Mr Hammarberg’s agenda will cover a broader range of human rights issues including the functioning of the police and the judiciary, treatment and conditions in places of detention, women’s rights and the situation of the Roma minority in the country. Commissioner Hammarberg will also visit various institutions - such as places of detention and police stations, educational institutions, psychiatric establishments - and Roma communities in Tetovo, Kumanovo, Demir Kapija and Demir Hisar.

The Commissioner will hold meetings with the President and Prime Minister, as well as relevant ministers including the Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Justice and Interior. Further talks will be held with the Speaker of Parliament and parliamentary committees, as well as with the Prosecutor General and top executives of the judiciary. Mr Hammarberg will also meet the Ombudsman and representatives of civil society.

The Commissioner will present his preliminary observations at 18.30 on Thursday 28 February at a press conference at the Council of Europe Information Office in Skopje (ul. Mito Hadzivasilev Jasmin b.b., Museum of the City of Skopje - 1000 Skopje, tel. +389 23 290 231, www.iocoe.org.mk).

The visit is part of the activities carried out in accordance with the Commissioner’s mandate to help raise the standards of human rights protection in all Council of Europe member states. An assessment report with relevant recommendations will be presented and published in mid 2008.

Press contacts:

Sandra Prilepcanska (Council of Europe Information Office in Skopje, + 389 70 363 353 - sandra.prilepcanska@coe.int )

- Berry Kralj (member of the Commissioner’s delegation: +33 663 48 47 93 - berry.kralj@coe.int)

Published in: Commissioner Hammarberg to Assess the Human Rights Situation in “The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia,” Press Release, Commissioner for Human Rights, Council of Europe, 21 February 2008.