Overview of Human Rights in Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia is a parliamentary democracy. While the government took some steps to improve its human rights record in recent years, some abuses are still being committed, especially by the security forces.

Issues such as police brutality, police harassment of ethnic minorities, and corruption within the forces, continue to be reported by independent sources. In 2004, police killed four persons while they were in custody. The government did take steps to investigate charges levied against the force and since this has started, the number of reports of abuses has decreased.

Societal violence and discrimination against Roma (Gypsies), ethnic Albanians, and ethnic Turks remain a problem. Trafficking in persons is a problem, but the government is working to strengthen efforts to prosecute traffickers.

The International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) continues to investigate alleged war crimes cases. To that end, in the spring of 2007, attention turned to the international tribunal at The Hague when the country's former Interior Minister Ljube Boskovski went on trial for war crimes during the 2001 ethnic Albanian rebellion. 

Human Development Index (HDI) Rank:

59th out of 177

Note: Human Development Index (HDI) is a composite index that measures the level of well-being of nations in the world. It uses factors such as poverty, literacy, life-expectancy, education, gross domestic product, and purchasing power parity to assess the average achievements in each nation. It has been used in the United Nation’s Human Development Report since 1993.