Child Soldiers Global Report 2001 - Macedonia

THE FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA

Mainly covers the period June 1998 to April 2001 as well as including some earlier information.

• Population:
  – total: 2,011,000
  – under-18s: 567,000
• Government armed forces:
  – active: 16,000
  – reserves: 60,000
  – paramilitary: 7,500
• Compulsory recruitment age: 18
• Voluntary recruitment age: 17
• Voting age (government elections): 18
• Child soldiers: indicated in government forces
• CRC-OP-CAC: not signed
• Other treaties ratified: CRC; GC/API+II

• There are indications of under-18s in government armed forces as it is possible to volunteer for military service from the age of 17. There has been a pattern of children aged between 14 and 18 leaving the country to join armed groups abroad, for example during the conflicts in Bosnia and more recently, in Kosovo. These children were recruited through television announcements and promises of payment. Some were killed in fighting. This raises concern about the potential involvement of children if the current crisis in Macedonia continues to escalate.

CONTEXT

Events in 1999 were dominated by the Kosovo crisis and the huge influx of refugees. The Coalition government came under extreme pressure and tensions increased between the ethnic Albanian minority and the Macedonian majority. The mandate of the UN peacekeeping mission (UNPREDEP) ended in 1999 but the OSCE monitoring mission continued to operate in the country. Fighting escalated in March 2001 between ethnic Albanian armed groups and Macedonian forces. These ethnic Albanian groups are operating within Macedonia under the newly formed National Liberation Army and are also supported by incursions from neighbouring Kosovo. There were fears of fighting spreading to other parts of the country and destabilise Macedonia's delicate balance of ethnic relations. (see Federal Republic of Yugoslavia entry)

GOVERNMENT

National Recruitment Legislation and Practice

Article 28 of the 1991 Constitution states that: "the defence of the Republic of Macedonia is the right and duty of every citizen. The exercise of this right and duty of citizens is regulated by law".¹¹⁶⁴ All male citizens are subject to military service from the age of 17 up to 55. Conscription occurs once the recruit attains the age of 18 but a recruit can voluntarily enrol from the age of 17. However, recruits usually perform their military service upon attaining 19 years of age.¹¹⁶⁵ Women can join Officer and NCO corps.¹¹⁶⁶ It is claimed that military service lasts for 10, 12 or 15 months.¹¹⁶⁷

Macedonia is planning to transform its armed forces into a professional army but conscription is likely to continue until this has been achieved.¹¹⁶⁸

Military Training and Military Schools

The Military Academy admits a range of undergraduate and postgraduate students for a variety of courses and military specialisations. Furthermore, the Education and Training Centre, "Dr. Joseph Kruzel" was formed in 1992 and is intended as a training centre for those concerned with the political and economic system, civil protection, and youth training. It is comprised of three parts: the NCO school; reserve officer's school; and training centre. Between 1994 and 1996, the Centre trained a total of 10,297 civilians including members of the Civil Protection Force, employees of the state authorities, and enterprises with special links to defence. No information is available on whether under-18s train in these centres.¹¹⁶⁹

OPPOSITION

The recent emergence of an opposition group calling itself the National Liberation Army, along the border with Kosovo is causing international concern. The FYROM government claims the group is being supported from Kosovo and is reportedly made up of members of the supposedly disbanded Kosovo Liberation Army. There are concerns about child involvement in opposition forces but no concrete evidence has emerged to date.¹¹⁷⁰

CHILD RECRUITMENT BY ARMED GROUPS FROM OTHER COUNTRIES

No information has been received about the involvement of children in armed violence in Macedonia itself. However, there are past reports of children leaving the country to join armed groups abroad. This was the case during the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina during which about 500 Macedonian children joined the Bosniak army there. More recently, during the Kosovo conflict, over 500 Macedonian children joined the Serbian armed group called the Serb Tigers. In addition, about 1,000 other children joined the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).

These children were recruited through TV announcements and promises of money in exchange for their services. They were between 14 and 18 years of age and came from poor families. A large majority were Albanians, 20 per cent were Serbs and 5 per cent Macedonian. A majority of them were boys but there were also girls. A large part of the Albanian children came from Debar, Gostivar and Tetovo and from villages close to the border. The Serb children came from Kumanovo and Gostivar or from the villages close to Skopje and Kumanovo. The Albanian private TV in Skopje, ERA, and other stations made announcements inviting young people to join the KLA. Three hundred and fifty children from refugee camps in Macedonia joined the KLA and 30 of them were killed.¹¹⁷¹

DEVELOPMENTS

International Standards

The FYROM government expressed its readiness to sign and ratify the CRC-OP-CAC at the Winnipeg international conference on war-affected children in September 2000 but had not done so at the time of publication.1172

1164 Blaustein and Flanz op. cit.

1165 Initial report of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to the Committee on the Rights of the Child, UN doc. CRC/C/65/Add.5, 20/11/98, para. 361.

1166 White Paper of the Defence of the Republic of Macedonia, Skopje, 8/98. Available on the Internet: http://www.morm.gov.mk/eng/whitepaper.

1167 Horeman and Stolwijk op. cit.

1168 White Paper op. cit.

1169 Natasa Dokovska, Journalist for the Rights of Women, Children and the Environment, FYROM, in a communication to the CSC dated 21/3/01.

1170 Ibid.

1171 Ibid and also earlier communications.

1172 Statement by Minister of Foreign Affairs to Winnipeg International Conference War-affected children in 9/00.