to the right of speech and solidarity to Rusi. We publish the whole text of their reaction:
“We, the civil society organizations of the Republic of Macedonia, express our solidarity and complete support to Iso Rusi, a journalist and president of the Helsinki Committee to his right of freedom of speec.
The language of hatred in Macedonia does not start now, but it is a culmination of the xenophobia and the hatred towards everyone who holds a different opinion and does not possess “pure blood”.
The statement of the Albanian Democratic Party (DPA) threatens the freedom of speech/expression and poses a direct threat to the life and security of the individual.
The statement holds even greater weight since DPA is a party that is part of the Parliament, of the Government of the Republic of Macedonia and has access to the state power.
According to the European Convention for Human Rights, the country, that is, the Government is indirectly responsible for cases where human right are being violated and if they are violated by a third party, in cases when it was determined that the Government could have taken measures to prevent the violation.
Since DPA is part of the executive power, the Government both directly and indirectly is obliged to react.
Therefore, we call for DPA to show their democratic capacity, to ????? and to apologize for their statement. And we call for the Government of the Republic of Macedonia to condemn the threatening of the freedom of speech and to take measures for protecting the security and the life of the journalist and citizen Iso Rusi.
Association for Democratic Initiatives (ADI) – Gostivar Doverba – Skopje Macedonian Center for International Cooperation (MCIC) – Skopje Youth Alliance – Skopje Youth Cultural Center (YCC) – Bitola NGO Info Centre – Skopje OHO – Skopje First Children Embassy in the World Medjashi – Skopje Polio Plus – Skopje Union of Macedonian Women Organizations (UMWO) – Skopje Forum CRSD – Skopje Foundation Open Society Institute Macedonia (FOSIM) – Skopje HDZR “Mesecina” – Gostivar Center for Institutional Development (CIRa) – Skopja
M.I.
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