Presentation by Rainbow/Vinozhito 48th FUEN Congress on Nationalities, Bolzano, Italy May 29-31, 2003 www.fuen.org [Background: A delegation from the Rainbow Party attended the 48th FUEN Congress in Bolzano, Italy where its was invited to present the status of the Macedonian minority in Greece. RAINBOW, which is currently an associate member of FUEN, also initiated discussions toward full membership.
The following are excerpts from IHF's report at the 2002 OSCE meeting. TOLERANCE AND NON-DISCRIMINATION: National Minorities Greece continues its policy not to recognize any national or ethnic minority in its territory despite the presence of large Turkish and Macedonian minorities. The word "Turkish” still creates difficulties for those who used it.
Human Rights in the OSCE Region: The Balkans, the Caucasus, Europe, Central Asia and North America - Report 2002 (events 2001) Greece did not make much progress in furthering the protection of human rights during 2001. The extensive violation of minority rights continued despite sharp criticism from the relevant international bodies.
Human Rights in the OSCE Region: The Balkans, the Caucasus, Europe, Central Asia and North America - Report 2002 (events 2001) Freedom of Expression and Media The right to freedom of speech of Bulgarian citizens of Macedonian self-determination was violated on several occasions by criminal prosecutions for the distribution of printed materials.
Press Release - Greek Helsinki Monitor TOPIC: WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY (3 MAY). GREECE STILL SCORES LAST ON PRESS FREEDOM. Greek Helsinki Monitor (GHM), on the occasion of tomorrow's World Press Freedom Day, points out that, among the countries with a long democratic tradition, Greece is regrettably the one with the least respect for press freedom.
The following are IPI's reports on Greece, Bulgaria and Albania. For their complete report please visit: http://www.freemedia.at/wpfr/world.html Report on Greece http://www.freemedia.at/wpfr/greece.htm Greece continues to be one of the few countries within the European Union (EU) that has consistently brought criminal defamation suits against journalists.
We call upon Greece to ratify, without any declaration or reservation, the Council of Europe's Framework Convention on National Minorities (FCNM), and to recognize the presence on its territory of minorities, according to the prevailing international standards, as specified inter alia in General Comment by the UN Human Rights Committee ...
Greek Helsinki Monitor and Minority Rights Group-Greece Report GHM and MRG-G have been actively involved in minority rights research and advocacy in the Balkans through their joint Center of Documentation and Information on Minorities in Europe - Southeast Europe (CEDIME-SE). CEDIME-SE is a founding member of the Consortium of Minority Resources (COMIR), which has a European scope.
IHF Report In Greece, an unprecedented debate on the possible modernization of the country's minority policies was initiated in 1999. However, after a wave of negative reactions among politicians and in the media the debate subsided. As a result, policies of the non-recognition of ethnic minorities still prevail.
AIM Athens by Panayote Dimitras Greece "distinguished" itself as the only one of the sixteen countries participating or facilitating the Stability Pact for Southeast Europe (SP) that snubbed the meeting in Strasbourg, on 22 May 2001, where SP minority-related projects of the Council of Europe (including an anti-discrimination review) were furthered or launched.